Host Steve Barnes hosts AETN’s Arkansas Week with KUAR’s Sarah Whites-Koditschek, Talk Business & Politics’ Wes Brown, and Independent Arkansas’ Steve Brawner. Topics include:
By Steve Brawner
Be warned: Elected officials in Washington will try to buy your vote with your grandchildren’s money.
If recent history is any guide, they’ll do that by cutting taxes without cutting spending by at least the same amount, increasing the national debt. And a big reason why they would do it is because they cannot seem to do anything else. After failing to repeal Obamacare, they think they’ve got to do something.
The details of the proposal released by President Trump and congressional Republicans Sept. 27 are still vague. But among the highlights are, it would reduce the number of tax brackets from seven to three, the highest being 35 percent instead of the current 39.6 percent. Congress would have the option of creating a fourth, higher tax bracket for the wealthy. (Don’t hold your breath.) To offset some of the lost revenue, it would repeal many itemized deductions. (Lots of lobbyists will fight this one.) It also would end the estate tax and reduce the corporate tax rate from 35 percent to 20 percent. Continue reading
By Steve Brawner
Can a Christian baker decline to bake a cake for a gay wedding? If so, it may be based on freedom of speech more than freedom of religion, and it all may come down to one Supreme Court justice.
That issue will be decided in what could be a “historic” term, said John DiPippa, interim dean of the University of Arkansas at Little Rock law school.
DiPippa spoke at the Clinton School of Public Service Monday, the same day the court began its new term. With him was Associate Dean Theresa Beiner.
DiPippa said the short-handed and divided Supreme Court declined to hear many controversial cases last year because it had only eight members after Justice Antonin Scalia died. The Republican-controlled Senate refused to hold hearings on President Obama’s nominee, which left the court in limbo. This year, the Senate quickly confirmed President Trump’s nominee, Neil Gorsuch. DiPippa said he will vote much like the conservative Scalia. Continue reading
By Steve Brawner
Who wants higher taxes? In at least 13 Arkansas communities, the answer Sept. 19 was, “We’ll pay them, for our local schools.”
That’s how many school districts voted to increase property taxes during the annual school elections. Voters chose to erase all or much of the tax cuts provided by Gov. Asa Hutchinson and the Legislature during the past two legislative sessions. Meanwhile, voters in eight districts said no to millage increases.
The increases occurred in communities across the state, from Berryville in the state’s northwest corner to Dumas in southeastern Arkansas. The largest increase was 8.4 mills at the Cutter Morning Star district around Hot Springs for a new high school and arena. Fifty-nine percent of voters approved raising their taxes by $168 a year on a $100,000 home. In DeQueen, 61 percent said yes to a 4.9-mill increase to replace the crowded high school. The 50-year-old building was designed for 60-80 students per grade; they’ve since grown to about 200. The district, which is 63 percent Hispanic, had the state’s lowest millage rate before the vote. Continue reading