My column this week is about my increasing concerns that Arkansas is going to go the way of the federal government and other states and make running deficits a habit.

We’ve heard a lot about the state’s “balanced budget” in the past couple of years, but the truth is that Arkansas is in debt $330 million to the federal government for money paid out in unemployment benefits.

Now some legislators seem heck-bent on cutting taxes before really cutting spending, and, of course, they’ll get around to paying the debt later. Sounds like Washington, D.C.

A recurring rationale from the cut-taxes-first crowd is that doing so will result in state government cutting spending because the Revenue Stabilization Act will force it to do so.

But the Revenue Stabilization Act hasn’t resulted in balanced budgets lately, has it?

Here’s the column.

My column this week is about the state Legislature’s zeal for cutting taxes coupled with its seeming disinterest in cutting spending. It seems that Washington-style fiscal irresponsibility is making its way to Little Rock.

I submitted the column on deadline Monday morning after the House passed three tax cuts last week. Then yesterday the Senate passed three cuts of its own. By contrast, the biggest spending cut being discussed so far this session is Gov. Beebe’s proposed reforms of the state prison system, but those savings are long-term. In fact, in the short term, Beebe’s reforms will actually cost more money.

Still looming is Arkansas’ $330 million debt to the federal government for unemployment benefits.

Are the legislators all crazy, or is it just me? Seems like the most responsible path would be to cut spending first – and I mean really cut it – pay down Arkansas’ state debt, and then cut taxes.

Here’s the column.

The House of Representatives voted yesterday to enact a package of tax cuts that it says will be offset by projected increases in state revenue. Because, you know, money grows on trees.

Oh, boy. Haven’t we learned anything from Washington, D.C.?

I want my legislators to cut spending first and then cut taxes. I want them to do both, but I want them to do it in that order. I’ve had my fill of Washington lawmakers promising less taxes and less government but only following through on the cutting taxes side of the equation.

My column this week is on the need to develop more homegrown scientists, engineers, and other smart people. I base it on numerous reporting encounters I have had in which the person producing the gee-whiz technical advancement almost always seems to be someone born in another country. This isn’t an anti-immigrant column; we need to continue to attract the world’s best minds at the same time they are developed here at home. Because someday those best minds may not feel a need to come here.

Here’s the column.

My column this week is about the Common Core State Standards, a state-led initiative that has created national standards in English language arts and math for all participating states. Arkansas is one of 41 states that have signed on to the Common Core, plus the District of Columbia.

The Common Core is meant to ensure that students in Arkansas learn something close to the same material as students in Louisiana because in our mobile society, it’s entirely possible that they might live there. The reverse certainly was true after Hurricane Katrina, when Arkansas was inundated with students from New Orleans who might as well have come from a foreign country.

The standards are also more focused than what is currently taught. The current state of education is a mile wide and an inch deep – students cover a lot but don’t learn enough. Common Core seeks to address that.

I think it’s a good thing. Here’s the column.