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Special session to include Beebe address Friday, Mar 28, 2008 By Rob Moritz Arkansas News Bureau LITTLE ROCK - Gov. Mike Beebe will address a joint session of the House and Senate on Monday, opening day of a special session he called to raise the state severance tax on natural gas. "He will be thanking the Legislature for answering the call and explaining the bills one more time and encouraging their support," Beebe spokesman Grant Tennille said Thursday. The governor will be preaching mostly to the choir. In announcing the special session last week, Beebe said 30 senators and 81 House members had committed to his proposal to raise the severance tax, more than enough to achieve the three-fourths majority vote in both chambers required to raise the levy for the first time in 50 years. House Concurrent Resolution 1001, filed Thursday, scheduled a joint session of the Legislature for 12:30 p.m. Monday to hear an address by the governor. Beebe's proposal calls for setting the severance tax rate at 5 percent of the market value of gas at the time of extraction. The current rate of three-tenths of 1 cent per 1,000 cubic feet, has not been changed since 1957. The change will eventually generate an estimated $100 million annually, to be earmarked mostly for state and local road improvements. Beebe included two other items in his session call Wednesday: Addressing an inadvertent change last year in the state marriage-age law that allows minors of any age to marry with parental consent and extending the deadline for the North Little Rock and Pulaski County school districts to apply to have their desegregation programs removed from federal court supervision. The governor and legislative leaders hope to complete business and adjourn in three days, the minimum time required for a bill to be approved by both chambers of the Legislature. |
