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Governor sets special election for Dec. 13 Tuesday, Sep 20, 2005 By Rob Moritz Arkansas News Bureau LITTLE ROCK - Emphasizing that no new taxes are involved, Gov. Mike Huckabee on Monday set a special election for Dec. 13 to approve the sale of bonds for higher education and to reauthorize the highway department's current bond program. "It's taking money we're already spending," the governor said. Huckabee, who made the announcement during a morning news conference outside the Governor's Mansion, was surrounded by state highway officials and presidents of many of the state's colleges and universities. "We've made a great deal of progress in Arkansas during the past decade," Huckabee said. "This will allow us to continue the progress with no additional taxes. Education and infrastructure improvements are key to the economic advancement of Arkansas." If the $250 million bond issue for higher education is approved, a special session would have to be held, possibly before Christmas, to approve the plan for spending the money, Huckabee said. The spending plan includes $100 million to pay off existing bonds with the remaining $150 million split among the 10 public universities and 22 colleges in the state. About $63 million of the $150 million would go to the University of Arkansas System and be split among campuses in Fayetteville, Fort Smith, Little Rock, Monticello, Pine Bluff and the medical school, according to the board's funding recommendations. The University of Central Arkansas would receive $13 million, Arkansas State University $9 million, Arkansas Tech University $7.5 million, Henderson State University $4 million and Southern Arkansas University $3.5 million. About $9.3 million would be allocated for the e-Corridor connection, a high capacity fiber optic research network for 10 universities and the medical sciences campus. The remainder of the money would be allocated to the state's two-year colleges. "While bond buyers are investing in the future of their children and grandchildren, they'll be allowing our colleges and universities to meet critical technology and facilities needs," Huckabee said. Stanley Williams, senior associate director for finance with the Department of Higher Education, said the bonds, once they mature, can be used for college tuition at any college or university, or for any other purpose. He added that the bonds also would be exempt from both federal and state income taxes. Act 1282, approved during the recent legislative session, authorized the state Higher Education Coordinating Board, along with the Arkansas Development Finance Authority, to refer to voters a request for the authority to issue up to $250 million in college savings bonds. Linda Beene, director of the state Department of Higher Education, said later that additional funding is needed to keep with the growth in student population. She said college enrollments have risen 33 percent in the past 10 years and campuses need more money to accommodate the additional students. "The colleges and universities are very appreciative of the new funds that (the Legislature) has given for operating during the session, however, they have desperate needs that we documented in 2004 of more than $110 million," Beene said. "This bond program calls for attention to technology and upgrading technology at the campuses, which allows for students to be able to study more freely," she said. It also "allows for more online courses that are more convenient for working adults, who want to go to college ... and we have some need to renovate space and even building new space because of the increase in enrollment." The highway bonds would allow continued improvements to the state's interstate system, the governor said. In 1999, Arkansas voters approved a five-year, $1 billion interstate highway reconstruction plan that is to expire next year. The bond issue is being repaid from the proceeds of an increase in the tax on diesel fuel and part of the interstate maintenance money the state receives annually from the federal government. The proposal was supported by almost 80 percent of the voters. Since that time, the governor said, the state has improved 356 miles of interstate highways at a cost of almost $1 billion. "By next year, 73 percent of the state's interstate system will be in good or very good condition with only 14 percent rated poor or mediocre," Huckabee said. The governor also said that reapproval of the current bond issue has nothing to do with work by some lawmakers to come up with a revenue stream to fund another $1 billion highway improvement project. In conjunction with that, the Arkansas Highway Funding Task Force met last week and discussed several potential revenue sources. The task force hopes to have a funding source in place this fall. If there is a special session this fall, task force co-chairman Phillip Jackson, R-Berryville, said the highway program could be on the call. In no special session is needed, the funding recommendations would be presented to the governor, who has said previously that he would call a special session if there was agreement on how to pay for the $1 billion highway plan. Earlier this year, a bill was filed that would have taken $140 million from general revenues to pay for highway bonds. In late March, the governor abandoned plans to pass that program after many raised concerns about obligating general revenues to pay off the bonds. |
