Arkansas Governor Mike Beebe knew he was preaching to the choir here Monday night; but, it didn't matter. He wanted to tell it.
“You've had a history of folks who have a history of success,” Beebe told an audience of some 600 patrons of the Hope/Hempstead County Chamber of Commerce at Fair Park Coliseum. “It's something in the water, I guess. You've had one governor on the left and one governor on the right; make up your mind.”
As Beebe joked of the leadership which has come from Hope and Hempstead County over the years, he tied that theme to the progress which Arkansas itself has seen, and how that should be encouraged.
“We have 500 cities and towns in our state, and they are just like your children; you don't like them all, all of the time, but they're yours,” he quipped. “What you can do to assist the state's effort has to be the best it can possibly be.”
That is particularly true as Arkansas competes in a national economy gone sour, Beebe noted.
“We're going through tough times, right now; I don't have to tell you that,” he said. “But, be thankful; because, that being said, Arkansas is doing better than the rest of the nation.”
He said that while jobs have been lost, Arkansas has continued to maintain its economic vitality through a balanced budget process that historically has served the state well.
“We balanced the budget; nobody is getting any raises, but they've still got a job,” Beebe said.
And, Arkansas is improving dramatically in its public education standing nationally. He said Arkansas now ranks 10th nationally in general public education.
“They're talking about us in places they never thought they'd be talking about Arkansas,” Beebe said.
Per capita income in Arkansas has also improved, he said, from 48th nationally prior to 2008 to 47th in 2008, 46th in 2007 and currently 45th.
“I'm not happy about being 48th for 60 years, but 45th is better,” he said. “Arkansas is on a rocket ride up.”
Beebe said that by setting priorities, which the state's budgeting system demands, and using “one time money for one time projects” in that mix, “We are going to be able to come out of this recession in much better shape than many other states.”
He credited those successes to the growth of local leadership in communities such as Hope and Hempstead County.
Beebe reminded the crowd that Monday was the anniversary of the tornado which devastated Mena last year.
“When there is a flood, an ice storm, a tornado, there are hundreds and thousands of Arkansans that step up to help their neighbors,” he said. “And, most of the time, it's the victims of the last disaster that are there to help.”
