Methodology

This portal compiles publicly available announcements about the Arkansas Forward initiative, links every claim to its primary document, and categorizes each component with a clear evidence label so projections, plans, and delivered milestones can be read at a glance.

Source hierarchy

When sources conflict or summarize one another, this portal favors official documents in this order:

1. Primary report or PDF published by the Governor's office or SAS.
2. Executive Orders signed by the Governor.
3. Legislative acts passed by the Arkansas General Assembly (such as Act 499 of 2025).
4. Governor press releases at governor.arkansas.gov.
5. Agency announcements at sas.arkansas.gov and other cabinet-level sites.
6. Syndicated news coverage (Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, Talk Business, Arkansas Advocate, Arkansas Policy Foundation, etc.).

Definitions

Cost savings

Dollars that would otherwise have been spent and are now not spent. Requires a credible baseline and a documented cut.

Cost avoidance

Dollars that would have been added to future budgets but are now no longer projected. Easier to claim than cost savings; this site treats it as projected unless a baseline is provided.

Delivered milestone

A specific policy, plan, executive order, or report has been issued. Does not by itself imply savings.

Initiative-level savings receipts

A specific dollar figure tied to a single initiative published by SAS, the Governor's office, or another official source. These will be added as the administration publishes them.

IT spend analysis methodology

The IT spend page imports a working inventory of Arkansas state IT-related contracts built from public records. Annual cost on each row is computed as contract value divided by the stated or inferred contract length in years. The spreadsheet may include duplicates and overlapping rows across amendments. Sums shown here are upper-bound estimates and should not be cited as audited spend totals.

All sources