Planned Parenthood Reports Little Campaign Activity in Arkansas During COVID

On Friday Planned Parenthood Great Plains Votes Arkansas filed its quarterly report with the Secretary of State’s office.

The report shows Planned Parenthood’s PAC did virtually no campaigning in Arkansas during the past three months.

Last fall Planned Parenthood’s super PAC pledged to spend at least $45 million on the 2020 elections, nationwide.

The abortion giant has four main goals:

  • Defeat President Trump
  • Flip the U.S. Senate from Republican to Democrat
  • Maintain Democratic control over the U.S. House of Representatives
  • Support liberal candidates in state races

In April Planned Parenthood reported that its political action committee in Arkansas raised $4,558.29 since the beginning of the year.

And earlier this year the group endorsed several candidates running for federal office and for the state legislature in Arkansas.

However, the latest reports show the political action committee Planned Parenthood Great Plains Votes Arkansas did not donate to any candidates and conducted virtually no activity in the state from April to June of this year.

Unfortunately, while Planned Parenthood’s political action committee has not been as active in Arkansas during the COVID-19 outbreak, Planned Parenthood’s abortion facility in Little Rock certainly has.

Abortion facilities in Arkansas saw an uptick in women coming to Arkansas from out of state during the spring COVID-19 shutdowns.

That said, it’s worth noting that pollsters have consistently found voters do not agree with Planned Parenthood’s radical efforts to make abortion more accessible.

A recent poll by CBS News found most Americans believe abortion ought to be either completely illegal or legal under fewer circumstances than it currently is.

Time and again surveys have found Americans oppose abortion on demand —  particularly in Arkansas.

Planned Parenthood probably will accelerate its political campaigns in Arkansas and elsewhere between now and November.

The PAC in Arkansas currently has nearly $18,000 in the bank, and it could donate some or all of that money to candidates at any time.

It’s also possible that Planned Parenthood’s super PAC at the national level will budget some money for the political action committee in Arkansas.

However, if public opinion is any indicator, Arkansans simply are not onboard with Planned Parenthood’s pro-abortion message. That’s a good thing.

Read the quarterly report from Planned Parenthood Great Plains Votes Arkansas here.

State Lottery Spends One-Fourth as Much on Students as Prizes

The Arkansas Lottery wrapped up its fiscal year on June 31, 2020.

According to reports the state released on Friday, the Lottery budgeted four times as much money for prizes as it did for college scholarships.

The Arkansas Lottery spent a little less than $89.5 million on scholarships — about 16.8% of its total revenue for the fiscal year

However, the Arkansas Lottery budgeted nearly $370 million for prizes — about 69.5% of its revenue.

For perspective, the typical state lottery spends about 30% of its revenue on education and about 60% on prizes paid out to lottery players.

Because the Arkansas Lottery budgets so much money for prizes and so little for education, the Lottery has failed to live up to its promise to provide $100 million per year in funding for college scholarships.

Had the Arkansas Lottery structured its budget more like most states, it probably would have provided millions more in scholarship funding.

Below is a breakdown of lottery revenue, scholarship funding, and prize payouts for Fiscal Year 2020.

Scholarship Spending

MonthGross Lottery RevenuePaid to Scholarships% Gross Revenue
July$41,239,173.79$4,523,930.7511.0%
August40,899,086.754,942,736.9712.1%
September36,202,677.796,565,973.3218.1%
October38,932,640.236,318,099.2116.2%
November36,118,641.125,947,177.4516.5%
December46,134,469.216,371,983.4913.8%
January, 202040,802,067.758,239,083.7720.2%
February40,670,746.717,233,556.7717.8%
March47,876,969.857,386,497.3015.4%
April49,549,754.168,318,312.6416.8%
May61,129,306.968,619,106.3914.1%
June52,445,625.4614,984,463.1828.6%
Total$532,001,159.78$89,450,921.2416.8%

Prize Allocation

MonthGross Lottery RevenueTotal Prizes% Going to Prizes
July$41,239,173.79$27,395,174.4466.4%
August40,899,086.7527,981,278.9068.4%
September36,202,677.7925,380,100.6970.1%
October38,932,640.2326,836,578.1468.9%
November36,118,641.1224,593,530.9568.1%
December46,134,469.2132,772,295.0971.0%
January, 202040,802,067.7527,636,240.2467.7%
February40,670,746.7128,772,455.2370.7%
March47,876,969.8533,400,886.9269.8%
April49,549,754.1635,431,849.0371.5%
May61,129,306.9642,848,771.8270.1%
June52,445,625.4636,553,760.7069.7%
Total$532,001,159.78$369,602,922.1569.5%