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Report: Proposed Medicaid, SNAP cuts would cost Arkansas thousands of jobs, $1B in GDP

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arkansasadvocate.com – Tess Vrbin – 2025-03-25 05:00:00

by Tess Vrbin, Arkansas Advocate
March 25, 2025

Arkansas’ economy would lose thousands of jobs and hundreds of thousands of dollars in tax revenue and federal funds if cuts to Medicaid and nutrition programs win congressional approval and the president’s signature, according to a Commonwealth Fund report released Tuesday.

The state’s gross domestic product would also shrink by almost $1 billion, the report from the health-care oriented foundation predicts. 

The U.S. House of Representatives approved a budget resolution in February that would clear the way for Congress to increase the federal deficit by as much as $4.5 trillion in order to pay for tax cuts, which benefit wealthy Americans more often than those with lower incomes. The resolution tasks House committees, including the one that oversees Medicaid, with finding $880 billion in spending cuts over the next decade.

If the spending cuts come to fruition and are spread out over 10 years, a cumulative $72.4 billion in Medicaid funding and $22.1 billion in Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) funding would be gone in 2026, according to the Commonwealth Fund report. Arkansas would lose $763.2 million in Medicaid funding and $129.7 million in SNAP funding.

Nearly a third of Arkansans – 875,153 – were enrolled in Medicaid as of March 1, and 235,927 Arkansans received SNAP benefits as of last week, said Gavin Lesnick, communications chief at the state Department of Human Services.

Nationwide, approximately 80 million people receive health care through Medicaid and approximately 42 million benefit from SNAP. Both are jointly funded by states and the federal government, so cuts on the federal end would put more responsibility on states to fund these programs, said Laura Kellams, the Northwest Arkansas director of Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families (AACF).

“Our concern is that these types of proposals would end up taking the food off the table of hungry Arkansans and cutting the health care of Arkansans because the state wouldn’t be able to afford to pick up that difference,” Kellams said, citing declines in state revenue resulting from income tax cuts the Arkansas government has enacted over the past decade, most recently in June 2024.

Potential Medicaid and SNAP cuts would decrease Arkansas’ gross domestic product, or the value of its goods and services produced in a year, by $999.8 million in 2026, the Commonwealth report states. Arkansas’ GDP increased by 6.9%, the highest increase nationwide, in the third quarter of 2024, according to the federal Bureau of Economic Analysis.

Arkansas’ economic output would drop by $1.66 billion from the Medicaid cuts and $119.4 million from the SNAP cuts, and the state would lose a cumulative $156.6 million in federal tax revenue and $67.9 million in state tax revenue, according to the report.

The Commonwealth Fund also projects Arkansas would lose roughly 109,000 jobs as a result of the proposed cuts. About 600 of those jobs would pertain to SNAP, with about half in food-related sectors such as agriculture, retail grocery and food processing, and the other half in other business sectors as an economic ripple effect.

An estimated 5,600 of the remaining 103,000 lost jobs would be in the health care sector serving Medicaid patients at hospitals, clinics, nursing homes and other facilities. The other 4,700 lost jobs would be a ripple effect in other industries, according to the report.

Medicaid and its beneficiaries

Congressional Democrats reported earlier this month that 25 million people nationwide could lose Medicaid coverage under the likely cuts to the program. This includes more than 250,000 Arkansans, including 100,000 rural residents and 110,000 children, the report states.

Arkansas was among the 10 states with the most children in rural areas relying on Medicaid for health insurance in 2023, and was one of only six with more than half of its rural children on Medicaid, according to a January report from Georgetown University.

Medicaid spending cuts could financially strain health care providers in rural areas to the point they could stop serving Medicaid recipients or shut down completely, according to both the Georgetown report and Tuesday’s Commonwealth Fund report.

This means rural Arkansas could see the majority of the 103,000 projected Medicaid-related job losses, Kellams said.

Additionally, low-income people’s need for health care services would increase because they would develop more health problems if SNAP cuts reduce their access to food, Arkansas Hunger Relief Alliance CEO Sylvia Blain said.

“If you’ve got cuts to your health care, you’re having to spend more of your income, whatever that may be, on health care, and then you are also cutting into your food budget,” she said. “You’re having to make harder decisions even if there were no cuts to SNAP, so the combination of those two things [is] kind of a one-two punch.”

Another likely overlap in the impacts of the proposed cuts would be in the proportion of elderly and disabled Americans who benefit from both SNAP and Medicaid or Medicare, Blain said. More than 45% of Arkansas households receiving SNAP include elderly and disabled beneficiaries, according to the Centers on Budget and Policy Priorities, a nonpartisan research institute.

More broadly, Arkansas is one of nine states that would likely end their Medicaid expansion programs if federal funding decreases, according to KFF Health News. Arkansas became the first southern state to expand Medicaid in 2013.

In January, Sanders unveiled a waiver request to the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) requesting the implementation of a work requirement for “able-bodied, working-age recipients” of the state’s Medicaid expansion program.

