Believe In Arkansas: Recent Episodes
Ryan Norris
Welcome to “Believe in Arkansas,” where we believe that free people are capable of extraordinary things and where we provide content that will address our state’s most pressing problems and discuss how freeing the potential within our own citizens can lead to solutions.Our Network breaks barriers that stand in the way of people realizing their potential. This moves our society toward one of mutual benefit, where people succeed by helping others improve their lives.
Join Believe In Arkansas and Karla Phillips-Krivickas, CEO of Think Inclusion, as we explore how the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) empowers private school and homeschool students with disabilities. Discover little known federal resources, learn how to access vital services, and hear from experts about maximizing educational opportunities and ensuring equitable support for all students.
Email infoar@afphq.org to receive a free copy of "Access for All: Leveraging IDEA to Support Students with Disabilities in Private School Choice Programs.
To learn more and see how AFP-Arkansas can help you or your organization increase your impact in our state, email us atinfoar@afphq.orgor visit us at believeinar.com.
Join us on the Believe In Arkansas podcast as we delve into the pressing issue of Certificate of Need (CON) laws and their potential repeal. Our special guest, Alasdair Whitney, legislative counsel for the Institute for Justice, will provide expert insights on the topic. Alasdair advocates for legislative reform across various domains, including economic liberty, free speech, property rights, and civil liberties. With a distinguished background that includes serving as an assistant attorney general in Illinois, Alasdair brings a wealth of experience to the discussion. Tune in as we explore how repealing CON laws could enhance healthcare access, quality, and affordability for Arkansans needing senior and mental health care.
To learn more and see how AFP-Arkansas can help you or your organization increase your impact in our state, email us atinfoar@afphq.orgor visit us at believeinar.com.
The United States, a nation built by immigrants, stands firmly on the principles of rule of law, with a government responsible for ensuring our safety and protecting our rights. However, nowhere are these government obligations more neglected than in the realm of border security and immigrant processing.
Chief Patrol Agent Chris Clem (Ret.) has said, “We need tall fences and wide gates to secure the border.” This perspective informs the AFP's Four Pillars policy framework, which is designed by those who have firsthand experience in border protection, like Chief Clem. The framework emphasizes border security, economic competitiveness, and adherence to the rule of law.
Sam Peak, a senior policy analyst at AFP, discusses these principles and their importance on the “Believe in Arkansas” podcast. For more detailed information on the Four Pillars, please click here.
To learn more and see how AFP can help you or your organization increase your impact in our state, email us atinfoar@afphq.org
Some say 2023 is the year of the contract worker. From tech specialists to delivery services, demand for contingent workers is on the rise.
Ryan's guest is Caden Rosenbaum, Tech and Innovation Policy Analyst with Libertas Institute. Two years ago, a conversation with Rosemary, a ride-share driver, left Caden wondering why working in the gig economy shouldn't be more meaningful and reliable. For starters, he went on to discover how rigid employment laws keep employers from offering health insurance plans to contingent workers.
If we get regulators out of the way, will employers be able to fill in coverage and retirement savings gaps for contingent workers? Will that attract more workers to the flexibility and opportunities found in the gig economy?
To learn more and see how AFP can help you or your organization increase your impact in our state, email us atinfoar@afphq.org
A recent study ranked Arkansas' health-care system 47th in the country--and dead last for health-care outcomes. There's currently a moratorium on increasing the number of mental health care beds and waiting lists for those beds.
As ridiculous as it seems, for almost half a century Arkansas law has mandated that the state restrict the supply of health care available to residents through Permit of Approval laws.
Ryan's guest is Jaimie Cavanaugh, an attorney with the Institute for Justice. Author of the report Conning the Competition, as part of IJ’s legislative team, Jaimie works to expand access to healthcare by ending certificate of need laws which are known as Permits of Approval in Arkansas.
To learn more and see how AFP can help you or your organization increase your impact in our state, email us atinfoar@afphq.org
Ryan talks with National Director of Grassroots Staff Training, Carlos Muhletaler.
Government goes to those who show up! Carlos and Ryan discuss the necessity for legislative advocacy and how to prepare yourself with the tools and skills that will help you engage on issues you care about.
From phone calls and knocking on doors, to education about legislative policy and how to be a successful influencer, their insights help you prepare to participate.
Want to learn more? Go to ArkansasSpeaks.com Share your opinion. At the bottom sign up for more info and volunteer opportunities.
To learn more and see how AFP can help you or your organization increase your impact in our state, email us atinfoar@afphq.org
Arkansas has significant challenges in healthcare accessibility, transparency, and affordability. These, of course, lead to poor healthcare outcomes for the state
Arkansas health systems are ranked 47th in the country.
Accessibility: Fifty-nine counties are medically underserved.
