Arkansas Forward report summary
The Arkansas Forward progress report (December 2024) was the deliverable of a multi-month statewide review of all 15 executive-branch cabinet departments. The 956-page strategic plan identifies more than 300 initiatives across five pillars with a combined projected impact of approximately $300 million in cost savings and cost avoidance over six years.
Strategic plan, now in execution
The report sets the projections and the playbook; the items below show how each pillar is being executed. Initiative descriptions, ranges, and statuses come directly from the report, the Governor's announcements, agency rollouts, and follow-on executive orders. Delivered milestones, in-flight workstreams, and upcoming go-lives are tracked on the timeline. Forward-looking AI opportunities sit on the AI Transformation page.
Read the full Arkansas Forward report (PDF)
Hosted at governor.arkansas.gov — the primary source for every figure cited on this page.
Primary sources
Arkansas Forward Progress Report (PDF) — Governor of Arkansas, Dec 15, 2024
Primary Arkansas Forward report PDF outlining department-by-department efficiency initiatives and the five pillar structure.
Sanders Receives Arkansas Forward Progress Report — Governor of Arkansas, Dec 16, 2024
Announcement of the Arkansas Forward progress report identifying 300+ initiatives across all 15 cabinet departments with a $300M six-year cost-savings and cost-avoidance target across five focus areas: information technology, procurement, fleet, personnel, and real estate.
State proposes $300M in cuts to Arkansas executive branch agencies over next 6 years — Arkansas SAS / Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, Dec 16, 2024
SAS-published syndication of Arkansas Democrat-Gazette coverage with concrete details on IT integration, procurement centralization, fleet reduction, real estate database, and centralized FOIA processing.
Five focus areas
Information Technology
Projected savings: $65.0M–$130.0M over 6 yrs
- Centralize IT administration and consolidate duplicative systemsIn ProgressCentralize statewide IT administration under OST, complete a comprehensive IT assessment (hardware, software, contracts, utilization), produce a consolidation plan, and stand up a centralized cybersecurity office. The report projects $40-45M in savings from application retirement and consolidation, $5-10M from de-prioritizing duplicative projects, up to $45M from program governance and modernization, and $20-25M from IT vendor renegotiation. Total $680-700M baseline annual IT spend; current cybersecurity spend of about $6M vs. $60M+ in peer states represents a clear modernization opportunity.EO 25-10 (June 2025) created the statewide governance structure, IT assessment mandate, consolidation plan, and centralized cybersecurity office.
Procurement
Projected savings: $140.0M–$230.0M over 6 yrs
- Statewide eProcurement (ARBuy on SAP Ariba) and contract renegotiationPlannedStand up ARBuy as the statewide eProcurement platform for cabinet agencies, cities, counties, universities, and K-12. The strategy follows a 40-initiative procurement framework organized into right stuff (consistent product categories, aligned specs, demand management), right total price (consolidated contracts, RFP renegotiation), and right processes (end-to-end e-procurement plus enhanced procurement staff capabilities) — all applied against approximately $1.7B in annual purchase orders and purchasing-card spending.ARBuy go-live scheduled July 2026, unlocking statewide category management and contract renegotiation at scale.
Fleet
Projected savings: $3.0M–$5.0M / year
- Right-size and modernize the state vehicle fleetPlannedReduce the cabinet passenger fleet (3,980 vehicles across 15 departments, $21M annual operating cost) by at least 860 vehicles, lower the average vehicle age from 9 to 4 years, deploy fleet telematics, establish a statewide maintenance contract, build bulk refueling stations, create inter-department vehicle pools, and align trip planning for cost effectiveness. The plan also captures a one-time $1-1.5M revenue opportunity from selling underused vehicles.Plan in place; SAS holds operational ownership through DFA fleet administration.
Real Estate
Projected savings: $15.0M–$25.0M over 6 yrs
- Consolidate state real estate footprintPlannedOptimize the documented 11.8M sq ft portfolio (5.5M office, 3.3M in Little Rock) by increasing Little Rock office occupancy, consolidating space, selling or repurposing underutilized state land, centralizing facilities management, and building a real estate database for ongoing footprint management. A large share of office leases expire within the next two years — a natural opportunity to right-size the footprint to actual employee headcount, which in Little Rock is currently served by roughly double the space it needs.Lease-expiration window is the operational catalyst for footprint reductions and consolidation.
