Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders announced a new online dashboard Wednesday that tracks savings generated through the Arkansas Forward initiative, an effort she says is making state government more efficient while reducing costs.
Speaking at the State Capitol, Sanders said the Arkansas Forward Dashboard gives the public a one-stop resource to see where savings are being made across state government.
“We are confident that Arkansas Forward will deliver at least $300 million in savings and then blow right past that number,” Sanders said. “More exciting than the numbers on the webpage is what they actually represent, which is hundreds of millions of dollars in savings and efficiencies for the state.”
The administration says it has already verified more than $118 million in savings through Arkansas Forward, which Sanders launched after taking office to improve government operations and reduce spending. Since announcing the initiative, the administration has ended routine remote work for executive branch employees, expanded office hours at state agencies and implemented changes intended to streamline permitting and other government services.
Department of Shared Administrative Services Secretary Leslie Fisken demonstrated the new dashboard during Wednesday’s announcement. The website breaks down savings by category, including $52.3 million from technology modernization, $30.4 million from procurement and vendor management, $19.6 million from financial efficiency and cost reduction, $10 million from staffing and workforce optimization and $5.7 million from facilities and infrastructure improvements.
The dashboard also allows users to download the data behind the reported savings and will be updated monthly as additional savings are verified.
Sanders highlighted several examples of cost-saving measures, including eliminating hundreds of unused state cell phones, moving Department of Corrections community supervision payments online and renegotiating state contracts without increasing costs.
She said the initiative is focused on reducing waste while maintaining government services.
“We have the responsibility as a government to use taxpayer dollars wisely, and we’re always going to continue to look for the best way possible to provide quality services, but not be irresponsible and ridiculous,” Sanders said.
The governor said the dashboard is intended to increase transparency by allowing Arkansans to see how the administration calculates and verifies savings across state governments.
“More exciting than the numbers on the webpage is what they actually represent, which is hundreds and millions of dollars in savings and efficiencies for the state,” she said.
The administration has previously estimated Arkansas Forward will generate roughly $300 million in long-term savings through operational changes.
