I Picked the Wrong Week...

I felt like Lloyd Bridges in Airplane, "I picked the wrong week to stop drinking"... Red Bull...






My youngest daughter, Hannah, and I spent this past week pacing the halls of the state Capitol trying to keep a pulse on what is going on with all the tax increases, tax cuts and new government regulations. 


It started very late Monday night when news spread fast about Governor Beebe hoping to make Arkansas the Flagship for socialized healthcare by being the first state to fully implement Obamacare. (Read more...)


Which, among other reasons, is why Rep Ed Garner chose to not run HB1002, Captial Gains Tax Cut on Wednesday (will run next Wednesday), to allow the focus to be on Sen. Missy Irvin's bill SB 709, a bill that would have required  state agencies to document the expenses they incur to implement the federal health law. That committee meeting (IMHO) was a embarrassment to the system and to our state. (Read why...)


Thursday brought the "Internet Tax" bill that flew threw the Senate 26-7, meaning many thought-to-be conservatives voted YES to this tax increase. (Read more...)

But Friday was the clincher. I was truly feeling the depths of Mr. Bridges' sentiments as I scoured the Capitol for the nearest Red Bull vendor.


Yesterday morning bright and early the "Shale Tax" bill was heard in the House Insurance and Commerce Committee. (scratching my head) One might think that it would be heard by the House Revenue and Tax Committee. Oh wait the House Revenue and Tax Committee is majority Republican....


This meeting was the Coup de grace' of  back room politics. 


(this is a true parenthetical moment ...My brain just did a flash to Tony Soprano saying "I'm in the waste management business. Everybody immediately assumes you're mobbed up. It's a stereotype. And it's offensive... There is no Mafia.")  I'm not sure why that scene just popped into my head, let's continue.


The "Shale Tax" meeting was packed. The media reported 250 but I can tell you if there was one, there were 400. The word was spreading fast that Speaker Moore was considering not running the bill because he felt he did not have the votes, even in this stacked committee, to get a do pass; plus the size of the turn out (and I am not speaking of the number of people).


But he ultimately did and  it was quite the show. Don't take my word for it, watch it for your self here http://arkansas-house.granicus.com/MediaPlayer.php?view_id=2&clip_id=393




I was slinging the Red Bull back one after the other around the time the House convened at 10 am, anxiously awaiting the floor vote on HB1902, another bill Speaker Moore supports, the "Diesel Tax" bill, that would raise the price of diesel fuel on Arkansans an additional .05/gal over the rest of the nation. (Read more...)


In case you haven't heard the diesel tax passed through the Arkansas house 67-24. Once again legislators Arkansans thought they could trust to protect us from additional taxation and government regulations voted to increase the cost of diesel fuel on us by .05/gal. 


Don't be fooled by any rhetoric you hear them justifying it about putting it to a vote of the people, Horse Feathers!, we sent them there with a CLEAR message in November, NO MORE TAXES.




Not only that but with that vote the said yes to spending millions of tax payer dollars to do it. See the powers that be recognize you can't let a good crisis go to waste, when thousands of Arkansans are dying everyday because of lack of good roads and safe bridges. We must implement this tax NOW by holding a SPECIAL ELECTION, which will cost more than 1million tax payer dollars (some estimates I have gotten over the last 24 hours say $2million) EACH time.


I say each time because unbeknownst, evidently, to several who voted for this tax increase, the language in the bill provides that the Governor can run "subsequent" elections if the proposition fails as many times as it takes to pass and as often as every six months (page 10 staring line 7 http://www.arkleg.state.ar.us/assembly/2011/2011R/Bills/HB1902.pdf)


We also know that there will be an "education" campaign from our illustrious protectors, to ensure that every Arkansan knows the urgency that is before us with regards to our roads.


Watch the House vote here~http://arkansas-house.granicus.com/MediaPlayer.php?view_id=2&clip_id=394


Friends, I know you are busy, tired and perhaps feel unable to make a difference. But that is simply not true. If not for the people who have engaged in the past two years all of this stuff would have already been implemented with not a single hiccup. We have been able to shine the light on what has been going on now for decades right under our noses, and we ARE MAKING a difference.


Regardless of what you have been told the government is still run of, by and for the people. The people just need assert their power by the means afforded us in our system, IT WORKS! We just need to work it.


