House Revenue & Taxation Committee
Video
Transcript
Bills discussed (6)
| Bill | Title | Sponsor | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
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HB1255
· 2 mentions in chapter, transcript
Matched: “HB1255”
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Pre-2017 bill | ||
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HB1257
· 2 mentions in transcript, chapter
Matched: “…House Bill 1397, Representative Ingram, I'm going to pass. HB 1257, Representative Ingram, you're recognized to explain your b…”
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Pre-2017 bill | ||
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HB1421
· 2 mentions in transcript, chapter
Matched: “House Bill 1421. This bill amends the Delta Geotourism Incentive Act of 200…”
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Pre-2017 bill | ||
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HB1221
· 1 mention in transcript
Matched: “…Lovell came up and was working an additional bill that was House Bill 1221. All it did was change the language. There was some languag…”
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Pre-2017 bill | ||
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HB1397
· 1 mention in transcript
Matched: “opposed? Okay, motion carries. House Bill 1397, Representative Ingram, I'm going to pass. HB 1257, Represe…”
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Pre-2017 bill | ||
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HB1491
· 1 mention in chapter
Matched: “HB1491”
|
Pre-2017 bill |
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...scheduled to be made today. We're going to postpone that
to a time to be announced later. First item on the agenda is concurred Senate Amendment HB 1255, Representative Jean. You recognize?
Representative Lane Jean
Unverified
0:30
Thank you, Mr. Chairman, members of the committee. I think we passed this out maybe the second
Speaker 7
0:40
week. This was the collector's bill, and after we voted on the floor of the House, Representative Lovell came up and was working an additional bill that was House Bill 1221. All it did was change the language. There was some language in there on the assessing date of April 10th,
and we add a paragraph in to make the assessment deadline May 31st, which is consistent with all of the languages in this bill. And this is pushed back also the tax collection date from October 10th to October 15th on the advorum tax. And that's all it does, and I'd appreciate a good vote, and I'll answer any questions if there are any. Okay, I don't see any questions. Is there
anybody from the audience who would like to speak for the bill, against the bill?
Representative Gene, would you like to close for your bill? You're closed for your bill. And
what's the pleasure of the committee? Representative Bell, you're recognized. Do pass. Okay, the motion for the committee is do pass on concurrence and Senate amendment. All in favor, say aye. Aye. Anyone
opposed? Okay, motion carries. House Bill 1397, Representative Ingram, I'm going to pass. HB 1257, Representative Ingram, you're recognized to explain your bill.
Representative Keith M. Ingram
Unverified
2:19
Thank you, Mr. Chairman, members of the committee. This bill, we've discussed it before. This bill is sort of 1257 is a do-right bill. About five or six people a year get caught in buying an automobile out of state in a state that is a non-reciprocal state. The fiscal impact of this is about $15,000. But you can have instances in Wisconsin, Indiana, Florida.
Mr. Tice or Tim Leathers will tell us the fourth one, that if you take delivery on a car in that state, then you get hit with sales tax in that state, and when you get back to Arkansas, you have to pay sales tax again. Again, we're talking about $15,000. It doesn't affect but four or five people a year, but again, this is sort of that old Lou Holt's do right rule. I know Senator Key had a constituent that bought an antique car about a month ago that
Speaker 15
3:23
got hit with this very same thing. With that, I'll be happy
to answer any questions. MR. Okay. I don't see any questions. Is anybody from the audience here to speak for the bill, against
Speaker 17
3:48
the bill? Mr. Chairman, the bill has been explained. As we would explain it, we just want to repeat the consistent message that we've had for
any bill that adds to the tax exemptions as opposed to what we have budgeted in the balance budget and that this was not accounted for in the balanced budget thank you thank you Mr. Letters anybody speak no one else
speak for the bill against the bill representative Ingram we recognize to close for your bill I'm sorry Mr. Flines Chris Flines with the
Speaker 21
4:26
Association of Counties and I hate to do this at the
end of the table with representative Ingram he's a good fellow and we've worked well together but in the last couple days the AAC Board of Directors has taken a position and instead of getting up on every bill and doing this again and again we wanted to with the first revenue reducing bill that came before this committee we wanted to get before you and go on record with the position of the Association of Arkansas County so it's no offense whatsoever to this bill in particular, but for any revenue-reducing bill, we want to go on record to say that the
Association of Arkansas Counties, due to concerns about the slim margin in the budget as it currently exists and with some serious concerns about some of the revenue reductions that we may very well see from Washington, would like to go ahead and espouse a position that we are against any revenue reductions. We've got a paper that we've handed out to many of you, and I've got some more copies here in the back that go over the details of that.