Affordability: High out-of-pocket costs, high deductibles etc., are an affordability barrier to getting diagnoses and needed treatments for many Arkansans.
Transparency: Healthcare consumers deserve transparent pricing and options information.
Ryan talks with Dutch Rojas. Dutch is an expert in supply side healthcare strategies. He's a sought-after speaker and advisor, His work regarding all-inclusive prices and SurgeryFutures gives him important insight into policy changes that could eliminate many of our challenges.
To learn more and see how AFP can help you or your organization increase your impact in our state, email us atinfoar@afphq.org
Join us for a powerful conversation on one of the most critical pieces of immigration reform legislation – the America's Children's Act. In this thought-provoking episode of "Believe in Arkansas," we have two incredible guests joining host Ryan Norris: Dip Patel from improvethedream.org and Aneesh Komanduri, an Arkansan and expert advocate in the immigration field.
As we dive deep into the America's Children's Act, we aim to shed light on its potential impact on the lives of young immigrants and their families in Arkansas and beyond. This bipartisan legislation aims to address barriers and offer a pathway to a brighter future for children of H-1B holders who have grown up in the United States.
To learn more and see how AFP can help you or your organization increase your impact in our state, email us atinfoar@afphq.org
Deputy State Director at Americans for Prosperity in Arkansas, J.D. McGehee talks with Thurlo Cobb, Regional VP of a well known financial services company with seventeen years financial services experience.
They dive into economic issues impacting Arkansans' personal financial well-being: historically high inflation, the importance of personal financial literacy, and learning strategies for building personal wealth AND generational wealth for their families.
To learn more and see how AFP can help you or your organization increase your impact in our state, email us atinfoar@afphq.org
**What can be done to recruit and retain quality teachers, and provide them the support and freedom to connect with their passion of teaching?
How is the old stand and lecture then move on to the next module model failing students and teachers? How is the new Modern Classroom Project approach to mastery different? How has the Modern Classroom Project made their resources available to teaches and administrators?**
Ryan's guest is Kareem Farah, Chief Executive Officer & Co-Founder of the Modern Classrooms Project. Kareem spent his teaching career as a math educator in Hawaii and Washington, DC. He earned his undergraduate degree from Washington University in St. Louis and later received a master’s degree in secondary education at Johns Hopkins University. Instead of using a traditional lecture model, Kareem taught math through a blended model where students accessed content through his self-made videos. The cornerstone of his classroom was the ability for students to work at their own pace and Kareem’s ability to assess students on mastery.
To learn more and see how AFP can help you or your organization increase your impact in our state, email us atinfoar@afphq.org
“I would unite with anybody to do right and with nobody to do wrong.” - Frederick Douglass
Arkansas Deputy State Director, Americans for Prosperity Arkansas, Jason "JD" McGehee gets a college student's take on successes and opportunities breaking barriers in Arkansas.
JD talks with AFP Arkansas intern Caleb Williams, who is also a student at the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff and a National Guard Infantryman. They've worked on it all this past year. From helping people with the challenges of inflation at True Cost of Washington events across Arkansas, to their recent work helping reimagine education in Arkansas.
What drives both of them is the desire to break the barriers that keep people from realizing their full potential.
To learn more and see how AFP can help you or your organization increase your impact in our state, email us atinfoar@afphq.org
Arkansas Governor Sarah Sanders has officially signed LEARNS into law.
Rebecca Bollinger talks with Aaron Smith, Director of Education Reform for the Reason Foundation.
Open Enrollment gives families access to schools outside their zip codes. How does that work?
Education Savings Accounts will allow families to customize education for many reasons including escaping bullying and access to special curricula. How much are the funds? Is there accountability?
To learn more and see how AFP can help you or your organization increase your impact in our state, email us atinfoar@afphq.org
Governor Sarah Sanders, alongside state legislators, students, parents, and teachers unveiled Arkansas LEARNS.
Currently in Arkansas only 35% of third graders can read at grade level. The governor is proposing building robust choice tools for Arkansas parents.
In this episode, listen in on the latest virtual Parent Empowerment Panel. Ryan Norris is joined by Dr. Patrick Wolf- Distinguished Professor of Education Policy and 21st Century Endowed Chair in School Choice in the Department of Education Reform at the University of Arkansas College of Education and Health Professions and Emmy Henley- Director at Reform Alliance. They dive into the details and how LEARNS education reforms will allow parents to customize their children's education for success.
To learn more and see how AFP can help you or your organization increase your impact in our state, email us atinfoar@afphq.org
Recording of Arkansas Education Telephone Townhall with Derrell Bradford, President of 50CAN.
Over 5800 participants joined to ask questions as exciting new legislation championed by Arkansas Governor Sarah Sanders comes front and center. Topics were primarily student-based funding and open enrollment. Participants also asked important questions about the practicalities of such an important transition.