What you can do~

1. Spread this information FAR AND WIDE, make sure those in your spheres of influence    know what is going on, it affects their families too.
2. Find out who your elected officials are and COMMUNICATE with them. Let them know you willing to do the work it takes to come alongside them so they CAN represent YOU according to your beliefs and values
3. Read and investigate. What episode of Glee is more important than the future of your children and the families in our communities.
4. Ask questions. Tons of questions
5. GET INFORMED AND ENGAGED~

If you need help and want a little more direction, call me 501-258-6353, the more people we have seriously involved the faster we get our state on the right track and the more we secure the futures of the next generation.

The Truth about the Diesel Tax

Today the House Public Transportation Committee allowed an increase to Arkansas Diesel fuel to move forward. Speaker of the House, Robert Moore's HB 1902, which would increase the cost to Arkansans for diesel fuel an additional .05 per gallon, sailed through the republican controlled committee on a voice vote with nary a roll call.

The committee has 10 republican members, 3 [Reps. Denny Altes (R-Fort Smith), Gary Stubblefield (R-Branch), and Prissy Hickerson (R-Texarkana.)] of which admitted to blogger Jason Tolbert they voted for the bill. (read details here)

This bill will it the House floor tomorrow afternoon. Here some things you should know and pass on to your representative.

**This information provided by Teresa Oelke, Executive Director of Americans for Prosperity Arkansas.

The Arkansas chapter of Americans for Prosperity opposes HB1902, a bill that increases diesel taxes. Currently, Arkansas has the highest diesel taxes in the region (Missouri, Oklahoma, Texas, Tennessee, Louisiana, and Mississippi) by 2.7 cents. This measure will increase Arkansas’ diesel tax to 7.7 cents higher than all of our surrounding states.

More importantly, diesel taxes are almost entirely passed on to consumers according to a Stanford University study conducted in March of 2010.[1] According to the study, for every one cent diesel tax increase per gallon, Arkansas consumers face an increase retail price of 1.09 cents. Because Arkansas has the third highest per capita receipiants of social security payments in the United States, just over 20% of our population[2], the burden will be felt most significantly by those living on fixed incomes.

Proponents of this legislation admit the tax increase will pull $100 million dollars in tax revenue each year out of the private sector, one billion over ten years. Each year, that is $60 million in NEW taxes or $600 million in new taxes over ten years taken out of the private sector.

Arkansas AFP will score the vote on HB 1902 on their legislative score card.

Overview

In a detailed study of the effects gas and diesel tax increases have on consumer prices, Stanford University concluded “We find that state gasoline and diesel taxes are on average fully passed on to consumers.”[3] In regards to diesel taxes, “Our base findings indicate that diesel taxes are fully passed on to consumers. Increases in state diesel taxes of one cent per gallon lead to an increase in the state retail price of 1.09 cents.”[i]

In addition to keeping the .04 cent diesel tax that is schedule to sunset; this bill adds .05 cents to the diesel tax, for a tally of .09 cents in diesel taxes increases. This will push Arkansas to have the highest diesel tax in the region by 7.7 cents[4] which puts us at a significant competitive disadvantage.

---

[1] http://www.gsb.stanford.edu/facseminars/events/applied_microecon/documents/ame_10_10_marion.pdf

[2] Social Security Administration Master Beneficiary Record

[3] http://www.gsb.stanford.edu/facseminars/events/applied_microecon/documents/ame_10_10_marion.pdf

[4] http://www.easy-tax-information.com/support-files/diesel-fuel-taxes-by-state-january-2011.pdf

[i] http://www.gsb.stanford.edu/facseminars/events/applied_microecon/documents/ame_10_10_marion.pdf

Internet Tax Passes Through Senate

Some Arkansas legislators are still evidently not convinced that Arkansans were serious in November when we sent a resounding message to stop raising taxes and begin to reign in spending.

Today the Arkansas Senate passed the "Internet Tax Bill", SB 738,  by a vote of  26-7-2. "Yes" votes would include all 20 Democrats and 6 Republicans. 

Many proponents of this bill will tell you it is not a tax increase, which technically is true, BUT the net effect is a tax increase to the consumer on all internet purchases. 

According to a letter sent by Grover Norquist, President of Americans for Tax Reform, to Members of the Arkansas State Senate this bill could put Arkansas at risk of legal action, circumvents the law and negatively impacts in-state business, just what we need given the current economic state. 