And I won't belabor the point, but that is where the AAC will stand from here on out on any revenue-reducing cuts. Thank you. Representative Cowling, you're
recognized. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Why is it we're halfway through the session and you're just now coming out here and saying
Speaker 21
5:56
this now? Thank you again. That's a good question. It takes our board a little while to see the magnitude of the cuts that have been proposed and that have begun to make it out of committee and then get a little bit worried about where everything might go.
So we met by teleconference last Friday to discuss this position, and we feel like instead of not doing it at all, we need to go ahead and
get out with it now. Thank you. Thank
Representative Ed Garner
Unverified
6:25
you. Representative Garner, you're recognized. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Could it be that the lateness of your statement has to do with the fact that Association of County members are anything but unanimous in this? Because I'm getting communications that says that not all of your members agree with this by any stretch.
Are you coming now because perhaps you had trouble reaching that consensus? No, sir. We
Speaker 21
6:54
are directed by our board of directors, a 17-member board. The vote on Friday was to be unanimous in support of this position. Like every other group out there, like even a family, not everybody's going to agree all the time. and we understand that, but we do have to go with the position that the board of director gives us.
This is unanimous and pertains to each and every bill that's out there. It's not specifically targeted at any one. Representative Burris, no. Representative Ingram,
you recognize it's closed for your bill. I'm closed. Appreciate a good vote. All right, Representative Ingram is closed for his bill. What's the pleasure of the committee? Representative Love, you're recognized. Recommended do pass.
Okay. Motion before the committee is do pass. All in favor say aye. Aye. Any opposed? Motion carries. Congratulations, Representative Ingram. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you, committee. House Bill
1421. Representative Patterson, you prepared to run your bill? You're recognized to explain your bill. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
House Bill 1421. This bill amends the Delta Geotourism Incentive Act of 2007, which provides financial incentives for the development of geotourism and geotourism sporting businesses in the lower Mississippi River Delta. The bill amends the definition of economic distressed area to mean a county in which more than 23 percent of the families fall below poverty level based on the 2010 census instead of the 2000 census as in the original act.
The bill raises a maximum investment eligibility for the 25% credit from $100,000 to $250,000 and extends the sunset of the credit from the end of 2016 until the end of 2021. The bill is effective for tax years beginning on or before January 1, 2011. The act would be effective for income tax years beginning January 1, 2011. Ladies and gentlemen, I think this is a good bill.
And if you have any questions, I'll be more than happy
to answer them. Don't see any. Representative Burris, you're recognized. Thank you, Mr. Chairman and Mr. Patterson. I don't want to bog you
Representative John Burris
Unverified
9:50
down with specifics or put you on the spot. But I'm just trying to tell you what, never mind. I have questions for DF&A. Okay. Is the more on there the speaker? Is that the co-sponsor? Yes, sir. Okay. All right. Just double-checking. All right. Thank you.
All right. No question from – no question. Representative Burris has withdrawn his question. I have Ms. Debbie Doss. Is it Doss? It's here to speak for the bill. If you're recognized, go to the end of the table and speak for the bill. Okay.
