Arkansas

Under the 1874 constitution, state expenditures may not exceed revenues. The mechanism adopted each biennium to prevent deficit spending is a Revenue Stabilization Act. This Act provides the funding for state appropriations by assigning levels of funding priority to the appropriations. All appropriations in a higher level must be fully funded before any appropriations in a lower level are funded. In the event of insufficient revenues to fund appropriations, each agency reduces its appropriations, to correspond to the general revenues allocated to the agency.

Total general revenue available for distribution in 2001 was forecast at $3.3 billion. Major funding areas in 2000 and 2001 in order of importance were: public primary and secondary schools (47%), human services (20%), higher learning institutions (16%), and general government (10%). Revenues for these projects came primarily from income taxes and sales taxes (94%). These figures represent an increase of over 10% on public schools since 1997.

The following table from the US Census Bureau contains information on revenues, expenditures, indebtedness, and cash/securities for 2001.