Natural Gas Road Tax Proposal in Arkansas

There is a discussion going on in Little Rock, Arkansas about a temporary tax on natural gas production in Arkansas that has been discussed as a way to generate money for counties and cities struggling to pay for repairs to roads damaged by the heavy trucks traveling to and from drilling rigs. Governor Mike Beebe is right in the middle of the discussions he said Friday, August 3, 2007.

The governor said state, county and city officials have been having ongoing meetings with natural gas company representatives in an effort to find a way to pay for road damages that the heavy trucks are making to and from the drilling rigs in the state.

"I can tell you we are exploring a number of possibilities ... about how do we make it fair and the industry pay their fair share for what they do to the roads," Beebe said during his statewide radio call-in show.

"Frankly, I will tell you this, I am encouraged so far at the willingness of the industry to recognize what they're doing to the roads and at their willingness to talk," he said.