Debbie Doss
Unverified
10:39
Okay. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. My name is Debbie Doss. I'm the conservation chair of the Arkansas Canoe Club. We're a large recreational organization in the state. of over 1,400 members in seven chapters in Arkansas, Oklahoma, Texas, and Louisiana. We are coming out in support of this bill because we see such great potential for eastern
and southern Arkansas. Our club has recently been working with some state agencies, Arkansas Game and Fish in particular, to establish a system of canoe trails in these areas. We have the potential in eastern Arkansas, in a very economically depressed area of the state to reap some benefits, tax benefits, revenue income for the state, I would believe
that's comparable to the tourism industry in the Ozarks. That is not being taken advantage of. We have a lot of interest in that area with hunting and fishing, but we're not capturing a lot of interest from other people who could be using the area, such as canoeists, hikers, wildlife viewers.
There's a whole industry out there that's being utilized in other states that we are not taking advantage of. One of the difficulties that we see, and I lead trips into this area regularly, people are not aware of what a wonderful place we have in eastern Arkansas, in the Delta, the refuges and the wildlife management areas. When we get over there and I take people on these trips, you know, they marvel at what
we have over there. You know, wonderful hardwood forests, trees 800 to 1,000 years old. It's like no place else in the country, and people are just unaware of it. Another problem is that we don't have enough business support in the area for services. This becomes sort of a chicken and egg problem because when you don't have support businesses support the tourist industry, it cuts down on the amount of the tourist business, and
this cycles around. I think this bill is a very good bill to encourage businesses in the area. We need – I am asked all the time, you know, how do I rent a canoe to go down the White River or Bayou de Vieux? There are no businesses that support the industry right now. We need liveries, guide services, outfitters, those kinds of things to attract people into
the area to be able to use it. And then once you establish those, you'll have other services building up around that. We'll have stores and restaurants, lodging, you know, places of lodging, bed and breakfast. All of these things will build into the area as this is established. I think this bill supports getting those businesses started, and I think it's a great idea for
Arkansas. Thank you very much. Thank you. Lee County, is Lee County, I'm assuming would be, fall
within the definition of the economically distressed area. Do you know, does anybody know? I don't have a list on that. Okay. Yeah, okay. Thank you for, got a question. Representative Meeks, you recognize. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Representative Stephen Meeks
Unverified
15:11
It looks to me that one of the main things this
bill does is it extends the tax credit from $100,000 to $250,000. Do you know of any projects or potential projects or entities that are currently in talks or in the works that would go beyond the current $100,000 allotment to take advantage of the $200,000? Personally, I don't know of anybody right now, but I think there was five
or six projects in the last year or two that was involved in this, and I'm sure there's probably one or two or three maybe that will fall in this category.
Representative Stephen Meeks
Unverified
15:43
There will be a whole lot. Okay, but there are a few that would be able to take advantage of
the $100,000. Hopefully there's somebody out there that will. Okay. All right. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Representative Bibiano, you're recognized. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Representative, as we extend tax credits and tax cuts, there's an expectation or my expectation that it will increase jobs in this impacted area. Do you have any idea how many jobs
this will create? No, but just listening to that lady while I go, there's no doubt in my mind there's a good possibility that we'll gain some jobs with this passing.
And that's all we can do is hope that we're going to gain
some jobs in this. Another question, please. The fiscal impact shows that we're going to have a lost revenue of $75,000. Like every question asked in this
committee, how do you propose to pay for that?
Representative Bruce Westerman
Unverified
16:49
out. Out of the regular fund. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Representative Patterson, if I understand tax credits correctly, if you have income in a business and pay taxes,
then the tax credit offsets the taxes that you pay. So my question is, are these tax credits transferable can they be sold to another business mr. Tice can you
come up here for a second I think he's more knowledgeable on that than I am mr. Tice recognized mr. chairman
Speaker 67
17:24
members the committee I'm John Tice with DFA this credit is transferable or sellable to someone else so if the business itself
Speaker 68
17:32
does not have an income tax liability, then the business can sell that credit to someone who
Representative Robert S. Moore, Jr.