I am wondering why the Attorney General has not stepped in to speak against this particular bill given his consistent concern over the state being sued for other bills. Why just yesterday his office spoke against SB709, which failed to make it through committee, sighting that it might place the state in a situation of litigation. 

SB709 would have given transparency to Arkansans when dealing with the implementation of Obamacare here in Arkansas. Read more about yesterday's shenanigans here. 

Here is the entire letter sent to Arkansas Senators by Grover Norquist: 

I write in strong opposition to establishing an affiliate nexus Internet tax in Arkansas under Senate Bill 738. The bill’s intent is to require out-of-state retailers to collect and remit sales tax on products purchased online by residents. However, the realistic outcome of this legislation will do more to negatively impact in-state businesses than it will to level the playing field.

Current jurisprudence, under the Supreme Court’s ruling in Quill v. North Dakota, requires a business to have a physical presence in a state in order for the state to compel that business to collect sales taxes. SB 738 attempts to circumvent this law and require out-of-state retailers to collect tax by presuming a company has a presence if 1) business is solicited through a third-party affiliate in the state, or 2) it is part of a “controlled group of corporations” with another one based the state.

This bill flies in the face of the Supreme Court’s ruling and could bring a lawsuit to Arkansas at a time when the same tax is already undergoing legal challenge in New York.

Senate Bill 738 could inadvertently punish Arkansas advertisers and other businesses. This tax expands the definition of doing business to include an out-of-state retailer that has an affiliate in Arkansas. If having an affiliate in Arkansas creates a nexus for out-of-state retailers, these retailers will likely terminate advertising or other agreements with Arkansas businesses. This is precisely what has happened when similar legislation passed in other states, such as Rhode Island and North Carolina.

If online retailers sever nexus to avoid the tax change, the state will not raise revenue. In fact, should this bill pass and online retailers sever contracts, 1,800 advertising affiliates in Arkansas will lose business and the state will lose the $9 million in state income tax that these affiliates pay.

There are two potential outcomes. If SB 738 is scored assuming no online retailer severs their in-state ties, the bill will be a tax increase that raises revenue and Americans for Tax Reform considers it a violation of the Taxpayer Protection Pledge. If SB 738 is scored to not raise revenue, it assumes out-of-state retailers will sever their ties with Arkansas businesses, causing them and the state to lose revenue without leveling the playing field between brick-and-mortar and online retailers. This is no contradiction – it simply depends on how economic actors react to the tax change. Regardless, both of these outcomes make for bad tax policy, and the more likely outcome makes the intent of this legislation – leveling the playing field – irrelevant.

For these reasons, the affiliate nexus Internet tax has been rightly rejected in at least 14 other states. We urge you to reject Senate Bill 738. If you have any questions, please contact Kelly William Cobb at (202) 785-0266.

 Onward,

Grover Norquist
President, Americans for Tax Reform

New Shale Caucus

A new bi-partisan caucus has formed in the Arkansas Legislature. The Fayetteville Shale Caucus is made up of 16 legislators (there are others joining) that want to protect the economic well-being of the Fayetteville shale from potentially damaging legislation.

The Arkansas Democrat Gazette reported today that "there have been 27 bills filed that would affect natural gas drilling in the state, many of them by Rep. Kathy Webb of Little Rock."

The article also printed this statement issued from the Caucus:

“We all have issues that our constituents want addressed. Sometimes, however, people file bills with good intent that effect the lives and jobs of people not in their district. It’s become pretty clear the Fayetteville Shale Play has become a target for a lot of recent legislation. The Fayetteville Shale is an economic engine that we must protect. Our goal is to protect the economic impact of the affected counties while working with the industry folks to encourage good corporate citizenship. We think we can do that without a ton of legislation. Hopefully, the people will appreciate the bi-partisan cooperation and the unity between members of different chambers.

We, and many of our colleagues, agree that we need to send the right message to the business community that we appreciate their business and can find ways to work pro-actively through issues. The Fayetteville Shale Play is important to the long-term economic future of our districts and also the State ofArkansas. We are confident this will be a constructive working group that will strengthen the relationship between this important industry and the people of Arkansas.”

