Our View

Our View

Voters won’t go for gas tax to fix roads — surely

It appears that this push to con Arkansas voters into pass a whopping increase in fuel taxes on themselves has got the endorsement of Gov. Asa Hutchinson.

Although the governor and other politicians jumping on the bandwagon are pushing to put this 6.5 percent sales tax increase on wholesale fuel prices on the 2018 ballot, none that we know of are willing to rally around the state to publicly endorse the tax. First of all, to do so would be politically risky and secondly, none of these politicians want to be known for having a tax and spend mentality.

Oh, but they’ve been good at fear mongering, saying “bridges might have to collapse or major accidents occur on deteriorating roads before the Republicandominated, tax-averse Legislature would act to raise more money for highways.” That is what Rep. Dan Douglas, R-Bentonville, and House Speaker Jeremy Gillam, R-Judsonia, speculated recently during a discussion at a gathering dedicated to rural issues in Hot Springs.

Douglas, as many know, sponsored legislation during the last session of the Legislature asking voters to consider approving a bond issue to be financed by the 6.5 percent sales tax increase.

After Douglas’ bill failed to clear the House of Representatives, here comes the Arkansas Highway Commission officially endorsing the ballot issue.

Hutchinson, also speaking at the meeting of the Arkansas Economic Development commission’s annual Rural Development Conference, made it clear he would also like voters to decide rather than dumping this political hot potato in the laps of politicians.

This won’t be the first time these politicians have gone to the voters to pass higher fuel taxes for the state’s road and highway issues. In the past six years, voters have twice approved measures to pour money into the highway department’s budget.

Arkansas isn’t dealing with this issue alone, and in fact, increased funding for highways has been a major political issue in several states. For example, our neighbors in Tennessee are forking over more tax dollars for fuel thanks in part to Gov. Bill Haslam signing into law that raises the state’s gas and diesel taxes that will bring in about $350 million.

To qualify an initiated act for the 2018 ballot will require the signatures of 67,887 registered voters.

The humor in this is that when asked whether he, (Hutchinson), would appear in television commercials for such a proposal initiated act and raise money to qualify the proposal for the ballot, Hutchinson said that “I have go my own campaign in 2018, so I would leave that to others to handle.”

Not everyone is on board with this tax, such as Rep.

Joe Jett, R-Success, who said eliminating the current 6.5 percent sales tax exemption on fuel equates to an 11-cent tax increase with $2-a-gallon gasoline, but would mean a 22-or-23-cent tax increase with the gas price at $4 a gallon.

We agree with Jett’s assessment that this endeavor is going to be a hard sell when absolutely no “no-newtax” alternatives have been seriously considered.