Unverified
17:48
does have a liability. Okay. Thank you. Representative Moore, you're recognized. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Tice, I was thinking I was remembering that when this was crafted that the transferability was to another tourism-related business. Is that not
Speaker 71
18:03
correct? MR. Yes, Mr. Speaker, that's correct.
The transferability is limited to certain kinds
Speaker 67
18:09
of businesses, typically other geotourism businesses
Speaker 72
18:12
or other businesses elsewhere in the state
Representative Robert S. Moore, Jr.
Unverified
18:15
that are tourism related. MR. The idea was any transfer incentive that was gained out of the tax credit would be related to the tourism industry within the state of Arkansas. So that folks that may be investing in these economically distressed areas that don't have the income that they could utilize this tax credit, they would be able to transfer them
to somebody else who's also in the tourism business. So the intent would be to boost tourism in the state of Arkansas as an industry. Is that generally correct? That is the way the bill is
Speaker 68
18:52
drafted. Yes, sir. Thank you. Representative
Burris, you're recognized for a question. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The question I was
Representative John Burris
Unverified
18:59
going to ask Representative Patterson, Mr. Tice, was what was – do you know off the top of your head the impact of this credit
Speaker 68
19:11
last fiscal year? We know that as of last year
Speaker 67
19:14
we had six businesses that were taking advantage
of it. I can just give you the upper limit right now, because at six times $100,000 would be, you know, $600,000 with a 25 percent credit. So the maximum last year would have been, what, $150,000. It probably was less than
Speaker 68
19:29
that, but I don't have the exact number here. And the only reason I ask, you
Representative John Burris
Unverified
19:36
know, I'm not an economist, I didn't study economics and finance at Yale either. But yeah, I was just, if we're increasing the credit so drastically, you know, it just
seemed like the impact is fairly small compared to the increase of the credit. So my question was just a little bit of
Speaker 68
20:00
explanation on the estimated revenue loss. The increase that you're seeing from $100,000 to $250,000 is the amount of investment that qualifies. The credit is 25 percent, so 25 percent of that $150,000 increase is the actual credit amount that would be taken by businesses investing more than $100,000.
This estimate is based on two businesses that would qualify. We have been contacted by one business that's anticipating an expenditure that would qualify of about $1 million. So we do know there are some projects out there that would take advantage, but we're really talking about $375 or I'm going to mess up here, but I think about $37,000 of business extra over the current credit. Okay. And
Representative John Burris
Unverified
20:50
thank you, Mr. Tyson. Mr. Chairman, I'll –
Could I just say that a lot of those – could I just say that a lot of those projects are not going
Representative John Burris
Unverified
21:01
to be that large? Yeah. You know, so – Okay.
All right. Thank you, and I'll have a motion at the proper time.
Mr. Chairman. Representative Link, you're recognized. Representative Viviano, you're recognized for a question. Mr. This is a point of information for me. This is a
tax credit for arguably a small group of opportunities. Is that pretty common here in the state that we have a lot of these tax credit programs
that only impact five or six businesses? Mr. Representative
Speaker 67
21:31
Viviano, I'm not going to say that it's common but it's certainly there are others. We've had credits aimed at certain industries such as the windmill industry, the steel industry. This one happens to be aimed at tourism industry. There's actually one other benefit that's aimed at the tourism industry, so this is not unique. I'm trying to get a measure of scope
of size of, you know, what size you have to reach before you
can qualify for a tax credit, or it's just we're just kind of doing
strictly a matter of legislative discretion representative cowling you're recognized
thank you this is strictly on tourism isn't it related to tourism that's correct thank you
thank you representative bell you recognize i
Representative Nate Bell
Unverified
22:27
had two questions um the first is we're changing from a five mile distance from the
scenic byways to a 30 mile distance is there a reason particularly for that that i have an additional
question that was done back uh two years ago
that particular it shows that it's done today that was done actually two years ago because in my county that scenic byway goes from Clay County all the way down to West Helena, and it goes across the state, and part of my county qualified for this, and part of it didn't, so I changed that five miles to
30 miles, so my county would qualify, the whole county, instead of leaving part of the towns out, we changed it to 30 miles so the county of Clay County could qualify for this if they wanted to spend the money and remodel some of the facilities. So this
Representative Nate Bell
Unverified
23:19
change has already been made in the past? This
particular change on the 5 to 30 was done in the
Representative Nate Bell
Unverified
23:27
past. Additionally, I was just curious, this bill's been in effect, or this law has been in effect since 2007 at the lower limits.