It's time to take students' addresses out of the equation and focus on our students' needs and aspirations.
To learn more and see how AFP can help you or your organization increase your impact in our state, email us atinfoar@afphq.org
Parents are being empowered by education disruption, recognizing they should control their children's schooling. Who better to determine how and where their children should learn?
Rebecca Bollinger, Digital Engagement Coordinator for AFP Arkansas talks with Kerry McDonald. Kerry is a Senior Education fellow at FEE (Foundation for Economic Education) author of Unschooled: Raising Curious, Well-Educated Children Outside the Conventional Classroom, and host of the LiberatED podcast, an adjunct scholar at the Cato Institute, education policy fellow at State Policy Network, and a regular Forbes contributor.
To learn more and see how AFP can help you or your organization increase your impact in our state, email us atinfoar@afphq.org
What are benefits cliffs? Simply put sometimes Americans reliant on anti-poverty benefits can't afford a raise or a better job. Incremental increases in income can make them suddenly and disproportionately ineligible for multiple benefits.
Benefits are a safety net not a trap that creates a disincentive to self-improvement.
Can government address the benefits cliffs by providing a softer landing towards fulfilling work and economic freedom instead of a hard fall? There's a new tool available to policy makers which allows them to identify the problem in order to formulate a solution.
Ryan's guests are Kelsey Underwood, Product Manager at Georgia Center for Opportunity and Erik Randolph, Director of Research there.
Policy makers can go to https://benefitscliffs.org/ and see if their state is currently available for analysis.
To learn more and see how AFP can help you or your organization increase your impact in our state, email us atinfoar@afphq.org
What is Esports? How should policy align to this new and innovative more-than-a-trend exploding with economic potential? There's a lot of passion in this space, not to mention billions in revenue. What are the obvious opportunities for students and the state of Arkansas?
With over 180 million monthly gamers, Esports is the fastest growing high school sport.
Ryan talks eSports with Dr. John Price, Esports Manager at The Ohio State University.
To learn more and see how AFP can help you or your organization increase your impact in our state, email us atinfoar@afphq.org
Ryan's guest is Rees Empey, Director of State Government Affairs at Libertas Institute. Hear their discussion about how sandboxes benefit both new and existing businesses, make room for innovation stifled by regulations that are decades old, and still deliver consumer protections.
So, what is a sandbox? Is it time for Arkansas to say we're open to working with you?
Don't forget to like, follow, subscribe, and share.
To learn more and see how AFP can help you or your organization increase your impact in our state, email us atinfoar@afphq.org
Ryan talks with Dr. Angela Kennedy, founder of Deeper Root Academy.
A teacher in Florida, Dr. Kennedy unlocked the opportunity to start a school which liberates students and families from the factory model for public schools. Has she created a template for student-centered education entrepreneurship?
“It’s not about how smart you are, it’s how you’re smart.” - Dr. Kennedy
They discuss the amazing genesis of Deeper Root Academy and her commitment to its students and families. Education issues and reform opportunities will be front and center in Arkansas in 2023. What can we do to model her success here?
To learn more and see how AFP can help you or your organization increase your impact in our state, email us atinfoar@afphq.org
Week after week we're living it: record high energy costs, rates of inflation higher than we've seen in over forty years, and regulations stifling innovative recovery.
For many it seems like a perfect storm of constant bad news for our personal finances and the country's economy
Ryan's guest is Akash Chougule, Vice President of Government Affairs - Americans for Prosperity. They discuss all three and what got us here. What is the way out?
Ryan's guest is Hannah Cox, an up and coming free thinker in the liberty movement. Hannah co-hosts Based with Hannah Cox and is frequently seen on Kennedy Nation on Fox News Business.
A Certificate of Need is required in order to construct a new healthcare facility. In order to obtain a CON, developers of healthcare facilities must apply to the local governmental authorities by making the case for why the community in question would benefit from that new development. Today we’ll be looking at why Arkansas should address this often needless barrier to health care, particularly mental health care.
With Arkansas Ranked 48th nationally (United Health Foundation 2021), Hannah, a former advocate with the National Alliance on Mental Illness, discusses how CON barriers unnecessarily limit choices for mental health care patients.
Americans For Prosperity – Arkansas is a non-partisan, non-profit, public policy organization of citizen activists committed to maximizing the innovation of free citizens to solve the serious problems facing our state. To learn more about our chapter and see how AFP can help you or your organization increase your impact in our state, email us atinfoar@afphq.org
Ryan talks with guest Dr. Patrick Wolf, Distinguished Professor of Education Policy and 21st Century Endowed Chair in School Choice in the Department of Education Reform at the University of Arkansas College of Education and Health Professions.
