LITTLE ROCK — Gov. Mike Beebe on Tuesday made his strongest statements to date about repealing more of the state’s sales tax on groceries, saying lawmakers need to keep the “momentum” going.
He spoke in an Arkansas Educational Television Network debate with two of his challengers, Republican Jim Keet and Green Party candidate Jim Lendall, both of Little Rock.
At some point in their political careers, all three have advocated removing the tax, including Keet in a 1993 proposal. But Beebe emphasized that what “others talked about, we did,” lowering the tax from 6 percent to 2 percent in the past several years.
Beebe has said he wants to remove most of the remaining 2 percent but it would have to wait until it is fiscally responsible for the state to do so. Of the 2 percent, one-eighth of a percent is in the state constitution, set by voters, and he doesn’t plan to tamper with the voters’ will, he said.
“I think it’s important to keep the momentum going. I think if you stop it, it’s much more difficult to complete the task of eliminating it,” Beebe said.
He said that if the state’s financial situation continues to meet or exceed its forecast, he thinks Arkansas could afford to give state employees a cost-of-living increase and remove some more of the grocery tax.
He said he could decide on those matters in December or January.
“Don’t ask me today to choose between the two. It would be a very difficult choice,” Beebe said.
Lendall has said that because some people have not received cost-of-living increases in years, “this is the best time possible” to lower the tax on groceries.
“The income of the families has not budged in several years,” Lendall said.
Keet has said that changing the state’s tax structure - rather than cutting the grocery tax - would more likely bring in companies to provide jobs.
“Any tax cuts that we have this year have to be done in the context of what we can afford to give ... at the same time that we don’t cut essential services,” Keet said. “It’s not mutually exclusive, by the way, to have additional tax cuts in areas that will actually create more and better jobs in this state. Many people when they look at our tax structure decide not to come to the state of Arkansas specifically because of the tax rate.”
Keet said reducing waste in state government could offset some tax cuts.
He has pledged not to increase the number of state employees while he is in office.
Keet said state government needs to be reduced from the top down, starting with a 20 percent cut in the governor’s office budget and the governor’s salary until the state’s unemployment rate drops to 51/2 percent or less.
“We have to live within our means,” Keet said. “As your governor I will be diligent about cutting unnecessary waste out of the state budget and working diligently with a hands-on approach. You might see me on the back of a tractor, you might see me in a classroom or a revenue office saying ‘Are we being as efficient as possible?’”
Beebe said state government has expanded in core areas that receive a bulk of state revenue. He said the number of state employees increased by about 3,500 in his first term, mostly in higher education, which is largely beyond a governor’s direct control. He said other increases were in prisons so criminals could be locked up.
“We’ve had relatively little increase in state government in terms of employees, except in federal programs that were mandated and paid by the federal government or in those critical areas such as Children and Family Services and in corrections,” Beebe said.
He said the majority of state funding goes to education, programs like Medicaid and the Department of Correction.
He’s f ine with reducing state government but not if it affects those essential services, Beebe said.
Beebe pointed to cuts that he said already have been made in his office’s budget. He said the result was that his office spent about 18 percent less than what was allocated.
Lendall said that because so much of the state’s budget directly affects people, he would be willing to raise taxes.
“I’m willing to raise taxes because you demand them, you the voters demand these services,” Lendall said. “We have to pay for what we get.”
Earlier this year, Keet voiced support for keeping the Weiner School District open. The district was forced to merge with one nearby after it fell below the state-mandated level of at least 350 students.
The Legislature set that requirement after the Arkansas Supreme Court ruled that the state was not adequately financing public schools. That high court ruling resulted in legislative proposals to increase school funding and impose some efficiency measures.
Keet said the state should investigate whether it can provide exemptions to keep small school districts open if they are performing at high levels.
“There are school districts around this state that are at the heart of those small towns. If we allow those school districts to close, it is my fear that those small towns will follow,” Keet said.
Beebe said “Mr. Keet’s plan would indeed get us back in court. It’s no question that the courts would be back in our schools after we finally got them out in 2007.”
Beebe said placing exemptions in the law could lead to lawsuits by the school districts that consolidated. He said small districts have to merge so that money goes to support students, not to school administrations.
“I would hate to see all those that have already complied with the law in the course of the last six years turn around a refile suit because now somebody has changed the rules,” Beebe said.
Lendall has advocated consolidating small school districts, saying it dedicates more money to students.
“They can keep the schools open. They just have to pare the number of administrators,” Lendall said.
Beebe said Keet is making grand statements without having details to back them up.
Asked whether the state should monitor the cost of providing services to illegal aliens, Beebe said Arkansas already has laws prohibiting some benefits from going to illegal aliens, and the state Department of Finance and Administration is keeping data on people caught violating the laws.
“Whatever benefits are being provided for people who are illegal fall into two categories: Either they’re gaming the system ... or it’s a benefit that’s strictly required by the federal government,” Beebe said. “Keeping track of, keeping records of, finding out how much money is actually involved seems to me a good thing within the confines of what it costs the state to do that.”
Lendall questioned why the state should collect information on illegal aliens receiving services that the federal government requires the state to offer, such as access to emergency medical care or education.
He said the state has better things to spend its money on.
“It’s not going to provide any better services, it’s not going to provide any mechanism to prevent these services from being performed, who’s going to turn away a child from an emergency room?” said Lendall, a nurse. “Well if we had the figures, maybe we could find some justification for doing so. I don’t think we need this.”
Keet said if elected he would want the state to mimic the immigration law recently enacted in Arizona.
“The federal government has failed us in terms of securing our borders,” Keet said.
He said Beebe has not been proactive enough in participating in available federal immigration programs.
“We’re not a border state, but we still need to be on the front end,” Keet said.
Beebe said the federal government is not willing to remove illegal aliens unless they have violated a felony law, and Arkansas does not have the prison space to hold them.
After the debate, Keet called on Beebe to accept more debates. No others are scheduled for the three candidates.
Front Section, Pages 1 on 10/13/2010