 TalkBusiness had this to say about the new Shale Caucus:

The Shale Caucus could face their first test tomorrow morning in House Insurance and Commerce. HB 1992, which would eliminate a severance tax reduction for "high-cost" wells, is expected to be considered. The bill could threaten drilling activity in the region, in part due to the low price of natural gas in the commodities markets. More details on that bill and an interview with Southwestern Energy executive Mark Boling, who discusses the economics of drilling as well as some interesting comments on the mystery of earthquake activity in Arkansas, at this link

Members of the Caucus include: 

State Representative Mark Biviano (R-Searcy)

State Representative Robert Dale (R-Dover)

State Representative Jane English (R-North Little Rock)

State Representative Jeremy Gillam (R-Judsonia)

State Representative Andrea Lea (R-Russellville)

State Representative Josh Johnston (R-Rose Bud)

State Representative Stephen Meeks (R-Greenbrier)

State Representative David Meeks (R-Conway)

State Representative David Sanders (R-Little Rock)

State Representative Tommy Thompson (D-Morrilton)

State Representative Linda Tyler (D-Conway)

State Senator Gilbert Baker (R-Conway)

State Senator Jonathan Dismang (R-Beebe)

State Senator Michael Lamoureux (R-Russellville)

State Senator Jason Rapert (R-Bigelow)

State Senator David Wyatt (D-Batesville)

Locomotive Speeds Through Arkansas Capitol

WOW! Did anyone else out here notice that locomotive that roared full-bore through the Senate Public Health Committee  today, as SB709 was set for a visit?

As the engineer (Chairman), Senator Percy Malone, grabbed for the whistle to get the train movin,’ people filed in like slabs of beef in a refrigerator car until there wasn’t an inch of space to spare.

It was quite evident from the strike of the gavel that Chairman Malone was going to ensure a fair and balanced debate this morning…NOT (This means I’m kidding).

The meeting hadn’t gotten a full head of steam when Malone suggested time limits for each side. If he’d had it his way, it was evident to me the committee would’ve passed this stop all together. The meeting began at 10 a.m. and was over just shy of 11, with more than a dozen folks slated to speak. So much for open and reasonable debate in conducting the people’s bidness.

I’ll not belabor the blow-by-blow. However two people I spoke with after the meeting, who had traveled from out of state just to testify for this particular bill, were shocked at the way things went.

Christie Herrera, Director Health and Human Services Task Force at the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), and John Nothdurft, Director of Government Relations for the Heartland Institute both travel extensively to testify before legislative bodies all over the country. They shared with me that, in their experience, neither had felt so “railroaded” before. They each recognized quickly that the committee meeting was nothing more than a formality to a predestined end, regardless of what expertise they each brought to the table. In other words, my friends, the thing had been all planned out beforehand.

It was no surprise that the Attorney General’s office showed to testify against the bill, as did a few other government agencies, to which one observer said and was later tweeted by @AFPArkansas: “What happened today was as follows: the gov’t lobbying the gov't for more gov't.” No truer synopsis of the day.

The end of the tracks for SB709 was a split vote 4-4 straight down party lines.

The bug slinger here was Senator David Burnett (D-Osceola) who,  up until today’s steamrolling, was considered relatively conservative. He ran last November unopposed, I somehow doubt that happens again.

I’m sure the fact that this is Governor Beebe’s pet project had nothing to do with the speed at which engineer Malone ran his locomotive through today’s session. But as with all speeding trains at some point there is a stop. And it can be ugly to watch.

That’s when passengers that have been riding along for long time without feeling appreciated or respected can become quite disgruntled. That usually means they search for find a new carrier who will listen to them and give a whistle about meeting their needs and concerns.

My hope and prayer is that this happens well before this high velocity engine jumps the tracks, leaving untold numbers of Arkansans among the carnage and wreckage. 

As a side note here is a statement released today on this issue from our Lt. Governor Mark Darr:

"I appreciate Senator Missy Irvin’s efforts today to help bring to light the cost of implementing the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA).  Senate Bill 709, would have provided to the legislature as well as Arkansans the total cost of this act to our state, how many individuals will directly be affected and the consequences of not implementing it. As a candidate I traveled the state talking about the importance of government transparency and spoke openly against government mandated healthcare. Senator Irvin’s bill would have simply provided the accountability and transparency citizens demand from our Government. We all have the right to better understand how PPACA is going to affect each and every one of us. I applaud the four Senators who voted for this bill in committee as well as the many citizens who lined the hallways, placed calls and emails in support of this bill.”

