LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — A special legislative session called by Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders is set to begin Monday, September 11 with a focus on tax cuts, FOIA law changes, and more. Here's what to know about the issues lawmakers will discuss.
Sanders held a press conference Friday, September 8 and stated tax cuts will be the major issue for legislators. The proposed bill would cut the state's top individual income tax rate from 4.7% to 4.4% and the top corporate income tax rate from 5.1% to 4.8%.
The individual income tax cut will cost the state an estimated $150 million per year while the corporate tax cut will cost the state roughly $35 million, according to the Associated Press.
Sanders also announced a single tax credit of up to $150 for people making less than $90,000 a year. Married couples that file jointly could receive up to $300. The credit will cost the state around $156 million.
The governor also proposed a change to Arkansas's Freedom of Information Act which would exempt records related to the "planning or provision of security services provided" to Sanders, legislators, and other constitutional officers. Those security exemptions would be retroactive back to January 2022 if passed.
Another change to FOIA law includes prohibiting the release of records that reveal "the deliberative process of state agencies, boards, or commissions." That would include recommendations, advisory opinions, and memos.
The change to Arkansas's FOIA law has been met by bipartisan criticism saying it will weaken the law, which is designed to allow the public to access government records.
“The only way to have limited government is through transparency and this will eliminate transparency for a host of decisions made by executive agencies," said Robert Steinbuch, a law professor at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock's Bowen School of Law. He told the Associated Press that it would "effectively remove transparency" from state government.
Grant Tennille with the Democratic Party of Arkansas said the FOIA proposal by Sanders is a "ludicrous and brazen lie from a skilled politician who knows she's been caught."
“Arkansas’s FOIA exists for one very simple reason: to let Arkansans keep an eye on what our Government is doing with our money. You want to know what our government is up to? Follow the money," Tennille said.
Other issues include school safety, educational freedom accounts, COVID-19 mandates, and setting aside reserve funds.
THV11 contributed to this report.