FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 12, 2024
CONTACT
J. Robertson, Public Affairs Director
POLL: ARKANSAS VOTERS SUPPORT COMMONSENSE WELFARE REFORMS BEING CONSIDERED IN WASHINGTON, D.C.
LITTLE ROCK, AR – Today, Opportunity Arkansas Foundation released a new poll, finding Arkansans strongly support welfare reform. The results of this poll, which surveyed more than 450 likely Arkansas voters, are particularly timely as congressional leaders and the Trump administration in Washington, D.C. contemplate major changes to America’s largest welfare programs as part of the reconciliation budget process.
The poll’s key findings include:
- WORK WANTED: A majority of Arkansas voters support requiring able-bodied adults without young children to work, train, or volunteer at least part time in order to qualify for Medicaid (57%) and food stamps (60%).
- ENDING THE OBAMACARE EXPANSION INSANITY: By a more than two-to-one margin, Arkansas voters support equalizing Obamacare Medicaid expansion funding that states get for able-bodied adults to the level of funding they receive for traditional Medicaid enrollees.
- FISCAL FAIRNESS: Also by a two-to-one margin, Arkansas voters support requiring wealthier states to pay their proportionate share of Medicaid costs.
- PROTECTING THE SAFETY NET: Voters of all political persuasions (77% of Republicans, 59% of Democrats, and 61% of Independents) are also strongly in favor of protecting the food stamp program by ending loopholes states use to bypass federal asset limits, ensuring limited resources are reserved for individuals who are truly needy, not diverted to millionaires or individuals with significant assets.
Medicaid currently has no work requirements whatsoever, although the first Trump administration approved work requirement waivers in more than a dozen states, including Arkansas. Obamacare expansion has more than doubled the share of able-bodied adults in Arkansas Medicaid, with no work requirements or time limits, putting the program out of sync with other welfare programs.
The food stamp program currently only has a work requirement for some able-bodied adults (childless adults, ages 18-54). Adults above age 54 or with dependent children are currently not subject to any work requirement nationally, although states have the option to require virtually all able-bodied adults aged 18 to 59 without school-aged children to participate in mandatory employment and training activities. In recent years, program spending has ballooned to record levels.
Additionally, federal regulations currently include a loophole that allows states to unfairly bypass federal asset limits for the food stamp program, opening the program up to waste, fraud, and abuse. Arkansas is not currently utilizing this loophole, although there has been legislation proposed during the last few legislative sessions that would do so.
Opportunity Arkansas Founder and CEO Nic Horton offered the following statement on the poll results:
“These results make it clear: Arkansans support broad welfare reform that protects our safety net for those that truly need it. They believe able-bodied adults on Medicaid who can work, should work and that food stamps should be protected for those who have nowhere else to turn. As policymakers in Washington and Little Rock make big decisions in the days ahead, they should remember the opinions of these Arkansans who sent them there.”
To view the results of the poll, click here.
For meetings, bookings, or interviews, contact J. Robertson via email at [email protected].
About Opportunity Arkansas Foundation
Opportunity Arkansas Foundation is an independent, non-profit 501(c)(3) organization on a mission to renew the Land of Opportunity by simplifying government and solving generational problems for the next generation. OA stands ready to partner with state policymakers who share these goals. To learn more, visit www.OpportunityArkansas.org.
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