The City Wire
A Joint committee of the legislature referred two more proposed constitutional amendments for potential voter consideration and failed a measure previously expected to easily garner committee support.
The committee has also pushed through a proposal that could change Arkansas’ term limit rules.
On Wednesday (April 10), the panel could not muster enough votes to allow SJR 5, a tort reform proposal, out of the committee. The proposed constitutional amendment had a competing measure and a rift in the legal community complicated its passage. At the beginning of the session, there appeared to be consensus and momentum for a rewrite of the state’s tort laws.
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Gov. Mike Beebe said Wednesday (Jan. 25) he is “re-evaluating” his support for a proposed ballot initiative that would raise Arkansas’ severance tax.
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Sheffield Nelson, a former natural gas company executive, has received ballot title approval from Arkansas Attorney General Dustin McDaniel for a referendum to raise severance tax on natural gas to 7% and exclude current loopholes. The tax could raise as much as $250 million a year, with the money dedicated for Arkansas highways.
Secure Arkansas, the grassroots organization pushing a citizen’s sponsored illegal immigration ballot issue, has failed to submit enough raw signatures for its measure to be considered for the November general election, according to this exclusive report from TalkBusiness.net. Secretary of State Charlie Daniels reports that after a closer examination of the affidavits submitted by the group, the official signature count totaled 67,542 ”” nearly 10,000 signatures below the minimum required by state law.
Leaders of the Arkansas Progressive Group announced Thursday (May 27) they will withdraw their AR OneTax ballot initiative following an Arkansas Supreme Court ruling that the group could not challenge its own initiative in court. The tax proposal sought to vastly restructure Arkansas’ tax code so that state tax revenue would largely be dependent on a higher sales tax.