Arkansas Governor Sarah Sanders is ready to push forward on several budget priorities, but major issues – such as prison funding and tax cuts – remain a negotiable item heading into the state’s fiscal session.

The Arkansas General Assembly convenes Wednesday, April 8 to solely take up budget items related to state agencies and funding. Gov. Sanders has submitted a $6.8 billion proposed budget, but state lawmakers have wide latitude over approving the budget.

“I’m excited about where the state is. We’re in a great financial position, which allows us to continue investing in the key priorities that we have partnered with the legislature on over the last several years. Education, public safety, the pay plan that we passed and instituted last year, really supporting state government employees,” Sanders said in an interview with Fordyce News Advocate Editor and Publisher Roby Brock.

Sanders budget proposal outlines $194 million in new funding for Education Freedom Accounts (EFAs), her school voucher program that has already consumed $300 million in state funding. The governor said progress is being made on the education front, and while the price tag has climbed for EFAs, she thinks it will soon level off.

“I think there are a lot of different elements of the LEARNS Act that we’re seeing work,” she said. “We spend north of $2 billion on public education in the state of Arkansas, and now we’re spending a little over $300 million on Education Freedom Accounts… the real story here is that we are providing opportunity so that every single kid in our state has access and the ability to learn. That’s a good thing.”

“After this year, things balance out some in terms of dollars truly following the student. So I don’t have any concerns about the sustainability of the [EFA] program. What I do have a concern about is not allowing every kid to have opportunity,” added Sanders.

PRISONS, TAX CUTS

Sanders’ budget did not include funding requests for a new prison in Franklin County. The governor advocated last session for more than $750 million for a 3,000-bed prison site there, but it met with overwhelming local resistance and couldn’t muster enough votes for passage.

Sanders said the state has added about 1,500 new beds since she became governor, but more are needed.

“We haven’t built a prison in over 25 years and if we continue to wait another 25 years, the cost goes up and frankly, so does our crime. I don’t think that we should allow that to happen,” she said. “I want to work with this legislature to get to a solution. I still think Franklin County is the best option available, and we’re going to continue to push to expand capacity because we know it’s something that we need here in the state.”

Acknowledging the political dynamics to garnering votes for funding a new prison in Franklin County hasn’t changed after the primary elections, Sanders said she is putting the onus on lawmakers to find a solution.

“I think some of that falls on the legislature. They have to decide if they want to get serious about addressing the public safety concerns that we have here in the state,” said Sanders.

The foundation is laid for more tax cuts, Sanders said, but what that cut will be is not yet determined. She hinted she will negotiate with legislators during the fiscal session to determine the size of a tax cut.

“We’ve already been able to lower our state income tax by 20%. That’s something that I think is incredible over the course of only three years. And at the end of the day, we want to get down to zero,” she said. “We’re going to continue to chip away until we phase out the state income tax completely and I think we’re on track.”

Sanders also said simplifying state tax brackets are something she wants to address.

“It’s not just about the [tax] cut. I think another big piece of this is simplifying the tax code so that we’re setting ourselves up for a long-term path of getting to zero. I think that’s something we’re going to see in this session,” she said.

With a $334 million projected budget surplus, Sanders said there a number of one-time projects she wants the legislature to consider.

“There are a handful of one-time funding projects that I think that we can spend and invest money in, but I don’t think that it is a good use of dollars to invest one-time money in long-term projects. I know there are several things that the legislature will come to the table with, and we’re in back-and-forth negotiations with them on what they look like,” she said.

“I think one of the big things that you will see is the Division of Ag. That has been an ongoing back-and-forth partnership, both with the state as well as the federal government. We’ve been working really closely with Senator Boozman, who as you know, is the chairman of the Senate Ag Committee, on a very big project that we’re going to invest in pretty significantly from the state side, as well as with a partnership on the federal side.”

You can watch Sanders’ full interview at TalkBusiness.net.