UPDATE: Republican Leader's Response to Governor's Severance Tax "Agreement"
The following is from House Minority Leader Johnny Key, R-Mountain Home. Rep. Key's letter, written to Morril Harriman, the governor's chief of staff, is a well reasoned appeal to the governor to allow open debate. He's right that the governor only calling a special session when the outcome is known does not allow the kind of democratic debate for which our legislature was elected. It's very encouraging to see principled leadership from Republican leaders like Rep. Key.
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Dear Morril,
I hope you will share these thoughts with the Governor.
Thank you for sending the summary of the severance tax proposal. There are a number of things about the proposal of which I am concerned, but I have two in particular that I wish to express.
The first is the fact that no consideration is being given to the retail taxation of natural gas. The state has received millions of dollars in tax revenue from this commodity, but it has been paid by the consumers. The residents of Arkansas pay 6% state sales tax as well as local taxes. Residents of Texas and Oklahoma do not, yet the only comparisons being discussed are the low Arkansas severance tax versus those in Texas and Oklahoma.
The second is the lack of inclusion of the General Assembly. I know that votes are now being counted, and it is my understanding that a special session will only be called if the required 3/4 votes can be obtained. It can be assumed that this would mean no real debate, no amendments, etc., during the session - in essence, we would be expected to rubber stamp what the Governor and the industry has agreed upon. With all due respect, this is absolutely contrary to the democratic process and unfair to our constituents to shut their elected representatives out of the debate on such a critical question.
I respectfully urge Governor Beebe to delay the efforts to call a special session this month, and instead allow the proposal to be studied and debated by the joint interim committee of Revenue and Taxation, and any other committees deemed appropriate by House and Senate leadership, between now and May 31. Then he could gauge the level of support and if sufficient, call a special session in early June.
Best regards,
Rep. Johnny Key
District 81
House Minority Leader
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UPDATE: Here's the RPA press release, which includes a statement from Rep. Key and Dennis Milligan, Chairman of the RPA.
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Little Rock (3/12/08) – On Monday, Governor Mike Beebe announced that officials of the oil and gas industries and his office had come to terms with an agreement to raise the tax on natural gas by 5%. In order for this agreement to become law, it must pass both houses of the legislature by three-fourths vote.
Johnny Key (R- Mountain Home), the Arkansas House Minority Leader, issued the following statement today on the proposed settlement between the Arkansas gas companies and Governor Mike Beebe:
“I appreciate the comments of Sen. Bob Johnson concerning the so-called agreement on the severance tax. He makes a compelling case for the detrimental economic effects the Governor’s tax hike will have on the economic growth and job creation stemming from the Fayetteville Shale play. I agree with Sen. Johnson that when presented with the choice of good jobs or tax hikes, we must choose good jobs over taxing an industry just because it is successful.
Another critical issue is the absolute lack of inclusion of the General Assembly in this process. The concept that we should rubber stamp a tax hike without debate or amendments, and do it right now or else, is a slap in the face of our democratic process. I have requested that Governor Beebe delay the call for a special session until his tax hike proposal has been submitted to the Interim Revenue and Taxation Committee and any other committees deemed appropriate by Sen. Critcher and Speaker Petrus. Let these committees have until the end of May to discuss and debate the proposal, and if necessary a special session could be called for early June.”
Republican Party of Arkansas Chairman Dennis Milligan also weighed in on the proposed settlement:
“I commend Minority Leader Key and both the Republican and Democratic members of the Arkansas legislature who are diligently working to keep taxes low and our economy growing. With Arkansas’ unemployment rate at 5.6%, higher than the national average, it is critical that we take steps to ensure that we grow our job base here and protect our economic interests. These jobs won’t come to Arkansas if we drive the gas companies out, which we risk by increasing the severance tax. I see this as an opportunistic tax, and I think as Arkansans, we should not stand for it.”
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Dear Morril,
I hope you will share these thoughts with the Governor.
Thank you for sending the summary of the severance tax proposal. There are a number of things about the proposal of which I am concerned, but I have two in particular that I wish to express.
