2009 Arkansas Policy Overview

Here's a pretty handy research report on the 87th General Assembly, which also reviews how other state legislatures dealt with common policy areas. Scroll down to page six to see that Arkansas did provide some increases to K-12 education while 22 states cut pre-kindergarten and K-12 education funding to deal with budget shortfalls. On tobacco taxes, we're now 25th highest in the country ($1.15/pack) with our increase to fund a statewide trauma system, an expansion of the ARKids First program, and other health-related programs. Rhode Island's tobacco tax is the highest in the country. South Carolina’s is the lowest at 7 cents. Here's a list of the the other states that tinkered with their tobacco tax this year:

State		Previous cigarette tax		New cigarette tax
Florida		34 cents		$1.34
Hawaii		$2.00		$2.60
Kentucky		30 cents		60 cents
Mississippi		18 cents		68 cents
Rhode Island		$2.46		$3.46
Vermont		$1.99		$2.24

Click here for the report.