Arkansas

Arkansas has one of the oldest constitutional tax and expenditures limits in the country, enacted by legislative referendum in 1934. The TEL is covered in the Arkansas State Constitution Article 5 Sections 38 and 39. The limit only covers tax revenues, but the legislature can create new forms taxes not limited by the TEL. The TEL can be overridden by voter approval.

The base year represents the year the hypothetical Taxpayer's Bill of Rights (TABOR) would have been enacted. Selecting a base year changes how the state’s TABOR is calculated because the annual growth rates of inflation and population change depending on when TABOR is enacted.

Year	Inflation-adjusted Actual Spending
1992	7,725,980,000
1993	7,985,190,000
1994	8,419,950,000
1995	8,887,260,000
1996	9,317,550,000
1997	10,011,950,000
1998	10,781,630,000
1999	11,551,160,000
2000	11,375,330,000
2001	11,681,460,000
2002	12,397,080,000
2003	12,455,970,000
2004	12,932,020,000
2005	13,366,500,000
2006	13,697,280,000
2007	14,398,750,000
2008	14,511,600,000
2009	15,449,280,000
2010	15,503,320,000
2011	15,557,200,000
2012	16,283,300,000
2013	17,070,910,000
2014	17,723,510,000
2015	18,213,460,000
2016	17,949,130,000
2017	18,346,470,000
2018	18,110,600,000
2019	17,976,050,000
2020	17,940,390,000

*All spending figures are in inflation-adjusted 2020 dollars.