Other articles you may want to read on the issue:

http://tolbertreport.com/2011/03/09/sen-irvins-senate-committee-showdown/

http://talkbusiness.net/article/ALL-EYES-TURN-TO-FEDERAL-HEALTH-CARE-AGAIN-UPDATED-/1600/

http://www.curtiscolemaninstitute.com/blog1/?p=1585

Arkansas Flagship For Obamacare~

There are tons of questions and assertions flying around about the latest brouhaha at the Little Rock Capitol~ Obama Care coming to Little Rock.

Evidently Governor Mike Beebe has decided to present his own form of healthcare reform. It is no secret that Gov. Beebe has had visions of Medicaid dollars dancing in his head. One should be careful what they wish for~he has found himself under the thumb of Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius and, thus, President Obama.

"In conjunction with Medicare, Arkansas Blue Cross and BlueShield, and private insurance plans, Arkansas Medicaid will design and then implement the nation's first statewide payment-reform initiative. The initiative will pay partnerships of local providers to act as health homes." This is an excerpt from a letter released from the Governor's office. (Full Doc here)

Today will be the first in likely many battle that Arkansans will face in the future to win the war of Capitalism vs. Socialsim in the world of healthcare. Sen. Missy Irvin will be presenting SB709 - "An Act to Create the Healthcare Reform Accountability Act." You may also like to read that bill by clicking here. This is a major step toward real transparency and accountability of healthcare in Arkansas.

More articles on the matter

GOVERNOR'S MEDICAID REFORM ENCOUNTERING APPREHENSION 

Aarkansas Gov. Beebe Seeks To Be First State To Implement ObamaCare

Ready or Not Here They Come

This was made in a hurry so please excuse any typos, on the road and trying to keep up~




Yesterday was the last day for legislators to file bills and nearly 500 bills were filed leaving the total at close to 2400 for the session. 


I saw a great point made on twitter yesterday~ 
"Are we under-governed, or were previous #arleg's so inept that we need 300 bills filed in one day?" This was made at 3pm, so as you can see they used every last minute.




On the Healthcare Front


Stay tuned today for major news on Arkansas Healthcare- Check my facebook -Laurie Lee Masterson or follow on Twitter @LaurieMasterson #ARLeg
 
Senator Missy Irvin has authored a SB709 that concerns Federal Mandates on the Obama Healthcare bill. This bill would make it mandatory for the Feds to disclose how your money is being spent, where it is being spent and where the monies came from. This bill will be heard on Wednesday- You need to be there


Senator Dismang filed SB593 is on the Senate Public Health Committee agenda could be heard today. This would allow an employer you could benefit from modifying the rules for unemployment insurance. 








Legislative Odds and Ends from Talk Business:

Monday was one of the busiest days of the 88th Arkansas General Assembly as 304 House bills were filed and 192 Senate bills met the deadline. In total, there are 2,234 bills being debated this session and that doesn't include any resolutions, which do eat up committee and floor time.

Today, the Governor's prison bill cleared a Senate Judiciary Committee with ease. As indicated in a previous post, this bill may be signed into law by next week. FYI, Kelly MacNeil with our content partner, KUAR-FM 89 News, highlights a prisoner who could have been helped at some point if the changes under consideration were enacted. (read more...)

News on Unemployment  If you didn't know Arkansas' unemployment trust fund drowning in debt, we have borrowed as much as $400 million in the short term and our unemployment woes are not going away any time soon. Senator Dismang and Representative Carter have filed bills restructure unemployment benefits for Arkansans (HB1728 and SB593). According to the Rogers Chamber, "it is widely anticipated that the federal government will increase the federal wage base on employers. Therefore, passage of state legislation would be the first step in reducing outflows from the fund. The legislation removes indexing of benefits, restricts qualifications, and slightly reduces the length of benefits paid by the state. Current projections estimate that employers will have to pay $21 per employee more in 2012 and $42 more in 2013 to repay the debt to the federal government. This outlay might be reduced with passage of these two bills.

Letting Capital Prompt Gains~ Capital Gains Tax Cut~

Let’s kick this off with explaining what a capital gain even is in the world of taxation. It was brought to my attention the other day that many people don't have a clue what the term means. It does have one of those foggy, generalized sounds that conjures not a single image.
   

A capital gain is simply what the tax law calls the profit you receive when you sell a capital asset, which is property such as stocks, bonds, mutual fund shares and a business that constitutes real estate. This doesn’t include your primary residence by the way.

