Speaker Moore confident of highway votes

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

House Speaker Robert Moore, D-Arkansas City, says he believes he’ll get his voter-referred highway proposals through the Arkansas State Senate, one of several predictions and revelations made in a wide-ranging interview on Talk Business this week.

Moore also shared thoughts on what went into the bipartisan, bicameral tax cut deal and his belief that the 88th General Assembly can complete its remaining work by an April 1 deadline.

On highway funding, Moore faces a daunting challenge of convincing 5 members of the 8-member Senate Transportation Committee to vote to refer to Arkansans a five-cent diesel fuel tax increase for interstate construction and maintenance. Five of the 8 members are Republicans and Moore needs at least 2 of their votes and all 3 Democrats to spring his bill to the Senate floor.

"I’m optimistic, I’d say I’m very optimistic," Moore said of his chances in the Senate.

When asked if he had the necessary 5 yes votes, Moore grinned, "Sure. I just don’t know which ones they are. I feel confident, but it’s going to be tough."

Moore’s pitch to the committee is to let the voters decide the issue.

"I’m not asking for a tax increase," he said. "I’m asking for a vote to send the question to the people of the state of Arkansas. Most people tend to agree that letting people decide what’s best for them is not a bad thing to do."

Moore said despite his failed efforts to shift the funding formula for highways, he doesn’t think the state will abandon its obligation on roads despite having more than 16,000 miles under state supervision.

When asked if state highway maintenance should be consolidated — as public school districts with limited resources have been — Moore said no.

"There are those amongst us that would propose that we have too many miles in our highway system and we should diminish the number of roads that we maintain in the state highway system, which means what? They go back to the counties? They go back to the cities? Which are even in worse shape than the state is in their ability to have funds to maintain their roads. So I don’t think in a rural state like Arkansas that’s an answer," he explained.

Moore said he was disappointed that he couldn’t persuade his peers to fundamentally change the way Arkansas pays for highways, which is largely financed through motor fuel taxes. He predicted that the escalating costs of road repairs means that delaying spending today will only increase the price tag in the future.

Moore also said he thought that the legislature would finish its business by April 1 — a deadline that House and Senate leadership are aiming for. You can watch the complete interview with the Speaker in the video below.

Link here for the video interview with Moore.