Arkansas’ credit can’t escape Uncle Sam’s ills

By Steve Brawner, © 2025 by Steve Brawner Communications, Inc.

Governments want good credit ratings just like individuals and businesses do. In that respect, the U.S. government is moving in the wrong direction, and Arkansas is moving in the right one – for now.

S&P Global Ratings recently raised its long-term rating on the state of Arkansas’ general obligation bonds to AA+. It’s the state’s highest rating since 1966 and the second highest on S&P’s scale after AAA.

Meanwhile, Moody’s Ratings kept the state at Aa1, also its second highest rating, and said its outlook was “stable,” meaning it doesn’t think things will change. On May 16, it wrote, “The Aa1 issuer rating reflects the state’s strong governance practices, high reserves and low leverage. The state’s proactive and conservative budget management has driven a material increase in reserve levels while lowering tax rates.”

Sounds good to me.

Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders touted the state’s ratings in a press release, saying they could attract potential investors. Department of Finance and Administration Secretary Jim Hudson pointed to the $1 billion Arkansas Reserve Fund. 

The news was not so good at the national level. That’s where Moody’s downgraded the federal government’s credit rating from Aaa, the highest possible, to Aa1. Continue reading →

Ruling keeps Republican primary open

By Steve Brawner, © 2025 by Steve Brawner Communications, Inc.

Should Arkansas voters be required to declare they are Republicans in order to vote in Republican Party primaries? They won’t be after a court decision May 5. 

The case stems from a vote by rank-and-file Republicans at last year’s state convention to close the primaries. Members did not want non-Republicans, particularly Democrats, voting in their primary. The Executive Committee leadership did not agree. Eighteen of its 24 members voted to rescinded the vote in July. In response, 22 party delegates sued the party chairman, the secretary of state, and the state Board of Election Commissioners.

This is a good, old-fashioned intraparty conflict, in the middle of which U.S. District Judge Brian Miller said he could not get. In his seven-page decision May 5, he wrote that a federal courtroom was not the place to settle the dispute. 

First, he wrote that it’s not a constitutional case. It was not about freedom of speech because the Republican Party of Arkansas is not a government entity. It was not about freedom of association because the RPA can decide its own rules. 

If state laws governed the process, then state officials could regulate. However, the law merely says that parties must prescribe qualifications for voting in primaries and must create rules and procedures. It’s up to the party. Regardless, he wrote that the U.S. Constitution’s 11th Amendment states that federal courts cannot compel state officials to obey state law.  Continue reading →

Legislators adjourn sine die

By Steve Brawner , © 2025 by Steve Brawner Communications, Inc.

The 2025 Arkansas General Assembly returned from its recess at 10 a.m. May 5 to adjourn “sine die.” Pronounced “sigh-nee die,” that’s Latin for “without a day” planned to return.

Lawmakers had not been in Little Rock since April 16. As is typical, they had planned to return for one day in case they needed to tie up loose ends. 

There were very few. Lt. Gov. Leslie Rutledge banged her gavel and declared the Senate adjourned at 10:18. Speaker of the House Brian Evans, R-Cabot, did the same in the House at 10:26.

The session was noteworthy both for what legislators passed and for the one major piece they left undone. 

Lawmakers proposed 2,652 bills, of which Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders signed into law 1,026. Continue reading →

Who will say no in health care?

By Steve Brawner, © 2025 by Steve Brawner Communications, Inc.

Arkansas Blue Cross and Blue Shield had a rough 2024 financially. In a recent appearance on Talk Business & Politics, President and CEO Curtis Barnett offered some reasons why.

The company lost $226.2 million in 2024 after earning $13.2 million in 2023, according to its filing with the Arkansas Insurance Department. It announced it was laying off 75 employees, or 2% of its workforce, in January. 

Barnett said other insurers are also struggling with high costs. He listed several factors. One is the Medicaid redetermination process in 2023. All recipients intentionally had been left in the program throughout the pandemic. Once the pandemic ended, the eligibility process resumed, and many recipients were removed from the program. That process disrupted the health insurance market in 2024, he said. Second, health providers want insurance companies to increase payment rates, which he said was understandable given their inflation challenges and workforce shortages. Third, he said patient utilization of services “skyrocketed” in 2024. Joint replacements were 37% higher than they were in 2019, which he attributed largely to pent-up demand coming out of the pandemic. Finally, he mentioned “high cost claimants” and pharmaceutical costs.  Continue reading →

College players may soon get NIL contract lessons

By Steve Brawner, © 2025 by Steve Brawner Communications, Inc.

College athletics has become a professional sports endeavor, which means 18-year-old student-athletes soon will learn that contracts are enforceable and that they don’t want to get on the wrong side of rich people and powerful institutions with good lawyers. 

The first paragraph comes after Arkansas Edge hired attorney Tom Mars to enforce a contract buyout clause involving former Arkansas Razorbacks backup quarterback Madden Iamaleava. CBS Sports first reported the story.

Let’s identify everyone in the above paragraph. 

Arkansas Edge is the University of Arkansas athletic department’s collective. It represents the department in its name, image and likeness (NIL) agreements that pay players to play for the Razorbacks. 

Continue reading →