There already is a federal capital gains tax, which means that even without an additional state version, you will pay at least 10% (and as much as 36%) on a short-term capital gain (less than a year) regardless of your home state. 

But if you’re a business owner or someone who owns real estate, or has invested his money and lives in the state of Arkansas , you’ll also be forking over another average of 4.9 percent on the sale. 
    

I should point out again at this point that Arkansas is one of the nation's least business friendly states, coming it at 39th. We are the 14th highest in state and local tax burden at 9.8%   and Arkansans make $13,000 less than the national average median income. 

Our neighbor states (see map above) are kicking our Razorback hindquarters , and Texas, our arch sports rival is growing in business because they have figured out how to attract, rather than repel new businesses that spell additional new jobs. Those Longhorn folks, along with other neighboring Southern states, realize that eliminating their capital gains taxes is just good for business growth.

According to the Tax Foundation's Background Paper: 2011 State Business Tax Climate Index 

A far more effective approach is to systematically improve the business tax climate for the long term so as to improve the state's competitiveness. When assessing which changes to make, lawmakers need to remember these two rules:

• Taxes matter to business. Business taxes affect business decisions, job creation and retention, plant location, competitiveness, the transparency of the tax system, and the long-term health of a state's economy. Most importantly, taxes diminish profits. If taxes take a larger portion of profits, that cost is passed along to either consumers (through higher prices), workers (through lower wages or fewer jobs), or shareholders (through lower dividends or share value). Thus a state with lower tax costs will be more attractive to business investment, and more likely to experience economic growth. 

• States do not enact tax changes (increases or cuts) in a vacuum. Every tax law will in some way change a state's competitive position relative to its immediate neighbors, its geographic region, and even globally. Ultimately it will affect the state's national standing as a place to live and to do business. Entrepreneurial states can take advantage of the tax increases of their neighbors to lure businesses out of high-tax states.

Columnist Mike Masterson, (full disclosure) my husband, described in his column yesterday this very scenario: 

[A] reader told me that in 1991 an Arkansas banker he knew prepared to sell his bank holding company to another in-state, start-up bank holding business. Before the transaction occurred, the seller moved to a neighboring state that had no a capital gains tax on a business sale. This meant that he legally avoided paying capital gains and income taxes.
Six years later, the same holding company was bought out by another in-state bank that was, in turn, was bought by another, all in fairly short order.
“Those were stock exchange and tax-free gains until a shareholder sold his shares in the open market,” the reader wrote. “As a director and shareholder of the original purchasing bank, I bought as much stock in the bank as I could.”
When the time came for him to sell and pay capital gains, he’d already left Arkansas and saved a hefty chunk by avoiding capital gains taxes on the sale. He still holds a fair amount of stock in another bank after selling half of it while living in his new home state. Once again, he paid nocapital gains taxes because he didn’t have to.
Another of his friends in Arkansas owned a professional firm that he wound up selling. He also bought a home and moved to another state without any capital gains tax before the sale was complete. Cha-ching!
“Arkansas has lost quite a bit in sales and ordinary income taxes from just from us,” the reader. “Arkansas definitely needs to have this bill passed.”
Any questions so far? I hope the need for HB 1002 is becoming much clearer for our oddly resistant governor and any legislators who, inexplicably, oppose the measure, which could help attract businesses and jobs to our state.
Successful politicians find it best to vote for improving Arkansas and its people rather than engaging in or knuckling under to self-serving oleboy politics.
“I’m confident that the other Arkansas businessman and I made our moves to preserve those moneys forour heirs and our select charities,” said this reader, who’s approaching his 70th birthday. “No one did it for personal lavishness. We didn’t want or need to do that. There are a great many like us whose other taxes and contributions Arkansas has missed out on because of its current tax structure.
“I want to be sure to leave my family enough to live on and enough to cover almost any adverse health events,” he continued. “My state now has no income, capital gains tax, estate or death taxes. Were Arkansas close to that, I’d live in the River Valley until I die. As is, I live here.” Ole-boy politics.

 This is an important bill for Arkansas families and attracting Arkansas businesses. Get the facts and contact the Senate Revenue and Tax committee members,  ask them to grow jobs NOT government~  

Senators Lamoureux, Files, Sample and Williams have already committed to a YES vote.

Please contact Senators Teague, Taylor, Chesterfield and Bookout