Where will Arkansas’ next nuclear plant be built?

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If you’ve ever driven on I-40 near Russellville, then you’ve no doubt seen the two Arkansas Nuclear One reactors. 

You will probably see more in the coming years, the big questions being where and when.

The subject arises in this column for the second time this year. The first was in May after Entergy Corporation Chairman and CEO Drew Marsh told the Arkansas Economic Development Foundation that the amount of electricity sold in the region would triple or quadruple by 2050. 

There’s too much demand between data centers, electric vehicles and the other ways we use electricity. Other energy sources including natural gas and solar won’t provide enough by themselves. Already, Arkansas Nuclear One supplies roughly 56% of Entergy Arkansas’ customer demand.

“You’re going to need nuclear, and so we believe that new nuclear is going to be part of the future here in Arkansas,” he said. Continue reading →

Any ideas on how to fix the ballot initiative?

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There almost certainly won’t be any citizen-led initiatives on the November ballot after Secretary of State Cole Jester announced he was disqualifying the one effort that submitted signatures. 

Ironically, the proposed amendment by Protect AR Rights was an attempt to reform the ballot initiative process itself. 

Jester informed Protect AR Rights July 30 that he had disqualified all of the 108,837 signatures it collected. He said he did so because the popular name on each page read “The Ballot Measure Rights Amendment of 2026” instead of the attorney general-approved “The Arkansas Ballot Measure Rights Amendment.”

Let’s pause and provide some background.  Continue reading →

Guns, non-citizen voting on your ballot this year

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Arkansas voters this November will consider three legislatively proposed constitutional amendments, including one explicitly stating that only citizens can vote, and one stating that Arkansans have an individual right to keep and bear arms.

Similar provisions already exist in the state’s Constitution, but these would provide needed clarity, the legislative sponsors have argued.

The Citizens Only Voting Amendment would specify that only qualified citizens can vote in state and local elections. Those qualifications are being a citizen of the United States; being an Arkansas resident; being at least 18 years old; and being lawfully registered to vote in the election. 

It further bars from voting individuals who don’t meet those qualifications. 

The Arkansas Constitution already states “any person” who meets those qualifications may vote in an election. Continue reading →

Will Arkansans see $430 Social Security cut?

tax, taxes, debt, deficits, spending, trillion, State of the Union, deficit hawks, balanced budget amendment, Jonathan Bydlak, immigration, $98.8 trillion, $970 billion, Social Security cutIf Congress doesn’t act, the average Arkansas retiree could see a Social Security monthly benefit cut of $430 in 2032, based on findings from the nonpartisan Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget.

More than 19% of the state’s population, or 589,427 Arkansans, could be affected, including retirees, survivors and dependents. Arkansas could lose somewhere around $3 billion, which would be 1.6% of its economy. That percentage is the eighth highest among all the states.

All of that’s according to a new interactive tool, “No State Spared,” on the CRFBs website at www.crfb.org/nostatespared.

The reduction would occur because the Old-Age and Survivors Insurance Trust Fund is set to become insolvent in the fourth quarter of 2032. 

That’s the funding mechanism that pays Social Security benefits to senior citizens and their survivors. Another Social Security trust fund for disabled Americans is in good shape for at least the next 75 years.

Continue reading →

Westerman tries to engineer health care fix

Bruce Westerman Fair Care Act

Westerman

U.S. Rep. Bruce Westerman, R-Ark., an engineer before he was a congressman, is trying to redesign the American health care system through the Fair Care Act.

He’s been introducing versions of the FCA since 2019 to reform a system that composes 18% of gross domestic product but often doesn’t produce better results than other countries’ systems that cost much less.

“I kind of approach everything from an engineering mindset,” he said. “You go through the engineering, problem-solving methodology. And it’s identify the problem, come up with a plan to solve the problem, do the work to solve the problem, and present your answer.”

Westerman said he proposed the 434-page FCA as a bipartisan solution. It has ideas from both parties and has had Democratic co-sponsorship in the past. He said past one-party efforts – the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) and the unsuccessful Republican repeal effort in 2017 – haven’t worked. Continue reading →