Arkansas implemented a work requirement for all Medicaid recipients in 2018, but it was struck down by a federal judge after 18,000 people lost coverage. Work requirements have become increasingly popular among Republican leaders in several states; AACF has repeatedly denounced such proposals.

SNAP and food insecurity

Only 69% of eligible Arkansans were enrolled in SNAP in 2020, the third-lowest participation rate of any state that year, according to USDA data.

AACF released a report in January calling for Arkansas to remove barriers to SNAP enrollment, including a lengthy application process and low ceilings on participants’ income and assets.

Regardless of whether more Arkansans are able to enroll in SNAP, fewer federal funds would result in fewer participants in the program, which could lead families to become more reliant on soup kitchens and food pantries, Blain said.

“If we reduce the amount of food that people are able to get through SNAP [and] they have to visit food pantries more often, that’s going to put even more pressure on an already very strained charitable food network that was intended to be an emergency source of food rather than someone’s regular source of food,” Blain said.

Arkansas has the highest prevalence of food insecurity in the nation, at nearly 19% in 2023, according to a U.S. Department of Agriculture report released in September 2024. The report defines food insecurity as being unable, at some time during the year, to provide adequate food for one or more household members because of a lack of resources.

Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders has made feeding children a policy priority. She opted Arkansas into a federal summer nutrition assistance program for students in 2024, and the program will continue this year. Sanders also signed a law in February making school breakfasts free for all public school students in Arkansas.

The free school breakfast program will be funded by state general revenue, private grants and taxes from Arkansas’ billion-dollar medical marijuana industry, as well as some federal funds.

Support for both cutting income tax revenue and expanding federally-funded nutrition programs eventually becomes contradictory, Blain said.

“We’d have to raise taxes in one way or another in order for the state to step in and cover some of these costs,” if federal funding is cut, Blain said.

Kellams and Blain both said they support Sanders’ proposal to eliminate the state’s 0.125% grocery sales tax. Sanders has said the Grocery Tax Relief Act will make it easier for Arkansans to afford groceries. Local sales tax on groceries would not be affected.

Eliminating the grocery tax would cost the state $4.4 million in revenue, according to a fiscal impact analysis of Senate Bill 377 by the state Department of Finance and Administration.

USDA should prohibit “junk food” purchases with SNAP benefits, Arkansas governor says

The Legislature has yet to consider SB 377 since its introduction March 5, but Sanders still wants the bill to reach her desk by the end of the session next month, her spokesperson Sam Dubke said Monday.

Sanders also supports prohibiting SNAP recipients from buying highly processed foods. Senate Bill 217 also awaits legislative consideration and would require DHS to seek federal permission to make candy and soft drinks forbidden purchases with SNAP benefits.

Arkansas officials who have been working to reduce food insecurity should urge federal officials not to support the proposed cuts in the U.S. House budget resolution, Kellams said.

“We would hope that they would use their influence with our members of Congress to let them know that this is going backwards from what we’re actually moving towards, which is trying to make sure that we have no children hungry in Arkansas,” she said.

Congressional budget resolutions are non-binding, so it’s “impossible to make any kind of accurate projections” about future binding decisions about federal spending, Dubke said.

“The Governor has been clear that America is $36 trillion in debt, and President Trump and Congressional Republicans are right to look for ways to cut wasteful spending while investing in needed priorities,” Dubke said.

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Arkansas Advocate is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Arkansas Advocate maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Sonny Albarado for questions: info@arkansasadvocate.com.

The post Report: Proposed Medicaid, SNAP cuts would cost Arkansas thousands of jobs, $1B in GDP appeared first on arkansasadvocate.com

News from the South - Arkansas News Feed

Grant Hardin used black marker & soup can to create disguise that allowed his escape

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www.youtube.com – 40/29 News – 2025-07-10 22:12:16

SUMMARY: Grant Hardin, a convicted murderer, rapist, and former police officer, escaped a medium-security prison in Arkansas using a disguise he crafted from kitchen materials. He dyed a shirt with a black marker, fashioned a makeshift badge from a soup can, Bible cover, and button, and used an apron as a bulletproof vest. The escape, lasting 12 days in the woods, revealed serious staff failures: a kitchen worker let Hardin unsupervised for over an hour, and a guard left a gate open unattended. Two prison employees were fired, but lawmakers remain unsatisfied. Hardin’s threat level was reportedly too low for his offenses, prompting ongoing investigations.

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News from the South - Arkansas News Feed

Re-live the Beatles epic 1964 tour stop in Cincinnati

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www.youtube.com – 40/29 News – 2025-07-10 09:35:38

SUMMARY: The Beatles’ 1964 Cincinnati tour stop featured lively interactions and candid remarks. The band discussed their trip, politics—expressing skepticism about Goldwater—and addressed rumors about being banned in the U.S., dismissing them as baseless. They talked about novelty merchandise like mugs but denied inventing such items. The Beatles shared impressions of American movie stars like Burt Lancaster and Gordon, describing encounters as mixed but mostly positive. Their unique hairstyles were playfully explained as natural. The clip captures the group’s playful, down-to-earth nature amid their historic U.S. visit, blending humor, music, and cultural observations.

