House Revenue and Taxation Committee
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Transcript
Bills discussed (5)
| Bill | Title | Sponsor | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
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HB1134
· 2 mentions in chapter, transcript
Matched: “HB1134 Lea”
|
Pre-2017 bill | ||
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HB1016
· 1 mention in transcript
Matched: “…ve a one today, but just to make sure, Representative Bear, HB 1016, pass over that, Representative Woods on House Bill 1042 to…”
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Pre-2017 bill | ||
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HB1042
· 1 mention in transcript
Matched: “…tive Bear, HB 1016, pass over that, Representative Woods on House Bill 1042 told me that's what the A's going to pass. House Bill 1056,…”
|
Pre-2017 bill | ||
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HB1056
· 1 mention in transcript
Matched: “…House Bill 1042 told me that's what the A's going to pass. House Bill 1056, Representative Lindsey is going to pass over that today.”
|
Pre-2017 bill | ||
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HB1118
· 1 mention in transcript
Matched: “House Bill 1118, Representative Bernards will be passing over that today. W…”
|
Pre-2017 bill |
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- October 4, 2026
All right, Chair of the Corps, let's, uh, call the meeting to order. Good morning, everyone. I guess the lights are twinkling, as Clark says, on Christmas vacation, so I guess we're
on television this morning, so welcome everybody, I'm going to call out the bills, I don't think we have a one today, but just to make sure, Representative Bear, HB 1016, pass over that, Representative Woods on House Bill 1042 told me that's what the A's going to pass. House Bill 1056, Representative Lindsey is going to pass over that today.
House Bill 1118, Representative Bernards will be passing over that today. Which brings us to House Bill 1134, Representative Lee. Are you ready to address
your bill this morning? Thank you, Mr.
Speaker 6
1:27
Chairman of the committee. First, I'd like to say, historically, I don't think tax holidays are good tax policy.
But I'm bringing this one for discussion today. I'm not asking for a motion on it. I'm waiting on a fiscal impact statement. If you have any questions, the gentleman over here can answer them. But
Speaker 9
1:48
I wanted to bring it up because I'm supposed to be over in public health and we're going to get pretty busy. So I want to lay this on the table for you all to think about as you look at the different tax reliefs you're wanting for the people of Arkansas. Many of you may already know that my Bachelor's of Science is in Emergency Administration and Management.
Speaker 6
2:09
I'm the only school, one of two schools in the nation that teaches that, of course, is in my district as well, Arkansas Tech University. The first line of defense when you're in an emergency is yourself and your home, and that's before the rural fire departments get there, and those guys are great backups. But if we don't have our own house prepared, they're going to have to stretch up their resources tremendously.
So as you see on this bill, basically all I'm doing is saying during the month of September, there's going to be a two-week period where citizens will have an opportunity to get tax relief while they go and purchase items directly related to disaster preparedness. The reason for doing it in September is because September is National Disaster Preparedness Month. That's when we do all our training. Adam comes out.
They do a lot of stuff in schools, et cetera. So that's what this bill is about. Again, I know that as a committee, you're going to have a lot of bills in front of you. That is why all I want to do is lay this on the table with it as you consider all the other tax bills, tax relief bills that
Speaker 9
3:26
will be coming through here. I'll take any questions if you have any. Representative Lee, we
Speaker 6
3:32
have a couple. Representative Harris, I recognize her question.
idea of the impact on the M.A.? Hang on. Dude, to the table. Mr. Chairman, committee members, my name is John Tyson. I'm at DFA. We have begun the process of putting this impact together. The bill was introduced on Tuesday, and we got to start looking at it yesterday. We will likely have an impact completed, both of the cost, as well as any administrative issues, by hopefully your next committee meeting.
Members, I understand that as soon as that is completed, Mary Carroll will have that
in your packet. When you get here on that particular committee meeting date, Representative
Speaker 11
4:40
Kelly, why two weeks? I mean, you know, most tax day long would maybe be a weekend or something like that. Well, if
Speaker 6
4:54
you know me, you know I always feel more is better.
Speaker 9
4:58
I'm open to amending that. That was a discussion that I've had. I think that
Speaker 11
5:19
you. Representative Viviana, we recommend. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. You know, that's a
Speaker 6
5:29
good question, Representative Viviano, and especially for a freshman, I respect that.
Actually, there was a lot of discussion. I sent this bill to several people to vet and add to the list. That is why on the back page you'll notice B, we kind of tried to make it slightly broader there. We did our best to come up with the best list we could. We took Florida's bill,
Speaker 9
6:02
which is a hurricane preparedness bill, and then I sent it to, like I said, sheriffs, different people like that who added supplies.
