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Beebe: Eliminating grocery tax won't hurt education Friday, Dec 8, 2006 By John Lyon Arkansas News Bureau LITTLE ROCK - Eliminating the state sales tax on food will not hurt education funding, Gov.-elect Mike Beebe assured members of the Arkansas School Boards Association Thursday. "I want you to believe that I want to do it in a way that's responsible and doesn't adversely affect your ability to deliver your services," Beebe said in a speech at the association's annual conference. Beebe campaigned on a pledged to phase out the state tax on groceries. In a Nov. 29 appearance at the Arkansas Farm Bureau's annual convention in Hot Springs, Beebe assured the organization that tax exemptions for farm products would not be cut to make up for revenue lost by eliminating the grocery tax. The state fiscal office says the tax on groceries generates about $224 million annually. The Farm Bureau formerly opposed eliminating the grocery tax, but on Friday voted to support cutting the tax, provided the state can do so without raising other taxes to offset the loss in revenue. "That's all I could ask for, and I'm proud of that," Beebe told delegates to the school boards conference Thursday. "I ask you to do the same. I ask you to go back home, talk to your friends and neighbors, and I ask you to help us get that done." According to the state Department of Workforce Services, Arkansas has lost about 4,600 manufacturing jobs since October 2005. Beebe told reporters after his speech that the job loss has not changed his plans for the food tax. "At this juncture, we're going full speed ahead, consistent with what I anticipated," he said. "We knew there was going to be an economic downturn, or at least the forecasters suggested there was going to be an economic downturn, so I think you budget accordingly. Several legislators have pre-filed bills in advance of the 2007 legislative session that propose ways to eliminate the grocery tax. Beebe has not outlined a specific plan for phasing out the tax. "We'll do it in a fashion that's based on a conservative approach," he said Thursday. |
