Revenue & Taxation- House

Two seven and just recognize yourself from the consequence Sturch David taller representative district twelve Committee this is a very simple bill what it does for our hardworking teachers is it takes the current tax credit which they can receive which is two hundred fifty dollars and it doubles it to five hundred dollars it also takes the current cap on a household so there to educators in that household the cap was five hundred dollars and it will double it to a thousand this money can be used for teachers to purchase books school supplies computer equipment and software Athletic equipment food for students in their classroom and closing for the students in that classroom and as you know and if you've ever been in education our teachers do a wonderful job they work extremely hard and they spend a lot of money out of their own pockets every year for kids And so this doubles it there is only a two hundred and thirty seven thousand dollar impact to it to general revenue so it does not cost that much and with that I'll be glad to take any questions that you may have. The president members any questions. I was the person I like the bill we did this two sessions ago I believe and it was well received so as we build presented your question Sir at worst a state certified schools that I guess that would include private schools. Under current law refresh my memory. yeah are you at on the legislative impact statement. Maybe the chairman granted I am. Current Arkansas law allows teacher providing preschool elementary secondary education at public and state certified school to deduct expenses so this would be an accredited school under our state so if it is that our credit school if it's a charter school I mean there's all kinds of school systems that can be accredited if they are accredited or become accredited under the current system they would they would qualify for this month. Thank you for your questions. Anybody else will speak against the bill. For the bill Paul you'll give us your version. You. Good afternoon Mister chair the members of the committee Paul guarantee of thank. IDFA did issue a fiscal impact statement represent all it did state the fiscal impact statement exactly as it was presented in the bill itself FOR FY two thousand twenty two there's a two hundred thirty seven thousand dollar reduction to general revenue be happy to answer any questions about the fiscal impact statement. There was any questions. Thank you Bob appreciate it thank you Sir investors will speak against a bill for the bill tallit your clothes rebuilder. That's hard work our as as part as our teachers work to serve our students this is a great tax credit it does not cost the state very much but it it impacts not just the person who's receiving the credit which is the teacher it also impacts all those students lives that error in that classroom so This tax credit actually benefits to groups and not just one and for that I think it's a great deal not correct sure no bills a tax deduction not tax credit right. Correct a tax deduction I'm sorry did you get this will make a clarification for everybody we'll put the bill in the mix at the end of session and we'll come back and revisit with you okay thank you Mr chair thank you committee I appreciate you this for consideration thank you president. All right members next up represent him in a room. We will take a look at house bill thirteen fourteen. Thank you Mr chairman I invite Andrew Grove are appear with me he's really the expert on this or or maybe more than I am. But Back in nineteen ninety five when we first pass this bill which was twenty six years ago If if we had to put an extra escalation clause in there would be route we are right now we're just about doubling the tax credits they were asking for news as all of you know the expenses have gone way up in the last twenty six years so of bison what we're asking for is to allow the tax credit to go up and and in several places in this bill basically doubling between what was what was first passed skews me. And and there's a couple other provisions in their raising that that the tax credit from ten percent to twenty five percent and then the making of fifteen year carry forward and and now five years to complete the project rather than three years to comply with federal law with that Andrew big lead asking answering questions you'll have you'll appreciate enter I guess my question the tele Committee who who can take the tax credit is how the war is kind of a brief fifty thousand foot view explanation of pieces oppose oppose the other sure hi my name is Andrew Grove Meyer and I'm with the agricultural council of Arkansas on were an industry trade organization that represents farmers and landowners in real property option Arkansas this program it's the water conservation and development tax incentives act it is manage under the department of agriculture now in the natural resources Commission used to be stormwater Commission of Mister Hillman was on that back in the nineties when they first went through water plan and develop this policy and that that finally came through and law ninety five what it does is it incentivizes farmers to invest in water conservation activities that are lasting that help reduce groundwater consumption and increase efficiencies and use of surface water which we have an abundance of but sometimes we just let it go on down the rivers into the Gulf of Mexico so um farmers can level their land for irrigation efficiency they can develop surface water reservoirs to capture water rainfall water and and run off and they can use the sites for still water recovery systems to catch water at the end of the fields and recirculated as well as the automation and and monitoring systems that are coming online pretty fast these days important for some these efficiency systems like pipe planner the delta plastics says delivered. this is a conservation initiative saves or brown water supply not just for for the future of farming specially rice farming which requires a lot of water but also for municipalities and the delta region and that we also look at it not just as a thing that's important to farmers and and to the water supply but also in the near term especially as people adopt these credits and use them as a jobs affect the the dollars that are provided through these credits are multiplied by investments of landowners to the