Highway funding, not tax cuts, more important to some

Several in GOP undecided on bill

A cadre of state House Republicans, such as Rep. Michelle Gray of Melbourne and Jana Della Rosa of Rogers, said Thursday they’re undecided about legislation to implement Gov. Asa Hutchinson’s plan to cut the state’s top individual income tax rate, at least in part because of the lack of a highway funding plan.

But the Republican governor said Thursday afternoon he expects to announce a highway funding plan Monday.

Hutchinson’s tax-cut plan is projected by state officials to reduce revenue by about $97 million a year, after it’s fully implemented. The plan would cut the top rate from 6.9 percent to 5.9 percent over two years.

A day after Senate Bill 211, the tax-cut proposal, cleared the Senate and headed to the House, Gray said, “I don’t feel that my district wants us to vote on another tax cut when we haven’t addressed highways.

“I need to see a highway plan. I need to see the

governor come out and say this is what we are going to do to address highways and infrastructure,” she said in an interview.

“As far as the tax [cut] plan itself, I am OK with it,” Gray said. “I am just plain and simple holding out until I see a plan for highways. We have cut taxes for the low income [and] the middle income. I think my district is fine with us doing it for this [upper-] income bracket.

“It is just I am getting emails, text calls, ‘Why are we cutting taxes when we need to fund highways? Why can’t we use that money? What are we doing?’”

Della Rosa said later, “We are going to lock you in on what we are going to do on highway funding before we are going to grant you the tax cut.

“The Republicans don’t oppose the tax cut. It’s just a negotiating thing where we have other important issues that we want to make sure get discussed as well before we just go passing a $97 million tax cut,” she said, noting she’s seeking state funding for voting equipment.

“In the last two sessions I have been here, and we are doing it again this time, everything the governor wants … we roll through right at the beginning of the [regular] session and then the rest of us are kind of left with ‘Well, now I have got nothing to bargain with.’ We have no bargaining power anymore and I just think we are putting all our cards on the table right now.”

Gray and Della Rosa aren’t the only members to express concerns.

Rep. Charlene Fite, R-Van Buren, said, “I’ll be voting against the tax cut unless I’m sure that we can find additional money to fund our senior centers.”

Earlier Thursday, she asked the Joint Budget Committee to approve her proposed amendment to increase the spending authority from $5 million to $8 million for senior citizens in Senate Bill 102 — the appropriation for the Department of Human Services’ Aging, Adult and Behavioral Services Division.

“We have had conversations with many of you, including our [committee chairmen] as well as folks with the governor’s office,” Fite told the committee. “At this time, the funding for this has not been secured and we continue to be hopeful. We are exploring a number of options for this. If we are successful in securing the funds or a portion of it, this increase [in spending authority] is necessary to have the authority to spend the money.”

State Budget Administrator Duncan Baird told lawmakers, “This is the first time I have seen this so I wasn’t really prepared to come down here” and take a stand on the proposal.

Eventually, the committee co-chairman, Sen. Larry Teague, D-Nashville, asked Fite to come back next week to allow Baird to provide more information about it.

House Republican leader Marcus Richmond of Harvey said it’s going to be a “hard road” to win the required 75 votes to approve Hutchinson’s income tax legislation in the House “unless we see something that can pass as a highway bill.”

The House includes 76 Republicans and 24 Democrats.

On Thursday morning, Richmond said there were about 17 to 18 House Republicans who were undecided about the income tax measure.

Thursday night, he said the vote count “is very dynamic and changing,” referring to the governor calling lawmakers seeking their support.

“I understand that highway funding is a top priority for many legislators, and it is a top priority for me as well,” the governor said in a statement. “The maintenance and repair of our highways and roads is an urgent matter. I know that many members want to see details of a highway plan and we are continuing to finalize the legislation. We expect to have that announcement on Monday.”

Asked how large of a highway plan the governor supports, Hutchinson spokesman J.R. Davis replied, “Stay tuned.”

Department of Transportation officials have estimated long-term highway funding needs at more than $400 million a year.

Hutchinson has said he prefers lawmakers refer to voters a plan to raise more money for highways. He also favors permanently extending the half-percent sales tax for highways, approved by voters in 2012 for 10 years.

House Speaker Matthew Shepherd, R-El Dorado, told reporters, “I would like to think that in the next few days that we could be pretty close to having a good idea of where we are going to go on highways.