Is the Arkansas “Blue Ribbon Committee” code for a Petri dish growing tax increases?

On Wednesday, the Arkansas Blue Ribbon Committee on Highway Finance said they will be producing an interim report on transportation funding by July 1.  The interesting observation is when they will be releasing the final recommendations, which will be given in the month of December.  One has to ask why they would want to wait until December.

The answer can possibly be found in some of the proposals that have thus far been entertained.  There are a bucket of proposals out there, but one proposal that seems to be getting traction is the idea of raising the sales tax a half cent.  This is a bad idea that would hurt the families and businesses of Arkansas.   

Under

Under the tax hike proposal, the legislature would consider sending this half cent tax hike to the ballot.  If the legislature voted to allow this ballot initiative, spending interests would dump loads of money into the state in order to see that it passes.  If they want to use the ballot initiative to give the public an option of raising taxes, they should also be exercising the ballot initiative to allow the public to vote on lowering their tax burden. Simply put, politicians who would vote to send this tax increase to the ballot would be aiding and abetting a tax increase.

ATR urges the Blue Ribbon Committee to release its final recommendations a month before Election Day rather than in December.  By releasing the recommendations a month before Election Day, voters will have the opportunity to see where the candidates stand on the recommendations and issues such as tax increases.  Additionally, ATR urges tax increases to be pulled off the table as they work to find ways to fund transportation.  To see a list of candidates in Arkansas who have committed to stand against tax increases, click here.

To see ATR's press release calling on the Blue Ribbon Committee to release their recommendations a month before Election Day and eliminate tax increases from the discussion, click here.

Hat tip: TobertReport.com for the video