higher to to get the equipment and tire the personnel and get the parts and supplies to complete these projects and it goes a long way and multiplying the dollars that are provided so the cost that that's been estimated by the FNA is is minimal relative to a lot of other proposals that are out there and and we feel like this is a good project for the state of Arkansas. the economy of Arkansas and it's also just so you all know it's not just supported by us the agricultural council Arkansas but also farm bureau Arkansas rice Arkansas soybean and farm credit and and multitude of others conservation districts that are so appreciate anything the talking offer to improve this program it's it's time to do so in our opinion being twenty five years old in the cost of all these things going up immensely. Urging him up no not part of the world runs for you know our wills are forty sixty four the tell the tell the members I will speak for you server tell the members how deep your wheels are in because that Oxford's been dropped down this is one reason why this is important okay of something I'll be glad to and I will let me say to start off with an unknown back in ninety five that I was going to be up here doing this is that I would put an escalator clause on it back then but the beginning is that we used we took advantage of this program are farming ninety five and now we've got about fifteen hundred acres in one block. Maybe a little more than that in less than ten acres of that we've been able to develop so that we only that that's the only thing we can't recover the water front runs off our farm and and at the plate we pump that water and cement and we were the slick off from. And and and with with this with this it tax credits that we've had we we spent on about half million dollars to develop a groundwater recovery systems and put in pipelines and do some line eleven the bill to addition on the reserve or things like that and and we got to us straight as a water in our area we got to spar akel for which is down a fairly deep and then we got the alluvial which is up on top about eighty percent of our wells or you are in the alluvial Oxford and that has been steadily declining ever since whisper start punching holes in it back in the early nineteen hundreds in fact of when they first are recognized in my part of Arkansas allow the wheels with actually artesian means or what they would do you drill a well and that would come up to the the above the service of the water and that the wheels were well what they did they just doesn't hold after they got to water and an egg bubble where they wanted to and most of wells pump to just around a thousand gallons a minute and if you want more that you just put in a big upon our work rent roll a bit deeper right now I've got a will from my house it's a hundred sixty five feet deep it went all the way to the bottom of the formation we got ten feet is green in it so any time the water level drops below a hundred fifty five feet it starts pumping air we have shut it down and now the water level is generally they're about a hundred forty feet and we have one well that's in the Sparta aquifer it is nine hundred fifty six feet to the bottom of it. And it pumps about two thousand gallons a minute and literally energy really likes us because when we start that thing up that meter distended flies off you sometime you thanks helicopter the it's the giving example if we would pop that will of. all thirty days during the month it costs about twelve thousand dollars on electricity it is on these a few it would be probably twice that much so this is a real concern is a real need in Eastern Arkansas for us to do this it's a valued not only to us as farmers not only to the the people that consume the food but it's an advantage to Arkansas also because of that the conservation that we do for future generations for we need to have that water for our grandchildren are great grandchildren for years to come and the server's waters gonna be there every year so the more we can do this the the better it is for everyone so it yeah it's going to cut into the state revenue a little bit this time but in years to come and going to more than like that up with the increased the income tax and the the sales tax and things like that. Thanks Sir and I'd also might have the cut myself to speak for your bill of members agriculture's one third of Arkansas gross domestic product so if my part of the world northeast Arkansas our wills are forty foot deep because how much rice's been came down around the PRORATE since early nineteen hundreds you see the difference of the water table and wasn't what is gone is gone so some some portents is to just not farmers but state of Arkansas you might twenty Bucks after the session I'm not or that they should pay what you're worth thank you thank you. Members any questions. Anybody I speak against a bill for the bill. Closer. Yes Sir thank you for coming in. Right. Next up the richer you mention room. Members this is house bill for a fifteen thirteen. Fifteen thirteen. Thank you Mr chair committee This is a bill to establish a twenty five thousand dollar tax credit to encourage retired law enforcement officers come back up by the state police to work on cold cases at the. Although the total amount of the tax credit is twenty five thousand the individual maximum that a person could claim would be thirty five hundred dollars in one year it's based on the number of hours that they put in investigating this cold cases if they work thousand hours investigating one or more cold cases then they can they can take the full thirty five hundred dollar tax credit this is gonna be administered on a first come first served basis. The It's not a refundable credit so thank it only works they can only claim the credit up to the amount of the tax that they know thank it can be carried forward for two years so does allow that to take the full amount at some point It's fairly simple bill that in order to be eligible. Taxpayer has to be retired law enforcement officer and apply to the division for ineligibility search certificate they'll keep track of the hours and that certificate would be attached with their to return in order to be able to be eligible for the credit. Thanks Sir. Sessions. Thank you bye now I also speak against what the bill. For the bill upon for your saves twenty five thousand dollars a saving the what buddy