The first is the fact that no consideration is being given to the retail taxation of natural gas. The state has received millions of dollars in tax revenue from this commodity, but it has been paid by the consumers. The residents of Arkansas pay 6% state sales tax as well as local taxes. Residents of Texas and Oklahoma do not, yet the only comparisons being discussed are the low Arkansas severance tax versus those in Texas and Oklahoma.
The second is the lack of inclusion of the General Assembly. I know that votes are now being counted, and it is my understanding that a special session will only be called if the required 3/4 votes can be obtained. It can be assumed that this would mean no real debate, no amendments, etc., during the session - in essence, we would be expected to rubber stamp what the Governor and the industry has agreed upon. With all due respect, this is absolutely contrary to the democratic process and unfair to our constituents to shut their elected representatives out of the debate on such a critical question.
I respectfully urge Governor Beebe to delay the efforts to call a special session this month, and instead allow the proposal to be studied and debated by the joint interim committee of Revenue and Taxation, and any other committees deemed appropriate by House and Senate leadership, between now and May 31. Then he could gauge the level of support and if sufficient, call a special session in early June.
Best regards,
Rep. Johnny Key
District 81
House Minority Leader
---
UPDATE: Here's the RPA press release, which includes a statement from Rep. Key and Dennis Milligan, Chairman of the RPA.
---
Little Rock (3/12/08) – On Monday, Governor Mike Beebe announced that officials of the oil and gas industries and his office had come to terms with an agreement to raise the tax on natural gas by 5%. In order for this agreement to become law, it must pass both houses of the legislature by three-fourths vote.
Johnny Key (R- Mountain Home), the Arkansas House Minority Leader, issued the following statement today on the proposed settlement between the Arkansas gas companies and Governor Mike Beebe:
“I appreciate the comments of Sen. Bob Johnson concerning the so-called agreement on the severance tax. He makes a compelling case for the detrimental economic effects the Governor’s tax hike will have on the economic growth and job creation stemming from the Fayetteville Shale play. I agree with Sen. Johnson that when presented with the choice of good jobs or tax hikes, we must choose good jobs over taxing an industry just because it is successful.
Another critical issue is the absolute lack of inclusion of the General Assembly in this process. The concept that we should rubber stamp a tax hike without debate or amendments, and do it right now or else, is a slap in the face of our democratic process. I have requested that Governor Beebe delay the call for a special session until his tax hike proposal has been submitted to the Interim Revenue and Taxation Committee and any other committees deemed appropriate by Sen. Critcher and Speaker Petrus. Let these committees have until the end of May to discuss and debate the proposal, and if necessary a special session could be called for early June.”
Republican Party of Arkansas Chairman Dennis Milligan also weighed in on the proposed settlement:
“I commend Minority Leader Key and both the Republican and Democratic members of the Arkansas legislature who are diligently working to keep taxes low and our economy growing. With Arkansas’ unemployment rate at 5.6%, higher than the national average, it is critical that we take steps to ensure that we grow our job base here and protect our economic interests. These jobs won’t come to Arkansas if we drive the gas companies out, which we risk by increasing the severance tax. I see this as an opportunistic tax, and I think as Arkansans, we should not stand for it.”
posted by Henry Rearden at
12:54 PM
4 Comments:
But the government needs the money NOW!!!!!
The Republicans are putting too many eggs in the Bob Johnson basket. As soon as he gets what he wants, he will throw the Republicans under the "Gas Truck" and the Republicans will be left standing around looking stupid yet again.
At least Bigelow will have streets paved with gold. Perhaps we can go there on vacation to get a glimpse of what heaven will look like since we are unlikely to see our reward in this life in Arkansas.
What a stupid comment. I'm serious. THat is positively stupid. What "eggs" are we putting in the "Bob Johnson basket"?
So we can't have a philosophical and political alliance with someone? Just because we may not always agree doesn't mean we can't work together when we do. I guess we should just not take advantage of someone's help because they won't always help us...
What a moron.
Now that's a Senator!
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