Arkansas Senate Report: Redistricting, highways and tax cuts

Editor’s note: Arkansas Sen. Jake Files, R-Fort Smith, provided the following commentary on the previous week of the 88th Arkansas General Assembly.

The fury of activity filled the halls of the Capitol this week, and we continue to be exceptionally busy.

Last Monday was the final day of bill filing, and there were 592 bills filed! I heard the House begin talking about meeting on Saturdays to clear their calendar, and while we shouldn’t have to take those steps, you can feel the train nearing the station.

It was not just busy this past week, but also productive. The Public Safety Improvement Act (SB750) passed the Senate unanimously after nearly 3 hours of discourse on the bill.  As a side note here, I think it would be great if the Senate broadcast their meetings like the House does. The more transparency the better in my opinion.

As stated before, April 1 is the targeted end date of the session, and some big items have to be settled before anyone goes home. There will be a lot of bills just left hanging in committee at the end of this Session because they weren’t able to navigate all the channels in the short timeframe.

REDISTRICTING
Redistricting is one of these issues that will soon take center stage. This is a big issue for all Arkansans as there will be a large shift in congressional lines because of population gains in the Northwest part of the state.

It is also particularly interesting to Fort Smith (and Sebastian County) because the 3rd District needs to “lose” about 100,000 voters to another district. It has been rumored that Sebastian County may be moved to the 4th District, and I have heard from no one in support of this idea. I am beginning to see some movement from different sources, and while many draft plans are just ideas at this time, a large majority of them show us to remain in the 3rd District. That is where I will continue to fight for us to stay.

HIGHWAY FUNDING
The Highway Funding plan passed the House this week (HB1902), and there was much debate over the bill and the whole premise. This bill specifies a tax of 5 cents on each gallon of diesel fuel sold in order to secure bonding for a large highway program. The bill simply refers the issue to the voters to decide when the Governor calls a special election. I do have some issues that I want to be addressed before I am comfortable referring this to the voters. I expect this to come to one of my committees (Rev & Tax or Transportation).

It seems like we do this every few years because of the way we choose to pay for highways. We also seem to politicize the process by divvying up the dollars by Highway Commissioner and District rather than where the traffic is and also the most urgent needs. I would like to see the plan for distributing these dollars rather than the “pass the tax and let us decide where these roads are built” mentality. Fort Smith and our Region have been on the short end of that stick in recent years, and I want to see some equitable distribution this time.

This is a big deal in terms of economic impact and development, and I don’t want to continue to fund an increase of state highway miles that we cannot continue to maintain.

TAX CUTS
As always, I cannot go without mentioning the roadblock on tax cuts. I expect to see movement this week in both Chambers on this topic. I believe the House will vote on some of the bills previously passed by the Senate, and it will be interesting to see which ones the House, if any, they will agree on.

I think the most important tax cut we have discussed this year deals with the Manufacturers Tax Cut on Utility that reduces the cost of operations and continues to make Arkansas a better place for businesses to locate.

The Senate should hear HB1002 — the Capital Gains Tax Cut — this week. I have received a lot of feedback from people on both sides of this issue, and am looking forward to hearing the debate.

In conclusion, another tenet of my campaign was to pitch ideas for more economic development opportunities. I filed several bills directly related to this topic, and I also have a Constitutional Amendment proposed that will be of benefit, if it is referred to the voters (SJR5). I will continue to stand by my belief that the better we make it for business in this state, the more jobs we retain and create, and the better quality of life we all enjoy.

I appreciate the support and feedback from so many during the past 8 weeks. It has been a joy, and while extremely busy, I appreciate the opportunities that we have for Fort Smith and our future.

The direct phone to the Senate is (501) 682-2901, and my e-mail is [email protected]

I look forward to hearing from you.