I'm just curious what its job creation record had been up to
this point. I couldn't give you that total on that. I
Representative Nate Bell
Unverified
23:43
don't know that. Do you know how many successful businesses are operating that have taken advantage of this
credit? About six. Thank you. Thank you. All right. Anybody in the audience here to speak for the bill, against the bill? You're here to speak for it or against
it, Mr. Tice? I'd prefer to speak against it.
Okay. I'm sorry. Confused me there. All right. You're recognized to speak against the
Speaker 67
24:12
bill. Mr. Chairman, committee members, we want to remain consistent that this revenue loss, While it's not large, it's not calculated into the governor's balanced budget and is outside the scope of what has been proposed. So in the interest of being consistent with our previous comments, we do oppose it for that
reason. Thank you. Representative Patterson, do you recognize a close for
your bill? I'd just like to say that I'd appreciate a good vote.
Representative Burris. I have a motion to do pass. I have
a motion to do pass. Would anybody like to speak on the motion, or Representative
Representative Robert S. Moore, Jr.
Unverified
24:52
Moore, you recognize to speak on the motion? Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Members, I sponsored this bill back in 2007. As I think most of you know, I represent southeast Arkansas, and I really appreciate Debbie's testimony. I think she articulated probably better than I the nature of our situation down there. We're primarily an agricultural part of the state that, you know, 50, 100 years ago we were really booming.
Mechanization of agriculture changed all that. Through those years, we have not done a good job of adapting to a new economy down there. We are certainly a part of the most economically, if not the most economically distressed area of the state. Our inability to have a viable economy not only hurts people that reside there and jobs and their ability to earn good wages, but also is a drain on the rest of the state because we are a portion of the state that the tax revenue that we generate off our tax base
is not sufficient to pay the services that we get from the state. So it's obviously in everybody's benefit to the state to support the growth of the economy in southeast and all of east Arkansas. Representative Patterson is up in the northeast corner. I'm down in the southeast corner. This bill, basically, when it was introduced and the governor was in conjunction with his support, was to create an incentive.
Debbie articulated very good the problem, it's a chicken egg. It's like we're trying to capitalize on the resources that we have, that being our heritage, our natural resources, and our culture. People that come into the area from out of state or from out of the region uniformly appreciate the amenities that we have there. But concurrently, folks over the years that I've had to come and visit down in Arkansas City where I lived
are amazed at the natural beauty and all the rich history, but concurrently are amazed at the fact that there's no place to eat, there's no place to stay, there's no place to buy goods, there's nothing to keep their interest in the area and spend their money. I wish that I could testify and quantify that, yes, this bill has been successful in creating a new economy. One of the interesting things, and it's a wonderful part of our culture, is our culture is an old culture.
Folks have, as you know by the most recent census, have continued to depart the area in droves, and the people that have remained down there are of a mindset that goes back generations before. So it's been difficult to transfer that mentality into realizing that we've got to take advantage of the assets that we have,
create a new economy on those assets. So this bill and increasing the cap on it, I wish I could tell you it would be the greatest thing that you've ever done if we increased the cap and the state had to absorb a lot of revenue loss, meaning that there were a lot of $250,000 businesses that were coming into south and east Arkansas as a result of this, and those businesses were attracting other businesses, and there were jobs, and there was a tax base that was increased in income tax and sales tax and all the wonderful things.
