Gov. Asa Hutchinson decided last week to weigh in strongly against raising the sales tax on groceries.
He needed to speak plainly, given the political reaction to news that lawmakers might want to erase all or part of hard-gained tax exemptions on groceries.
The idea is under consideration by a legislative task force. The governor, who is to receive their report by Sept. 1, had previously adopted a wait-and-see position on the panel's work.
He had said, too, that he had long been an advocate for exempting groceries from sales taxes. But he was willing to await the lawmakers' review and debate.
Then came the political fallout, including from Jared Henderson, a Democratic candidate for governor who is Hutchinson's likely challenger in the fall.
Henderson accused Republican Hutchinson of standing "silent as the General Assembly toys with the idea of making it more expensive for working families to buy groceries."
So, Hutchinson put out a two-page letter to the Arkansas Tax Reform and Relief Legislative Task Force, making plain that he still opposes taxing groceries.
For the record, the state's general sales tax is 6.5 percent. The sales tax on groceries is 1.5 percent now and slated to drop to 0.125 percent on Jan. 1. It has been a years-long policy shift, implemented over time so the state could absorb the resultant revenue loss.
Former Gov. Mike Beebe championed eliminating the sales tax on groceries, or most of it. This last cut was even set up during the Beebe administration when lawmakers pledged to devote anticipated savings from ending desegregation payments to three Pulaski County school districts, an idea Hutchinson subsequently endorsed as well.
The task force recently agreed to look at hiking the grocery tax to 3 percent, 4.5 percent or 6 percent.
They are tasked with reforming overall tax policy and, while they are at it, finding revenue to replace another income tax cut Gov. Hutchinson wants lawmakers to make.
At Hutchinson's urging, lawmakers cut individual income taxes in 2015 and 2017 for people with up to $75,000 a year in taxable income. This next cut would would be for the state's top earners.
But the state can't afford those cuts unless it makes up revenue somewhere else.
That's at least part of the reason the task force went looking at the grocery tax again. In a poor state, people spend a lot of their incomes on groceries. That's why it took years to reduce the state's dependence on grocery tax revenue and why that source appeals to some lawmakers now.
Importantly, task force members were themselves divided on eliminating the sales tax exemption on groceries, even though they were also talking about an income tax credit to buffer the impact on low- to moderate-income taxpayers.
State Sen. Jim Hendren, R-Sulphur Springs and a co-chairman of the task force, said he'd like to see the task force continue to study both options in what he described as a top-to-bottom review of the tax code.
These lawmakers may keep on talking about both options, but the chance for eventual passage of any hike on the grocery tax is certainly lessened now.
And that's a good thing.
Meanwhile, the political season continues.
Gov. Hutchinson faces a primary challenger as well as the eventual Democratic nominee in his bid for re-election. Early voting has begun for the May 22 primary elections.
Hutchinson should easily best Jan Morgan, the Hot Springs woman who is his only Republican challenger.
But look for a long summer as the task force finalizes its recommendations by Sept. 1 -- just in time for another hearty discussion before the general election in November.
These tax issues will be as much a part of the gubernatorial debate as they will the next legislative session.
Commentary on 05/09/2018