Our View

Our View

Highway funding remains thorny issue for state lawmakers

Like Marion officials wanting voter approval to extend an existing sales tax to build the long-awaited Burlington-Northern overpass, it now seems as if Gov. Asa Hutchinson supports making another temporary half-percent sales tax for highway construction permanent as a way to address Arkansas’ long-term highway needs.

This is the same half-percent tax voters were convinced to approve in 2012 for the sole purpose of financing a $1.8 billion road construction program focusing on projects of regional significance.

So far, this tax has raised $161 million annually for the Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department and $70 million for cities and counties.

Before we continue let’s just say that if voters do agree with making this temporary tax permanent we’ll bet dollars to donuts that these bureaucrats and politicians will claim that still isn’t enough to adequately finance their long-term fix estimated to cost $400 million annually.

There are skeptics, including ourselves, that question the recommendations from the Governor’s Working Group on Highway Funding.

Let us also point out this survey showed little appetite among respondents for increasing tax on gasoline, which is now 21.6 cents per gallon, while it also showed support for making the current temporary tax permanent upon its expiration in 2023.

This survey capped six months of work by this socalled nonpartisan, nonprofit organization that advocates for better roads. Members worked closely with the Arkansas Municipal Association, the Arkansas Economic Development commission, the Poultry Federation, the Arkansas State Chamber of Commerce and the Arkansas Department of Higher Education, among others.

It was somewhat interesting to learn that the state Highway Commission members didn’t endorse the findings. One commissioner and a former speaker of the state House of Representatives said, It’s not something you can take to the bank right now.”

One lawmaker, Rep. Dan Douglas, R-Bentonville, said his colleagues wouldn’t immediately embrace the finding proposal even though it would be up for the voters to decide.

Among other concerns, he said, “Some will have a little heartburn over making the half-cent permanent: ‘Is that going back on our word?’ It’s not a clear path.”

Up until now, hasn’t this practice of promising one thing and doing something else later been commonplace among politicians? Since when can voters actually believe what their politicians say based on past experiences?

For as long as we can remember state road funding has always been a thorn in the side of the bureaucrats in Little Rock and the politicians. There is never, ever enough of our tax dollars to fix our crumbling roads, bridges and highways. While this issue is always the topic of discussion during legislative sessions when all sorts of tax ideas are tossed around highway needs seems to take a back seat to the bigger and political areas of state government such as the funding of Medicaid, the giant Department of Human Services, the demanding state Department of Education and even state prison issues.

When roads, bridges and highway needs come up for discussion the primary response is always more taxation as the main solution or the best alternative. We doubt very seriously that approach among these politicians will change and that is why we predict voters simply saying, “what the heck, what is a half percent tax that we’re already forking over?” But, what voters fail to recognize is that down the road these very same politicians will be back at the bargaining table wanting more.