What ARE the prevailing myths about private school choice? Do school choice options for parents siphon money away from public schools? Does school choice leave other children behind in failing schools? Are private schools in school choice programs accountable in any way?
Americans For Prosperity – Arkansas is a non-partisan, non-profit, public policy organization of citizen activists committed to maximizing the innovation of free citizens to solve the serious problems facing our state. To learn more about our chapter and see how AFP can help you or your organization increase your impact in our state, email us atinfoar@afphq.org
Dr. David Mitchell and Ryan Norris talk about the AFP/ACRE partnership and how ACRE- Arkansas Center for Research in Economics UCA- has informed policy changes in the state. Research at ACRE focuses on barriers to employment, taxes and spending, targeted incentives, and government transparency. Over the past years ACRE and AFP have partnered to bring about important policy changes in Arkansas.
Americans For Prosperity – Arkansas is a non-partisan, non-profit, public policy organization of citizen activists committed to maximizing the innovation of free citizens to solve the serious problems facing our state. To learn more about our chapter and see how AFP can help you or your organization increase your impact in our state, email us atinfoar@afphq.org
Ryan's guest is Jude Schwalbach, Policy Analyst at Reason Foundation.
Millions of K–12 students enrolled in public schools must attend schools determined by outdated systems based on attendance boundaries not student needs. Bureaucrats, not families, are deciding where most children can go to school.
If parents find their children stuck in low performing schools what are the options? What should be the options?
Americans for Prosperity's vision is to break down barriers that prevent people from living to their full potential. Allowing students to attend the public school of their choice would break down a huge barrier to educational achievement.
Learn more at https://americansforprosperity.org/believe-in-arkansas/? or email us infoar@afphq.org
“The secret of getting ahead is getting started.” - Mark TwainRyan's guest is Ryan Nabil, a Research Fellow with the Center for Technology and Innovation at the Competitive Enterprise Institute a Free Market think tank.
Before CEI, Ryan completed an MA in global affairs from Yale University, where he studied international relations, international law, and quantitative analysis. While at Yale, Ryan worked as a teaching fellow for three Yale courses and served as the managing editor of the Yale Journal of International Affairs.
AFP's vision is to break down barriers that prevent people from living to their full potential. Can regulatory sandboxes remove hurdles for entrepreneurial opportunities and development in Arkansas?
Ryan's guests are Marc Levin, Chief Policy Counsel for the Council on Criminal Justice and Adam Gelb, President and CEO, Council on Criminal Justice.
We all see the headlines. Perhaps you've been personally affected by violent crime. So what are the solutions? Rising crime rates are sure to be a huge issue this election year.
Ryan and his guests review the Council on Criminal Justice's report "Saving Lives: Ten Essential Actions Cities Can Take to Reduce Violence Now". They also have a surprising analysis of the City of Little Rock's recent declaration that violent crime is a public health emergency.
**With the Arkansas legislative session beginning February 14th, Ryan Norris and his guest will be discussing Arkansas state spending.
Hear from Dr. Jeremy Horpedahl, assistant professor of economics at the University of Central Arkansas and an ACRE Scholar - Arkansas Center for Research in Economics.
Arkansas Tax Freedom Day is April 8th. Where's the money coming from and where will it be spent?**
Americans For Prosperity – Arkansas is a non-partisan, non-profit, public policy organization of citizen activists committed to maximizing the innovation of free citizens to solve the serious problems facing our state. To learn more about our chapter and see how AFP can help you or your organization increase your impact in our state, email us at infoar@afphq.org
**Our guest is Dr. Sarah McKenzie, the Executive Director of the Office for Education Policy at the University of Arkansas.
A teacher at heart, Sarah has taught students from pre-kindergarten to university level, has provided training and consulting to public school districts, and has presented nationally and internationally on educational statistics.**
Ryan talks about the impact of record inflation on all of us with Paige Terryberry, Senior Analyst for Fiscal Policy with the John Locke Foundation.
Have we overemphasized standardized testing at the expense of allowing teachers to educate our children?
Believe in Arkansas Thursday, November 18th, Ryan Norris speaks with Dr. J.C. Huff, a former public-school superintendent and Executive Director of Bright Futures, a student support non-profit. They talk about student assessments and how testing should be a seamless part of a child’s education experience—not the end focus of education.
Many of Arkansas’ top exports are products of the agriculture industry, yet it is difficult to keep small farms operational and attract new farmers and ranchers into the industry.
Believe in Arkansas Thursday, December 2nd Ryan Norris speaks with Michael Harden, Vice President of Development at John Locke Foundation, and Matthew Nicaud, technology specialist with the Mississippi Center for Public Policy. They discuss the future of Agri-Tech and removing unnecessary barriers to food production and processing.