I don't know whether this will be the incentive, but we've got to do what we can. We've had studies and studies and studies and studies and studies about what to do in the Delta. Our progress is minimal. I would ask your support for this bill to create an incentive out there, because every business that may be attracted in that end because of this tax incentive will be a core business that will bring other businesses
and try to be a part of help revitalizing the economy in a very economically distressed area of the state. So I would certainly appreciate your favorable consideration. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you. Speaker
Moore has spoken for the motion. Would anybody like to speak against the motion? If not,
the motion before the committee is due pass. All in favor say aye. Aye. Any opposed? Motion carries. Congratulations. You passed your bill. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Committee.
House Bill 1491, Representative Kaling, you're recognized to explain your bill. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Representative Bryan B. King
Unverified
30:04
And I've got someone to help me with
this, and I'm going to ask her to come down here
and introduce herself for the committee. You're recognized. Please state your name and affiliation. My
Speaker 95
30:26
name is Mary Leith. I'm Deputy Director of Administration for the Arkansas Department of Health. It's
Lee, I'm sorry. Lee, L-E-A-T-H. Okay. Thank you. Thank you for being
here. Representative Cowley. Thank you, Committee. This is a real simple bill, and you're not going to have very many of these that doesn't have an impact. But this is just a mechanism to collect when someone owes the Department of Health
that they're able to be able to attach to their income
tax. And I'll let Ms. Lee explain it if you need anything else explained on that. Ms. Lee, you're recognized. This
Speaker 95
31:07
is actually to correct an oversight. When the Department of Health was merged with the Department of Human Services, we had the ability to do tax intercepts, And it occurred to us after the demerger when we tried to collect for some civil penalties
that the plumbing and heating air conditioning board had assessed that we could not avail ourselves of the tax intercept. So we're here to try to correct that oversight. We'd appreciate the support. And if I can answer any questions, I'd be happy to. Representative Collins, you're recognized. Mr. Chairman, I've
got a motion at the proper time. Okay, very well. Anybody in the audience here to speak for the bill, against the bill?
Representative Cowling, would you like to close for your
Representative Charlie Collins
Unverified
32:04
bill? We're closed. We just appreciate a good vote. Thank you, Representative
Collins. You're recognized for motion. Mr. Chairman, I'd like to move
that we do pass this bill. I'm sorry. Okay. We have a motion before the committee is do pass. All in favor, say aye. Aye. Any opposed? Motion carries. Congratulations. You pass your bill. Okay, members, without objection, Representative Nichols has asked for a special order of business for March the 10th on HB 1495.
I think he has some folks coming in to testify. So without objection, I'm going to so order. Senate Bill 274 anyone here to run Senate Bill 274 Senate Bill 275 Senate Bill 276 very well thanks members no further business we shall stand adjourned
Agenda
Call to Order
HB1255
HB1257
HB1421
Deferred Bills
HB1491
Adjournment
Documents
No documents posted.
Speakers
Representative Davy Carter Chair
Unverified
Representative Lane Jean
Unverified
Speaker 7
Representative Keith M. Ingram
Unverified
Speaker 15
Speaker 17
Speaker 21
Representative Larry Cowling Chair
Unverified
Representative Ed Garner
Unverified
Representative Mark Biviano Chair
Unverified
Representative John Burris
Unverified
Debbie Doss
Unverified
Representative Stephen Meeks
Unverified
Representative Bruce Westerman
Unverified
Speaker 67
Speaker 68
Representative Robert S. Moore, Jr.
Unverified
Speaker 71
Speaker 72
Representative Nate Bell
Unverified
Representative Bryan B. King
Unverified
Speaker 95
Representative Charlie Collins
Unverified