Arkansas lawmakers preview 2026 fiscal session

ARKANSAS, USA — Arkansas lawmakers are set to return to the Capitol Wednesday at noon to begin the 2026 Fiscal Session, where they will consider Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders’ proposed $6.7 billion budget.

The proposal includes a roughly 3% increase in state spending. Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle say one issue is likely to dominate the discussion: the rising cost of the state’s school voucher program.

Sen. Greg Leding for District 30 said the Education Freedom Account program, created under the LEARNS Act, is taking up a growing share of the budget.

“When you are trying to keep annual spending from going up by no more than about the historical average of 3%, and so much of that is going towards this one program that leaves very little else for all of our other critical needs,” Leding said. “I’m not necessarily anti-private school, anti-home schooling at all. I don’t think that those things should come at the expense of public education. That’s our number one opportunity is to make sure is to make sure that all Arkansans have access to education.” 

The vouchers allow students and their families to fund their chosen education options, which could include public, private, parochial, or homeschool education. 

The governor’s proposal includes more than $300 million for the program. $122 million more than last year’s budget and $70 million set aside for future growth.

Leding said concerns about the cost are shared across party lines.

“Just as there was bipartisan concern about that cost when we originally discussed the legislation, there is greater bipartisan concern today,” said Leding. 

Sen. Brad Simon for District 26 said while the program is expensive, it remains popular among families across the state.

“We don’t know where this program is going to max out at. It’s extremely popular amongst a lot of students across the state, a lot of parents across the state, for the school choice that they’re getting right now. So we need to kind of figure out and make sure that we have a responsible financial future for the program,” said Simon. 

Another issue that could surface during the session is a proposed prison in Franklin County, which was not included in the governor’s initial budget proposal.

“I think the prison is going to hang over everything, because we know that that is something that this administration still wants to pursue, and that we’re looking at a price tag of at least about a billion dollars. So I have a feeling that will overshadow the budget that we’re talking about over the next coming month. ” Leding said.

Simon represents the area where the prison would be built. He said he doesn’t think it will be in any conversation. 

“Obviously, that is the number one topic that I get anytime this budget gets brought up. I can’t talk to anybody in our district that says, ‘Is there anything in there for the prison?’ And as of right now, there’s nothing in there for the prison. The governor did not propose have anything in the proposed budget for the prison. I don’t expect us to take it up,” said Simon. 

As for what success looks like, both lawmakers said they had different goals for this session. 

Leding said he wants to see more oversight of the voucher program.

“I think if we come away with some kind of guardrails on the voucher program, some accountability measures, making sure that the money that we’re spending on this program is being spent wisely and appropriately, would be one big win,” Leding said.

Simon said his focus is on continuing efforts to reduce taxes.

“The biggest win that we could possibly have is that we have a responsible budget so that we can cut our taxes. At the end of it, cut our income tax and continue working towards getting our state income tax to zero so that we’re actually competitive with our neighboring states,” Simon said.

Lawmakers are expected to be in session for about three weeks as they work to finalize the state’s budget.