Arkansas ballot measure · November 3, 2026
Arkansas Issue 3, explained
Economic development districts and public loans and grants. A ballot measure is a yes-or-no question put directly to voters — no candidate is involved, and the wording on the ballot is the wording that becomes law. This page shows that wording first, then what it actually changes.
The official wording
Popular Name: A Constitutional Amendment Concerning Economic Development in the State of Arkansas; and Authorizing the General Assembly to Provide for the Creation of Economic Development Districts Within Cities, Counties, or Cooperative Areas to Promote Economic Development Within the Economic Development District. Ballot Title: AN AMENDMENT TO THE ARKANSAS CONSTITUTION CONCERNING ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT IN THE STATE OF ARKANSAS; AND AUTHORIZING THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY TO PROVIDE FOR THE CREATION OF ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT DISTRICTS WITHIN CITIES, COUNTIES, OR COOPERATIVE AREAS TO PROMOTE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT WITHIN THE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT DISTRICT.
This is what appears on the ballot. Everything below explains it.
What it actually means
The Arkansas Constitution bars cities and counties from lending their credit to private companies. This amendment would create an exception: the legislature could set up programs, loans and grants of public money for economic development, including a new kind of local entity called an economic development district. Those districts could issue bonds outside the usual constitutional debt limits, and local governments could fund them or lend them credit.
If you vote YES
- The General Assembly could create programs and make loans and grants of public money to develop and diversify the state's economy, reduce unemployment or underemployment, expand transportation or commerce, or develop real estate that contributes to economic development — notwithstanding any other provision of the constitution.
- The legislature could authorise economic development districts inside cities, counties or cooperative areas. A district could issue bonds to finance projects within its boundaries, payable from funds allocated to the district.
- Those bonds would not count toward the local debt limits in Article 12, § 4, and would not be subject to Article 16, § 1 or to Amendments 62 and 65.
- Article 12, § 5 would be amended so counties, cities and towns could appropriate money for a company, association, institution or individual to finance economic development projects, provide economic development services, or fund or lend credit to an economic development district.
- According to the state's nonpartisan ballot issue guide, districts could levy taxes, assessments and fees, local governments could issue economic development bonds with approval from voters in that jurisdiction, and conflicting constitutional provisions and court rulings would be superseded.
- The General Assembly would have to pass implementing legislation before any district could be created.
If you vote NO
- Article 12, § 5 would keep its flat prohibition: no county, city, town or other municipal corporation may become a stockholder in a company, appropriate money for it, or lend it credit.
- There would be no economic development districts, no district bonds and no district taxing power; local incentive tools would stay limited to those already allowed, such as Amendment 82 bonds for large projects.
- The legislature's power to make loans and grants of public money for economic development would stay bounded by the existing constitutional provisions the amendment sets aside.
- Local economic development borrowing would continue to count against the Article 12, § 4 debt limits.
Why supporters say YES
"What we're trying to do is level the playing field with our neighboring states… It's going to allow direct local incentives to be made, potentially for retail, for housing, to clean up blight in your communities, and it's going to have the ability for local control, where your local communities can decide what's important to them."
— State Rep. Howard Beaty (R-Crossett), who sponsored the amendment in the House
"Arkansas needs more locally driven solutions for economic development. Under the current structure, counties and localities in Arkansas lack certain authority to reduce taxes or tailor incentives to attract and retain businesses. … This legislation would allow localities to pursue customized economic development strategies, compete for jobs and investment on a more level playing field."
— Arkansas State Chamber of Commerce and Associated Industries of Arkansas
Why opponents say NO
The risk falls on the public if a district's projects do not work out: "The taxpayer is who this will roll down the hill upon if it should fail. I think this particular idea needs more vetting and more time."
— State Rep. Robin Lundstrum (R-Elm Springs), who voted against the amendment
What’s genuinely uncertain
- A committee called Arkansans for Strong Communities has registered with the Arkansas Ethics Commission in support; no committee has registered in opposition, so the case against comes from a legislator rather than a campaign.
- Almost everything about how districts would work — boundaries, who governs them, what taxes or assessments they could levy, what approvals a project would need — is left to implementing legislation that has not been written.
- The amendment sets aside several existing constitutional provisions and says conflicting court rulings are superseded, and the practical reach of that is untested.
- No fiscal impact statement for Issue 3 was located.
The bottom line
Whether to let the legislature create local economic development districts that can borrow and be funded with public money outside the constitution's current limits; business groups and the sponsors say Arkansas cannot otherwise compete with neighbouring states for investment, while a dissenting legislator says taxpayers carry the risk and the idea needs more scrutiny.
One neutral sentence describing the tradeoff — not a recommendation.
Checking it against the official text
The Arkansas Secretary of State publishes the certified measures and, in most states, an official voter guide with fiscal notes. That is the authoritative version. Everything here is an explanation of it, not a substitute for it.
Confirm this with the official source
Your ballot is determined by your election authority, not by us. Verify your registration, precinct, and sample ballot at Arkansas Secretary of State.
Other measures on the Arkansas ballot
Candidates on the same ballot
- U.S. Senate election in Arkansas
- Arkansas governor's race
- Arkansas's 1st congressional district
- Arkansas's 2nd congressional district
- Arkansas's 3rd congressional district
- Arkansas's 4th congressional district