The Beatles came to Cincinnati to play a show in August 1964 as part of a 25-city North American tour. In this rare footage, see John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr as they land at the airport to the delight of throngs of die-hard fans. The Fab Four also chatted with local media about whether they should be banned, what they knew about the upcoming presidential election and how they felt about American movie stars.

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US Education Department to revive student loan interest for borrowers in SAVE program

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arkansasadvocate.com – Shauneen Miranda – 2025-07-09 16:06:00


The U.S. Education Department announced interest on federal student loans under the Biden-era SAVE plan will resume Aug. 1 for 7.7 million borrowers, following court rulings blocking the plan’s implementation. The SAVE plan, introduced in 2023 to lower payments and forgive debt after time, was halted by legal challenges from GOP-led states. Borrowers will now owe accrued interest plus principal, urged to shift to compliant repayment plans. Education Secretary Linda McMahon criticized the previous administration’s forgiveness efforts, while advocates condemned the decision for adding financial strain. The department is also facing legal challenges amid efforts to downsize and restructure.

by Shauneen Miranda, Arkansas Advocate
July 9, 2025

WASHINGTON — Interest accrual on the debt of nearly 7.7 million student loan borrowers enrolled in the Saving on a Valuable Education plan will resume Aug. 1, the U.S. Education Department said Wednesday.

The Biden-era income-driven repayment plan better known as SAVE saw legal challenges from several GOP-led states beginning in 2024, creating uncertainty for borrowers who were placed in an interest-free forbearance amid that legal limbo.

The SAVE plan, created in 2023, aimed to provide lower monthly loan payments for borrowers and forgive remaining debt after a certain period of time.

In February, a federal appeals court upheld a lower court injunction that blocked the SAVE plan from going into effect. The department said Wednesday that it’s instructing its federal student loan servicers to start charging interest Aug. 1 to comply with court orders.

When the SAVE plan forbearance ends, “borrowers will be responsible for making monthly payments that include any accrued interest as well as their principal amounts,” the department said in a written announcement.

“For years, the Biden Administration used so-called ‘loan forgiveness’ promises to win votes, but federal courts repeatedly ruled that those actions were unlawful,” Education Secretary Linda McMahon said in a statement alongside the announcement.

“Congress designed these programs to ensure that borrowers repay their loans, yet the Biden Administration tried to illegally force taxpayers to foot the bill instead,” she added.

McMahon said her department is urging borrowers under the SAVE plan to “quickly transition to a legally compliant repayment plan.”

“Borrowers in SAVE cannot access important loan benefits and cannot make progress toward loan discharge programs authorized by Congress,” she said.

‘Unnecessary interest charges’

Mike Pierce, executive director of the Student Borrower Protection Center, blasted the department’s decision in a statement Wednesday.

“Instead of fixing the broken student loan system, Secretary McMahon is choosing to drown millions of people in unnecessary interest charges and blaming unrelated court cases for her own mismanagement,” he said.

“Every day, we hear from borrowers waiting on hold with their servicer for hours, begging the government to let them out of this forbearance, and help them get back on track — instead, McMahon is choosing to jack up the cost of their student debt without giving them a way out.”

The agency has taken heat for its sweeping actions in the months since President Donald Trump took office as he and his administration look to dismantle the department.

The department is also mired in a legal challenge over some of its most significant efforts so far, including laying off more than 1,300 employees earlier this year as part of a reduction in force effort, an executive order calling on McMahon to facilitate the closure of her own agency and Trump’s proposal to transfer some services to other federal agencies. These actions have been temporarily halted in court.

Meanwhile, President Donald Trump signed a massive tax and spending cut bill into law last week, part of which forces any borrower under the SAVE plan to opt in to a different repayment plan by July 1, 2028, or be automatically placed in a new, income-based repayment plan. 

Arkansas Advocate is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Arkansas Advocate maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Sonny Albarado for questions: info@arkansasadvocate.com.

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Note: The following A.I. based commentary is not part of the original article, reproduced above, but is offered in the hopes that it will promote greater media literacy and critical thinking, by making any potential bias more visible to the reader –Staff Editor.

Political Bias Rating: Center-Right

This article presents the developments around the federal student loan SAVE plan primarily through a critical lens toward the Biden administration’s policies, emphasizing legal challenges and statements from Education Secretary Linda McMahon, a Trump appointee, who frames the administration’s actions as unlawful and fiscally irresponsible. It includes critical commentary from conservative officials and frames the Biden-era policies as politically motivated. Although it also quotes critics of the Education Department’s decision, the overall tone and source choices suggest a center-right leaning, reflecting skepticism of progressive loan forgiveness policies while focusing on legal and fiscal accountability.

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