Highway bill sees controversial vote; Highway Commission to redraw lines

Editor’s note: Roby Brock, with our content partner Talk Business, wrote this report. He can be reached at [email protected]

HB 1902 by House Speaker Robert Moore, D-Arkansas City, was voted out of a Senate Transportation Committee this afternoon (Mar. 22), but not without controversy.

The Arkansas Highway Commission also agreed on Tuesday do redraw district lines.

The measure, which would allow voters to decide a 5-cent diesel fuel tax increase for interstate construction and repairs, passed on a voice vote with approval by Chairman Sen. Linda Chesterfield, D-Little Rock.

According to several sources in the committee room, there were only four Senators in the meeting — not enough to secure a 5-vote passage. The bill already faced a steep uphill battle in that 5 Republicans sat on the panel and have expressed concerns with the potential tax hike provision.

Committee member State Sen. Jake Files, R-Fort Smith, who has questioned a number of aspects of the bill, was not in the meeting room and said the bill’s airing was not expected today.

"We were told that the bill would not run today," Files tells Talk Business. "We question whether or not there were enough votes in there to pass the bill out."

Files said he and other committee members were preparing amendments to the Speaker’s measure that included limiting the tax hike try to one election cycle, not unlimited attempts as the bill is written. Another amendment would have provided relief for agricultural interests that Files contends have more problems addressing gas price hikes in their commodities.

"We were working in good faith on some amendments we thought would make the bill a better bill," Files said.

He stopped short of saying today’s actions were orchestrated and said he’s not sure what will happen next.

It certainly isn’t the final chapter for the measure.

Also, HJR 1001, a half-cent sales tax to support non-interstate, four-lane roads was also referred out of Joint State Agencies Committee

REDRAWING LINES
The Arkansas Highway Commission agreed to redraw its representative lines after a special meeting held Monday by telephone. The five commissioners, each of whom serve two highway districts, will reshape their maps based on new Census data from the 2010 survey.

"While this [district] system has worked well, the Commission recognizes that there are other equitable ways in which the advocacy districts could be determined. Therefore, the Highway Commission will re-evaluate its advocacy districts, and be committed to drawing advocacy districts that are of substantially equal populations. However, new advocacy districts will not affect the existing ten (10) Highway Maintenance Districts created for operational purposes," a document approved by the commissioners read.

"Advocacy districts do not and will not undermine the Constitutional authority given to the Commission. Each Commissioner will continue to have full statewide authority and responsibility. But, advocacy districts can give the citizens of Arkansas a mechanism that will allow them to better interact and communicate with members of the Highway Commission," it also stated.

State Sen. Jeremy Hutchinson, R-Little Rock, had pushed for the change arguing that highway district lines needed to be more representative of population shifts.

Hutchinson had filed a proposed constitutional amendment, SJR 2, that would strip the independence of the Highway Commission and Department established in 1953 by the Mack-Blackwell amendment. Hutchinson has said he hoped his proposal would "get the highway commission’s attention."

This afternoon, Hutchinson withdrew his amendment proposal from consideration.