Gov. Beebe warns of tax-cut mania consequences

Gov. Mike Beebe told Arkansas Farm Bureau members at their 2010 convention on Wednesday (Dec. 1) that lawmakers must have a plan for proposed tax cuts in the 2011 legislative session.

Touting his four-cent reduction of the grocery tax in his first term and thanking Farm Bureau for its support in the effort, Beebe warned that the tax cut mania circulating in advance of the January session will be met skeptically by his administration.

"In our current rush to cut more taxes, in our current rush to make promises just to get elected, in our current rush to try to appeal to certain voters, we now have a lot of folks that want to cut some more taxes. Nobody wants to cut taxes more than I do. Everybody elected to office wants to cut taxes. Sounds good, makes people feel good, but you have to be responsible and you have to do these things in a way that you understand it has consequences," said Beebe.

"So if you start talking about all of this stuff, you better have a way to pay for it," Beebe said according to this report at Talk Business. "And you can pay for it in one of two ways. You either cut spending or you raise other taxes."

Calling Farm Bureau "a major player," Beebe said the grassroots agricultural group would be a key ally of his in the session and he encouraged members to contact lawmakers — especially freshmen lawmakers — and express local views on agricultural policy.

Noting that term limits has roiled Capitol continuity, Beebe said there are some new legislators "who can’t even spell Farm Bureau and need to be educated."

"I didn’t mean that pejoratively," Beebe said to mild chuckles from the audience. "But truthfully a lot of them have never been exposed to the issues that are of vital importance to agriculture."

"Many of you don’t know your new state rep or state senator," he added. "If you think you were needed before, you’re needed more than ever now."