ARK GOV TAX CUT ADVANCES- A $97 million proposal to cut Arkansas' top income tax rate advanced this week toward its final vote in the Legislature, but House leaders are unsure whether it has enough support to pass after facing resistance from some GOP lawmakers. Last Tuesday -- Members of the House Committee on Revenue and Taxation debated Governor Asa Hutchinson’s $97 million proposal for about an hour. During the committee hearing, Rep. Charles Blake, D-Little Rock, said a decision shouldn’t be rushed and proposed an amendment that would limit the tax cut to people earning less than $456,000 a year.
"The benefits that will go to those highest of our
taxpaying Arkansans will outweigh those for the 99 percent," Blake said. "So if we’re going to be smart, let’s slow down. Let’s take a good look at this tax bill, what it’s actually going to cost the state of Arkansas."
Committee Chair, Rep. Joe Jett, R-Success, Ark. countered that Governor Hutchinson’s tax cuts in previous legislative sessions benefited low and middle income Arkansans.
"When we get to 5.9 percent, this is finally going to make the state of Arkansas competitive with Louisiana, Georgia, South Carolina, Kentucky, West Virginia and equal to Missouri," explained Jett." We’ve all heard that Arkansas lags in being competitive with surrounding states and this will finally get us into a competitive position."
The bill advanced after the majority-Republican committee rejected an effort by Democrats to scale back the tax cuts for the state's highest earners. The committee voted 15-2 approving the bill which advances to the Full House. Democrats said they'll try later this week with another proposal to create a tax credit for low-income taxpayers.