Personnel
Projected savings: $102.0M / year
- State employee pay plan overhaulDelivered MilestoneA $102M-per-year overhaul codified as Act 499 of 2025 and effective July 1, 2025. Raises pay an average of 9.8% (from $53,784 to $58,362) for 14,539 employees — roughly two-thirds of the cabinet workforce — bringing salaries up to private-sector labor-market rates. Consolidates roughly 2,200 job titles into about 800 aligned to private-sector equivalents, expands the number of pay tables from four to six (law enforcement & safety, medical, IT, state general services, professionals, executives), and shifts to skill-based career tracks. Includes major increases for high-need roles: corrections officers +17.1% average (entry +35.3%), state troopers entry +19.8%, social services average +15.3%. Roughly $60M sourced from General Revenue with the balance from salary savings and set-aside funds; no positions eliminated.Counted as an investment in workforce, not as a savings line. Delivered: announced Nov. 2024, enacted by the General Assembly as Act 499 in March 2025, operational July 1, 2025.
- Performance-based merit raisesDelivered MilestonePerformance-linked compensation for the executive branch: 1% base salary increase for employees who met expectations on their most recent annual evaluation, and 3% for those who exceeded expectations. Applies to employees with at least a year of executive-branch service. Tied to the Arkansas Forward goal of rewarding strong performance and reinforcing a results-driven workforce culture.Announced June 9, 2025 alongside the rollout of the new pay plan.Sources: Governor of Arkansas (2025)
- Return-to-office and flexible work schedulesDelivered MilestoneBring executive-branch employees back to the workplace effective Oct. 1, 2025; extend office hours to 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Friday; offer 9/80 (nine-hour days with alternating Fridays off), 4/10 (four ten-hour days), and flex-start schedules; and expand the Infant at Work policy statewide (previously piloted in the Governor's Office and DHS).Implemented Oct. 1, 2025. Improves citizen access through extended office hours while preserving family-friendly flexibility.Sources: Governor of Arkansas (2025)
Cross-cutting
Projected savings: $300.0M over 6 yrs
- $300M / 6-year cost savings and avoidance targetProjectedThe Arkansas Forward goal: roughly $300 million in cost savings and cost avoidance across all 15 cabinet departments over six years, organized as more than 300 specific initiatives in the 956-page strategic plan.Sourced from the December 2024 progress report.
- AI and Analytics Center of Excellence (AI CoE)Delivered MilestoneThe AI Working Group launched in June 2024 stood up the AI and Analytics Center of Excellence, which delivered an initial recommendations report in April 2025 and the full two-part Effectiveness and Safety report in February 2026. The plan covers government effectiveness (productivity tools, agency modernization, Medicaid/SNAP program integrity, an AI-enabled Government Services Portal) and safety, security & trust (Chief AI Officer role, NIST-based evaluation standards, data infrastructure, transparency, AI literacy).Both major AI CoE deliverables are now published; next steps include the Chief AI Officer hire and the AI-enabled Government Services Portal.
- Speed permitting for economic development projectsIn ProgressEvery cabinet-level state agency, board, or commission that issues permits, licenses, certifications, or other regulatory approvals must complete a comprehensive review of those processes within 120 days and submit a written improvement plan within 180 days — eliminating, consolidating, or digitizing steps. Improvement plans must establish publicly available timelines, one-stop online portals, concurrent reviews, real-time status updates, and use AI to expedite permitting decisions.EO signed Feb. 16, 2026. 120-day reviews due ~mid-June 2026; 180-day improvement plans due ~mid-August 2026.Sources: Governor of Arkansas (2026)
- Consolidate executive branch boards and commissionsPlannedAmong the 300+ initiatives is a plan to consolidate executive branch boards and commissions and create a centralized division to process Arkansas FOIA requests across state government.Operational opportunity to streamline appointed bodies and create a single FOIA response point.
- One DHS — Department of Human Services efficiency programIn ProgressDHS implements 43 Arkansas Forward initiatives organized under its One DHS framework — looking for redundancies, synergies, and economies of scale across the agency. Seven initiatives are high priority, including DHS-1 (Contract Oversight and Vendor Management Unit), DHS-2 (redesigned customer service capabilities and staffing model), DHS-4 (Restructure Medicaid Operations Under a Single Appropriation), DHS-7 (strengthening payment integrity and FWA function), and DHS-10 (streamline Medicaid eligibility and enrollment for maternity care).Largest single department workstream. DHS spent $10.2B in FY24 and its Division of Medical Services received $6.89B in federal Medicaid revenue.Sources: Arkansas Policy Foundation (2025)
How this portal complements the report
The Arkansas Forward report lays out the strategic plan and the initiative inventory. This portal sits next to that work: it links every public announcement and executive order to the pillar and initiative it advances, and it lays out the calendar of upcoming milestones — including the July 2026 ARBuy go-live and the permitting-EO reviews due in mid-2026.
- Maps each initiative to its primary public source so anyone can verify the underlying record.
- Tracks delivered milestones (pay plan, EO 25-10, RTO, AI CoE, permitting EO) alongside planned go-lives.
- Surfaces the FY24 IT spend baseline that the IT pillar is operating against — see the IT spend analysis.