all right. One thing Kerry thank represent Eubanks thank you thank you. All right members were looking at represent Wardlaw universe or. Members this is house bill fourteen fifty six thank you Mr and I've got a few guests for me today if you wanna have them introducer so for the record absolutely. Yes just say in. Daniel Robbins and I'm with the local roads of Arkansas and Arkansas shortline railroads are Russell Arkansas. Good afternoon Ryan PT with Mickelson and company and the local roads of Arkansas. Thank you guys would present Wardlaw thank you Mr in in my district. Wood products are very important and we only have a couple meals left in South Arkansas knows meals have to get that product over to the main rail which is over in Eastern Arkansas and to do that we have to have the short line rails. And what we've seen over the years is the short line rails have deteriorated and they've deteriorated really really bad and I'm watching Mark McElroy said because it has to go to his district he knows what I'm talking about because one east German here represents that rail that I'm referring to so what we want to do is to do something that would help. And we pulled out of some language here that cost the state about four point nine million and that's if they repair all nine hundred eighty six miles of them speak correctly of rail in one year that they're never going to be able to do that in one year but that's if they do it and we've offered some amendments to chairs very aware of those amendments to bring that impact down some and we're still open to some of those amendments if if we have to but this is a very big deal for economic development specially in Southeast Arkansas in and western Arkansas we're short line railroad is very important to get our products to the to the market and as the farmers got up and talked about while ago you know these folks will pay taxes and they got to spend ten million dollars to get the four point nine million of this impact so in order to do that they've they've got to put money in which means they pay in taxes so we're going to see a higher tax revenue out of it so we need to see some dynamic scoring on somebody's Bills and future and representative Jett myself for working on some legislation to help with that but that would help with some of these economic development bills as we're looking at tax credits and different things and with that miss chair will take any questions and I brought the experts for the questions how many how many How many companies are that uses these nine hundred eighty six miles there are nineteen independent short lines in the state of Arkansas the scam Simmons had a lot of the state yes yes Sir we are scattered all over so you can safely say also the five districts of all one hundred of us has a sore on road no Sir actually they do not and I have a map all get that map to you so we can distribute that to the committee members but I have a map that shows exactly where that short line or in the districts that effects but it is it is a lot of districts affected so you have enough districts for representatives has not had a fifty one yeah there you go S. was trying to get to. These you're recognized her when those tracks originally put down who pay for those funded whenever there originally fund yet it sure was a little bit different our roads that ARE NO rust were was built independently but are no business interests in eighteen eighty three some of the other lines such as the ones going in this Mister Wardlaw sister summer built as independent by Georgia Pacific corporation some more part of the Chicago Rock Island and Pacific railway system that went bankrupt in nineteen eighty and then some of bill by the Missouri Pacific railroad back in those days they were all paid for by the privately most of the or pay for privately yes Sir I thank. The representative for. yes I will reiterate the economic development a part of this is a huge huge thank but it's all also touched on the safety factor that this will help with. yes safety is five cents are you meaning secretary shipping by rail compared to shipping on other modes of transportation yeah I know the bridges and everything else I need just general safety for the rail itself right the these funds will be used to upgrade the short line systems to make them safer to upgrade the weight carrying capacity of bridge structures for our customers so they can make better use of the larger cars and then additionally the short answer instead of Arkansas does have a lot of petrochemical business either for the agricultural industry or petroleum industry and shipping by rail by the United States Department transportation is eighteen times safer than shipping by highway. Mister I can lead to some that. Is any of your your question yes most of this was put in by the private industry backed back in the day the problem was finding today is there are some states that step up to the plate and they fund these type of projects and because of that if we're not careful our industry will be moved to the places where those states put in that effort and we don't Southeast Arkansas we can't afford to lose I don't know if you've looked at the economic development of the redistricting maps but we're losing by the seconds down there of I mean by the second so we have to keep every piece industry we keep and do everything we can to keep those industries in the state in western Arkansas is no different. Risen one. Your question. Nobody recognized her I just want to echo the comments of of representative McCluer almost every economic development project or prospect that we we've looked at in a cross into the economic development foundation these guys have been at the table and in the central part of the negotiation and dealing with those economic development prospects and what they what they can provide to the for getting raw materials and products back out to the port and to different locations throughout the state in the country they are in the central part of the puzzle piece of the puzzle for economic development and that's why this is so important. Thank you. Thank you senator. But Mister chair members I I would just add that. The the economic development portion is really the key here because you got the the rural lines out of the end of the line and it's about retaining customers and attracting business and the the proposal here's something that's been modeled