LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders on Thursday proposed a nearly $6.
5 billion budget for the coming year that directs half of new spending toward a school voucher program. The Republican governor called for increasing the state's budget by nearly 3%, or $182.5 million, in the fiscal year that begins July 1.
Sanders detailed the budget plan to lawmakers ahead of next year's legislative session, which begins Jan. 13. “Budgets show our priorities and deliver on the promises we all spent years campaigning on: education, maternal health, efficient government, public safety, and child well-being,” Sanders told members of the Joint Budget Committee.
“We all ran on improving these systems. Through this balanced budget, we can deliver on our promises.” The budget proposal forecasts that the state will end the coming fiscal year with a surplus of nearly $300 million.
Finance officials have said they expect Arkansas to end the current fiscal year with a surplus of about $280 million. Sanders' proposal calls for increasing funding for the state's education freedom accounts, created under an education overhaul signed into law last year, by $90 million to $187 million. She also proposed setting aside $90 million in surplus funds as a reserve for the program.
The freedom account program, which pays for private and home-school expenses, has been phased in. More than 18,000 students are currently in the program, which will be fully phased in for the 2025-2.