Ingram takes right stance on no gas tax hike

Our View

Ingram takes right stance on no gas tax hike

When questioned the other day regarding Gov. Asa Hutchinson’s intentions to boost highway funding during an upcoming special session without slapping Arkansans with additional taxes, our very own Sen. Keith Ingram, D-West Memphis, was politically careful not to jump on the bandwagon of fellow lawmakers who are hellbent on making Arkansas gasoline tax the highest in the Mid-South and surrounding states.

Ingram, who happens to be the Senate minority leader, made it clear that he agrees with the governor that a short-term fix is needed to avoid having federal highway money on the table, but went on to say that right now a number of people who usually disagree with each other politically are coming together in support of raising taxes for a longer term fix. Bad idea!

While Hutchinson is committed not to place an additional tax burden on fellow Arkansans there are some renegade lawmakers who do not intend to stick to the governor’s plan.

We suspect the instigator to this resistance is no other than Sen. Jimmy Hickey, R-Texarkana, the outspoken and crafty politician who was able to abolish the citizen committee that oversaw the state’s multimillion-dollar lottery and place it under the watchful eye of himself and other politicians. He further was able to dump the entire lottery into the laps of the bureaucrats within the state Department Finance and Administration.

Hickey has admitted he is working with Sens. Bill Sample of Hot Springs, Ronald Caldwell of Wynne and Greg Standridge of Russellville on legislation that would raise the gas tax from 21.5 cents per gallon to 26.5 cents per gall and increase the diesel tax from 22.5 per gallon to 27.5 cents per gallon.

Let’s put this issue in terms we can all clearly understand. Let’s say these politicians are able to pull this off. Here’s what we’d be paying at the pump per gallon without having any say whatsoever: Arkansas– proposed gas tax would be 26.5 cents per gallon; diesel fuel tax would be 27.5 cents per gallon.

Mississippi– gasoline tax is 18 cents per gallon; diesel fuel tax is 18 cents per gallon.

Tennessee– gasoline tax is 20 cents per gallon; diesel fuel tax is 17 cents per gallon.

Louisana– gasoline tax is 20 cents per gallon; diesel fuel tax is 20 cents per gallon.

Missouri– gasoline tax is 17 cents per gallon; diesel fuel tax is 17 cents per gallon.

Oklahoma– gasoline tax is 16 cents; diesel fuel tax is 13 cents per gallon.

Hickey and his band of highway tax robbers are peddling the propaganda their plan is a better long term solution to fixing and maintaining the states roads.

Let’s remember folks, these are not new issues, and let’s also keep in mind that Gov. Hutchinson and his working group studying ways to deal with the state’s road needs has proposed phasing in a reallocation of sales taxes from new and used car sales, up to $25 million a year over a five-year period; reallocating $2.7 million a year from the state’s diesel tax; no longer deducting $5.4 million a year for state central services from the state’s half-percent sales tax that’s devoted to highways; and tapping part of future state surpluses.

We’re talking about a total of $64.1 million in fiscal 2018; $71.1 million in fiscal 2019; $76.1 million in fiscal 2020 and $81.1 million in fiscal 2021.

This is all without burdening the taxpayers with additional taxation and a worthwhile plan we should all express to Sen. Ingram that he should fully support without partnering with fellow Sen. Hickey and his bunch of renegades.

What Hickey and his bunch are doing is simply taxation without representation.

BIBLE VERSE

Wherefore lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness, and receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls.

1:21

James