PRESS RELEASE
For Immediate Release March May 4, 06
Women's Action Group
Four of the Lieutenant Governor
Candidates
Supported Measures That Could Cost
$3.2 Billion
Women's
Action Group has computed the approximate cost for measures which the 5
legislative candidates running for Lieutenant Governor voted or supported.
Four of the candidates supported measures that could cost the taxpayer as much
as 3.2 billion.
Lt. Governor candidate
Representative Doug Matayo, who voted for all the bills that could cost the
taxpayers as much as 3.2 billion, is telling everyone on the campaign trail,
and getting it reported in the paper, that he never voted for a tax.
Then he is saying that Lt. Governor candidate Senator Jim Holt did vote for
taxes when Senator Holt voted against all the $3.2 billion measures above.
See the particular bills in question below.
These are bills which
Women's Action Group has classified as new spending, government control, and
an increase in government employees.
(Candidate
Republican Chuck Banks has no voting records to evaluate since he has not been
in the legislature. However Banks views, as reported by Doug Thompson, would
indicate he would agree with the votes for the spending: "The state Supreme
Court's ruling on the Lake View school funding case is the 'law of the land,
'and attempts to undo that ruling and its
effects
are 'extremism and obstructionism,' Republican lieutenant governor's candidate
Chuck Banks of Little Rock said Monday." Effects would surely include the
spending for these issues.)
Candidate Cost of New Spending
Senator
Jim Holt
: $0
Rep.
Doug Matayo:
$3,213,000.000
Senator
Tim Wooldridge:
$3,213,000,000
Former Rep.
Mike Hathorn :
$3,213,000,000
Representative
Jay Martin : $3,213,000,000
To put that in perspective, $3.2 billion would take a 1% sales tax
increase in Arkansas for about 10 years to fund these measures. (1% sales
tax generates approximately 1/3 billion in Arkansas ) In ten years or before
that time, it would be time to fund them again. (Not all of the candidates
have voting records.
The figures are for each measure are as follows:
Act 90 (School Facilities). The Facilities Study estimated implementing
this bill will cost taxpayers $2.3 billion (4.5 billion was the 5 year
projection) ADG article June 22, 05 by Cynthia Howell. The legislature
scaled that figure back when they funded it, but the legislators who voted for
this had no idea how much it would cost. Now the Court has stepped back in
and said legislators did not do enough for facilities; and since the experts
had said it would cost this much, no one knows where it will wind up. In
Ohio because of court intervention, they are spending 23.1 billion on
facilities. Their state has about 4 times the population of Arkansas so in
comparison that would be about 6 billion. Therefore, the 4.5 billion five
year figure is fairly close to what they had to do in Ohio as a result of
court intervention. Seven new positions in the Arkansas Facilities Division
have been approved by the Facilities commission. Ohio started with one
position and now has 50. (Population:
11,353,140 in Ohio 2,673,400 in Arkansas) Senator Jim Holt voted NO;
Senator Tim Wooldridge, Representaive Doug Matayo, Representative Jay Martin,
and Representative Mik Hathorn voted YES..
Act 84 (a “study” for school facilities) has already cost taxpayers
$10,000,000. This one is a great example of how bureaucracy works.
Randall Fischer, former Facilities Director in Ohio who pled guilty to ethics
charges in Ohio, was one of the subcontractors on this facilities study. And
there were numerous errors in the study. Agriculture barns on some campuses
were evaluated as school buildings and repairs or replacement estimated high
enough to buy a barn and a farm. Then there were numerous estimates for
specific repairs that superintendents and journalists pointed out like the 110
doorknobs that needed to be replaced at Brookland where the replacement cost
was, according to these experts, $439 apiece. The superintendent found them
for $75 each. The 10 million dollars were basically wasted since the report
had no credibility. Senator Jim Holt voted NO;
Senator Tim Wooldridge, Representaive Doug Matayo, Representative Jay Martin,
and Representative Mik Hathorn voted YES.
Act 98 cost taxpayers $107,000,000, as a supplement to Arkansas
Department of Education to add up to 32 new bureaucrats to the Arkansas
Department of Education and other expenses.
