LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — Legislation detailing Arkansas’ proposed $5.6 billion budget for the coming year calls for increasing funding for Medicaid and setting aside nearly $64 million in surplus funds.
Lawmakers on Monday got their first look at the proposed Revenue Stabilization Act, the budget bill that calls for a nearly $173 million increase in spending for the fiscal year that begins July 1. The Joint Budget Committee is expected to take up the measure, Tuesday.
The proposal mirrors Gov. Asa Hutchinson’s proposed budget unveiled in January. About $138 million of the funding increase in the proposal would go toward Medicaid. The bulk of the surplus money set aside would go toward a reserve fund that Hutchinson has said would set the stage for tax cuts next year.