Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders shakes hands with Rep. Jack Ladyman, R-Jonesboro, as she enters the Arkansas House to give her first State of the State address on April 10, 2024. (Antoinette Grajeda/Arkansas Advocate)
By Antoinette Grajeda, Arkansas Advocate
Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders said Tuesday she’ll call a special session next week to cut income and property taxes and fund the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission.
According to a social media post she published late Tuesday afternoon, Sanders plans to cut income taxes by nearly $500 million and property taxes by about $50 million. Sanders previously said she wanted to phase out the state’s income tax as long as it could be done responsibly.
“I’m calling a special session to give Arkansans hurting from Bidenflation income and property tax relief … Democrats in DC are failing, but we are blazing a path to greater prosperity for our people,” she wrote.
A special session became necessary after lawmakers failed to pass an appropriations bill for the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission during this year’s fiscal session. The bill failed to garner enough votes in the House the last week of the session after some legislators voiced opposition to a proposed increase to the agency director’s maximum salary.
According to a proclamation issued Tuesday evening, the General Assembly will convene at noon Monday to consider the following items:
• Lowering the top individual income tax rate from 4.4% to 3.9%
• Cutting the top corporate income tax rate from 4.8% to 4.3%
• Transferring $290 million to the Arkansas Reserve Fund Set-Aside in the Restricted Reserve Fund
• Increasing the homestead tax credit from $425 to $500
• Approving an appropriation for the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission’s budget
• Confirming gubernatorial appointees
The Arkansas Legislature meets for regular legislative sessions in odd-numbered years and fiscal sessions in even-numbered years. In the interim, the governor may call lawmakers into special session and set the agenda. Legislators may consider legislation outside of the governor’s call with a supermajority vote, but that’s uncommon.
State lawmakers were last called into special session in September. They approved legislation that cut income taxes, banned vaccine mandates for state employees and limited what state government records are available to the public.
The Arkansas Advocate is a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization dedicated to tough, fair daily reporting and investigative journalism that holds public officials accountable and focuses on the relationship between the lives of Arkansans and public policy.
Have a news tip or event to promote? Email White River Now at news@whiterivernow.com. Be sure to like and follow us on Facebook and Twitter. And don’t forget to download the White River Now mobile app from the Google Play Store or the Apple App Store.
Get up-to-date local and regional news/weather every weekday morning and afternoon from the First Community Bank Newsroom on Arkansas 103.3 KWOZ. White River Now updates are also aired weekday mornings on 93 KZLE, Outlaw 106.5, and Your FM 99.5.