off of what's successfully been implemented and doubled in value in Oklahoma it's been something that's been done in Kentucky Georgia Alabama in your neighboring states in Mississippi and Louisiana also can sitting legislation so this is very much about. Competition for economic development and retaining and growing jobs so. Thank you yes thank on nineteen carriers will use this state tax credit you think it was some of the some not. This is all is all the tracks all nine hundred eighty six thousand eight prepare at some level I believe all nineteen carriers would use of the somewhere use that much every year than others. Written warning questions now. You just answered my question I was wondering how many the local lines they're worse other nineteen using these short lines. Yes Sir starting short lines the state of Arkansas should clarify that a short line doesn't necessarily mean in length that is a determining factor by the federal government revenues that you have the determines if you're short line railroad we actually a short lines in the state there's several hundred miles long okay. How many wrote other railroad companies operate in Arkansas there are three class one carriers in Arkansas union Pacific products northern Santa Fe in Kansas city southern okay thank you. The person who was in the questions. Paul is going to talk about the fiscal impact your anything you know that the. Okay. Because remember this is a four point nine as a Russian Wardlaw said we talk about amending this thing two or three times to get through the cap and all that but good bill and I expect to see this back at the end of session okay I guess thank you Mister and a committee are on a good day. Written warning to present your bill. Member's house bill sixteen forty one. Thank you Mr chair committee. What I'm here for is a bill that would allow the. Two YMCA's that I'm aware of I was asking represent Wardlaw to stay because as I understand it and Paul you can correct me if I'm wrong here but there to YMCAs left in the State of Arkansas I believe one in hot springs and one in Warren. in my correct on that. Okay. And they do not they have not been given the tax exempt status. The one in hot springs I can tell you service and a tremendous number of people they have an indoor swimming pool great exercise facility racquetball courts does a great job they're not there to make profit they just simply or trying to provide a place for people to go year round what really brought this up they're getting rate they've got to swim indoor swimming pool they're having to buy it the humidifier which is a six figure purchase. Paying tax on that was going to add to the purchase significantly so what we're trying to do is get these two was the tax exempt status a visit with Paul this first year the cost would be forty three hundred the next year twenty six thousand so I would just to ask for favorable consideration on this when the time comes I know we're not taking a vote on it today but this would help the last in Arkansas thank you Russian curler. A I could care of what you say they do a wonderful wonderful job less I drive by that YCA House brings quite often. Do we have any idea how many people they provide service to. I have asked and right after I ask my phone went dead. I can't really answer I ask for a number of members and number of people that are in there now there day I gotta believe it's several hundred today the parking lots always full. Resenting. Thank you Mr chairman a written warning I'm assuming they have a federal tax exemption but don't have state is that what we're talking about that's my understanding they have small thanks I'm sorry say that again. This is the affect issue here for the state on the state only or. Okay thank you the. Noordin questions. The Bill speak against Bill reporter. You gave the first and second the second year I assume is large because the purchase can we assume that on going it will be back to the four thousand a year or so I am not exactly sure what Paul place to his figures on so I would have let him ask that you ensure that the public school down there. Recognised assessor. Thank you Mr chair Paul guarantee of thing the house bill sixteen forty one does have an emergency clause so it would become effective immediately upon passage so we utilize an effective date of four one twenty one just for purposes of the revenue impact that would result in two months of collections and of course sales taxes collected one month remitted the next month the full one year fiscal impact statement was estimated to be twenty six thousand four thousand three hundred thirty three dollars was just for FY twenty one. Follows yes Sir so it would be twenty six thousand roughly a year. From now on I'm going yes Sir thank you. Thank you. Thank you revision worn clothes rebuilder I'm close so just to when the time comes representative sample consideration thanks Sir our members will do it for us today just keep in mind we're we polling people throughout the course of the next few weeks to see once we kinda get a idea of what we think we let out and stay within our budget concerns so we're going to do simple yes inside percent during. Okay like what we're doing and state Asian constitutional of amendments are we will send out kind of a pack in the mail of what all been presented so we kinda look at we can collectively the yeah we can okay we'll send it out so keep in mind it might come back to we might have some competing bills it's all easy right now but we got somebody sent energy into the table won't you know organ are for the bill you know that's one the representative wrote for this committee yeah I will try to get or Lincoln correlated and get that Brenda Stafford kind of put it out I suspect early start winding down maybe not next week week after since you know we're gonna go to a a April thirtieth now is what you're saying thank you her to say that. So so anyway just kind of keep in mind that what you like what you don't like just real quick represent Wooten is in the hospital status for speech estate this are run away and I was surprised finally had a hard cider. But that would yeah who's in the hospital so keep him in your prayers in and out we'll just text back over the weekend what we're gonna run Tuesday I don't have a list up yet but we'll get it out for you for Tuesday so with that anybody anything that. While. This meeting is adjourned.