Senator Jim Holt voted NO; Senator Tim Wooldridge, Representaive Doug Matayo,
Representative Jay Martin, and Representative Mik Hathorn voted YES.
HB1529 (failed in the senate) This one mandated scholarships and in
state tuition benefits for persons in this state illegally. We
conservatively estimate this bill would have cost taxpayers at least
$3,000,000 over the next three-five years.
Senator Jim Holt voted NO; Senator Tim Wooldridge, Representaive Doug Matayo,
and Representative Jay Martin voted YES. Mike Hathorn was not in the
legislature at the time of this vote.
Referred Question One. This was the Highway Bond Plan. Our main
objection to this was that it violated Amendment 20 of the Arkansas
Constitution because it would allow a government body to issue new debt
without a vote of the people. This measure would have spent $575,000,000 that
we would have had to repay someday- plus interest and bond fees. Thus the
total cost of this measure, had it passed, would have been $793,000,000.
Opposition to this measure was not based on whether the legislator voted to
refer it to the people, but on whether they endorsed or opposed the measure
once on the ballot. Only Senator Holt and Drew Pritt of the Lt. Governor
candidates actively opposed the bond plan. Senator
Tim Wooldridge, Representaive Doug Matayo, Representative Jay Martin and Mike
Hathorn supported it.
Consider the following when looking at these expenditures taxes for which the
Lt. Governor candidates voted.
-
The number of government employees in the state grew by 10% from 1997 to 2004
and salaries for government employees increased 74% from 1997 to 2004. 1
-
Arkansas ranks #49 among the states in per capita income. 2
-
BUT Arkansas ranks 8th in the nation in the percent of income paid in total
taxes. In other words, Arkansans pay a larger portion of their income in all
taxes combined than do 42 other states in the nation. 3
-
Arkansas pays more in local and state revenue as a percentage of income than
does Massachusetts. 4
-
Arkansas ranks #1 in the nation in the amount allowed for state and local
sales tax (up to 11.5 cents.) 5
-
Arkansas ranked 9th in state tax revenue growth compared to income growth from
1992 to 2002. In 2001-2002 Arkansas ranked 5th in the nation. That was
before the big tax increase in education in 2003. 6
-
Arkansas was one of the three states in the country that raised taxes by more
than 5% in 2004 according to the study by the National Conference of State
Legislatures. 7
-
A two-parent family of four living at the poverty line paid $406 in Arkansas
state income tax in 2005, the third-highest in the nation. 8
-
The state of AR is the largest employer in Arkansas with over 50,000
employees. 9
.
870-935-8320
istevens@inet-direct.com
Documentation and Footnotes:
1. Arkansas Democrat Gazette Jan 9, 2005 in a chart in an article by Michael
Wickline, "Arkansas state government
payroll"
Total Jobs Increase 1997-2004 4,662 (10.3%)
Total Salaries Paid Increase, 1997-2004 $1,103,221,692 (74.1%)
6
.
Arkansas ranked 9th in state tax revenue growth compared to income growth from
1992-2002. In 2001 to 2002 it ranked 5th in the nation in this area. That
was before the big tax increases in education.
http://www.taxfoundation.org/taxdata/show/349.html
7. Arkansas was one of the three states in the country to raise taxes by 5
percent in 2004 plus study finds. From Arkansas News Bureau, "Arkansas one
of three states to raise taxes by 5 percent-plus, study finds" by Doug
Thompson, July 21, 04.
8. A two-parent family of four living at the poverty line paid $406 in
Arkansas state income tax in 2005,
the third-highest in the nation.
Arkansas Democrat Gazette, State's poor paying 3rd-costliest taxes,
research group says,
http://www.nwanews.com/adg/News/146820/ and original source for this
article:
9. Arkansas has 50,055 government employees in 2004 - Arkansas Democrat
Gazette Jan 9, 2005 in a chart in an article by Michael Wickline,
"Arkansas state government payroll"
Figures – Add these four together to get 3.2 billion figure
2.3 billion for facilites law
$10 for Facilities Study
107 million for ADE
793 million for bond plan
Contact:
Iris Stevens
870-935-8320
Women's Action Group
www.wpaag.org
