|
| April 1, 2011
|
|
Arkansas Voters to Consider 5-Cent Diesel-Tax Increase |
|
The Arkansas House of Representatives gave final approval last Friday to legislation to create a $1.1 billion interstate highway maintenance program, sending the bill to Gov. Mike Beebe, who signed it into law Wednesday.
House Speaker Robert Moore Jr., D-Arkansas City, authored the bill (HB 1902). It will let voters decide in a special election on a 5-cent diesel-tax increase to finance a bond program for interstate highway maintenance, the Arkansas News Bureau reported. The tax is currently 22.5 cents per gallon of diesel fuel. The bill is one part of an overall $2.9 billion highway program that Moore envisions. The second piece is a proposed constitutional amendment to allow voters to decide on a half-cent sales-tax increase that would be in effect for 10 years to finance a $1.8 billion bond program for construction of a four-lane highway system linking every part of the state. That measure passed the House last week and is now before the Senate. A state Blue Ribbon Committee on Highway Finance recommended last year that Arkansas should increase revenue dedicated to transportation improvements. (see Jan. 8, 2010, AASHTO Journal story) Questions regarding this article may be directed to editor@aashtojournal.org. |