Again, I'd be more than open to amending to add items as
well. Representative Westerman, your recognize. Representative
Speaker 11
6:24
Lee on Section B, it's about disaster preparedness, food-related supply. That's pretty broad category. How
do you determine what food will buy? I'm sure DFA and
Speaker 6
6:39
DFNA is having a tough time with that description as well.
It is a tough thing to describe, you're right, and that is why we put it in there broadly because whereas to me disaster preparedness supplies might be canned goods, you know, well, all canned goods, it just kind of got tough. And narrowing it down got tough, so that's why we put that in there like that. What is your, I mean, do you have thoughts on it yourself that it can be changed?
Speaker 9
7:16
That's a good point. I think that's a really good point. You know, I'm really in an accommodating mood, and it doesn't happen very often, so I think y'all should take advantage of any other ideas you have for
amendments. Who am I? And what did you do with Andrea? Representative Colin
Representative Colin
Unverified
7:42
Smith, you're recognized. Hello, Representative Lee. I want to ask you if you talk to retailers about what the cost might be to the retailers to set up a two-week special tax code on their machines.
Speaker 9
7:55
No, I have not. And that's something that DFA will be, I'm assuming that's part of how they work out their fiscal impact.
Speaker 6
8:26
I would think it would be a logistical nightmare if it was going to be
Speaker 9
8:33
for anyone, for a smaller group rather than the large groups, but can DFA answer that, how that's handled
in a tax holiday? The state of Arkansas has never had a tax holiday for any items before now, so we don't have any absolute practical experience.
However, some of our surrounding states and tax administrators that we deal with have dealt with the tax holidays as well as some of the taxpayers. And certainly there's always an issue and a problem for the taxpayer up front. They have to change their commuter processes for all their stores. Many of those stores may be nationwide stores. So the home office in another state will have to reprogram the commuters for Arkansas sales for specific items. and then at the close of the holiday, they then have to turn around and reprogram the computers back as they work with Maria.
So there's certainly an issue there for retailers, but you need to talk to the retailers themselves about how difficult that is for them to address. That's a good
Speaker 6
9:45
group I can go and visit with about this, and that's something, another reason why I wanted to just lay this on the table for you
Speaker 9
9:52
all to think about as you address other possible tax holidays that I understand might be coming through, that
Speaker 6
9:58
maybe the most logical thing to do would be for all of us to amend them to be on the exact same weekend to make it easier for retailers if they didn't pass through.
Okay. Representative Lee, I'm sorry, Representative Bell. I had a question
Speaker 26
10:14
that may actually be best addressed to Mr. Rice. Louisiana has a very similar statute, and I'm telling you, it's Katrina statute. Have you all looked at their experiences in implementing that? And is that data that you can bring back to
the committee? That is part of the work we're doing right now in preparing our revenue impact. I believe Florida, Louisiana, and also North Carolina all have very similar statutes, and we're currently talking to representatives of those states, and if we can get information specific to their experiences, we'll bring that back.
Thank you. All right, just a couple more. Representative Meigs, you're recognized
for a question. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. A question I have is related to cell phones. I can understand how cell phones would be used in a disaster situation, but those are such a common, everyday item nowadays. I'm wondering how many folks would actually take advantage of this specifically for the purpose of a disaster relief versus people just trying to upgrade their phones or whatnot.
and how many would actually use it for this purpose? Any
Speaker 27
11:30
thoughts or comments on that? I can't answer how people will respond,
honestly or not. Procedurally, representatively, I think, to honor your request, I think instead of taking a motion to table, and
Speaker 23
11:53
then you can resubmit and you'll come back.
Exactly, when I get the rest of the information. And members, as we, as DFA, is able to produce
the information in your package. And thank you, Mr. Chairman. What I
Speaker 27
12:07
want to say to the members is one of the reasons I presented
Speaker 9
12:10
this today without the DFA and everything is just to put it in your hopper to be thinking about and again, please get back with me, any of your thoughts on it I appreciate your time, thank you Mr. Chairman thank you Representative Lee
that's all the bills to that end I would like to encourage if you have bills that you're going to file you see sort of the theory and the process that we're going to try to go through. I just recommend that we get those online, so to speak, relatively in the coming weeks. I mean, everybody has an opportunity to vet those.
A couple of things. I just want to remind you all on some deadlines. It's January 24th, this deadline to file a bill regarding retirement and some health care issues. February 9th is the constitutional amendment deadline. And I want to remind you again, if you would, please leave your folders as we leave. Anybody have any other business? If not, we'll stay in the jar.
Agenda
HB1134 Lea
Documents
No documents posted.
Speakers
Representative Justin T. Harris Chair
Unverified
Speaker 6
Speaker 9
Speaker 11
Speaker 4
Representative Colin
Unverified
Speaker 26
Speaker 27
Speaker 23