I am personally opposed to Issue 3 for a variety of reasons. Mostly, I’m very skeptical that tax incentives are an effective economic development tool except under very specific circumstances. I’m also concerned that the amendment gives the Arkansas Legislature far too much power to change the way the program is implemented as it goes forward. If Arkansas history teaches us anything, it’s that programs like this will be abused by the same special interests who have long controlled and abused our political system for their own private gains.
I have many good and well-intentioned friends who strongly disagree with my position. I understand their frustration that economic development in Arkansas is painfully hard as far as attracting projects that actually help communities and reach the people most in need of opportunities. But the track record of tax incentive programs controlled by a few locally elected politicians or the Arkansas Legislature truly helping working people is suspect at best.
The path to prosperity — economic or social — is found by investing in people, not another tax incentive for monied interests.
Arkansas ranks near last on nearly any quality of life measurement you look at, and it’s been that way for generations while lawmakers have failed to make the game-changing investments Arkansans deserve. The recent Annie E. Casey Kids Count Report ranks AR 43rd in child well-being, 40th in education, 48th in health, and 45th in family and community well-being. That’s not exactly a calling card for private investment in Arkansas, and that report is hardly alone. US News and World Report ranks Arkansas 45th in quality of life and 47th in health care. They also rank Arkansas 49th in crime and corrections, largely because we already incarcerate a larger percentage of our population than any other state yet have lingering high crime rates. The March of Dimes ranks Arkansas 51st in infant mortality (so much for the endless pro-life speeches of many politicians), and 44th in maternal mortality (of only 48 states listed).
The list of entities that rank Arkansas near the bottom of quality of life goes on and on and dates back as far as any of us can remember. We severely lag the region and the nation in civic participation, income inequality, life expectancy, and even happiness. And none of this is because Arkansas hasn’t tried to give away enough taxpayer incentives to business interests.
We also have to acknowledge that these outcomes, bad as they are, are even worse for many subpopulations of Arkansans. Black and Brown Arkansans face severely worse outcomes on nearly every quality of life metric from life expectancy to education and the economy. And though the Sanders’ Administration and the Legislature have banned even acknowledging disparities like these, we still have a moral obligation to address these equity gaps no matter what some politicians would prefer not to have to face. Likewise, many rural Arkansas communities have been in economic free fall for generations while state lawmakers have continued to neglect them session after session.
We need to invest in opportunities for people and build stronger communities. If leaders in cities like Little Rock believe another tax incentive program is going to help them overcome the wrecking ball the Governor and Legislature have taken to our public schools and social safety nets … well, lots of luck. If rural leaders think yet another tax incentive is going to help overcome the state’s active neglect of rural communities, lack of infrastructure and a rural health system facing unprecedented challenges — not to mention critical shortages of resources for their school systems — well, again, lots of luck. There is little I’d be happier to be wrong about.
Some of my friends who support Issue 3 say that the measure is designed to address some of the very concerns I raise through investment in high-need areas. But there’s nothing in the measure that ensures equity, transparency and accountability for that. Instead it relies on the Arkansas Legislature to enact, and then not subsequently weaken, those protections. This is like asking the frog to trust the scorpion for a ride across the river on the promise that it won’t sting them *this* time. I assure you, at the first wind of a special interest trying to manipulate the program for their own gain, whatever protections you think are there will be gone.
I’m also concerned that the program could be used to create even broader tax exemptions. Remember we have a governor and legislative majority who have already cut massive amounts of taxes for the most wealthy and say they want to eliminate nearly all taxes, no matter what our state might need to thrive. There’s also nothing in the measure that ensures it can’t be used to harm schools or cities that rely almost entirely on local sales and property taxes. My faith in our governor and Legislature to responsibly oversee this program is less than zero.
My lack of faith here is hardly unfounded. Indeed, one reason we need to protect voter’s right to make decisions through citizen intimated ballot measures is because our Legislature proves itself time and again unwilling and unable to meet the needs of Arkansans. Issue 3 was referred by the same politicians we can’t trust to make the right decisions for our state.
What Arkansas needs is investment in our most precious resource: people. It’s what Arkansas has always needed and what we’ve always failed to get from our lawmakers. When we invest in improving quality of life and opportunities for people — all people — that’s when our long-term stagnation at the bottom of national rankings will end. Wouldn’t it be nice to see our state treating its people like it cares by creating the conditions for a truly thriving and prosperous community for all?
This is my personal opinion and not the view of any organization I work for or represent. I appreciate why some people of good faith support this measure, and I hope we are still friends and co-collaborators for a better future after this election. But I am opposed to Issue 3, and I think we need an economic development plan that focuses on investing in people and communities and ensuring that our economic development programs have high transparency and accountability free from political meddling.