2008 Woodie Awards
ASG resolution calls for state tax to support higher education
Student Government
Jennifer Joyner
Issue date: 2/29/08 Section: News
Associated Student Government senate unanimously approved a resolution to support an increased severance tax in Arkansas to fund higher education programs.
Severance tax is a tax imposed by a state on the extraction of natural resources, such as oil, coal or gas, that will be used in other states, according to the American Heritage Dictionary.
The resolution calls for the Senate to petition the UA administration to lobby the Arkansas General Assembly and Gov. Mike Beebe concerning a severance tax increase proportional to that of some of the surrounding states, such as Oklahoma.?
Also, the resolution proposes that all or much of the additional tax revenue be used to support programs improving higher education.
The increased production of natural gas from the Fayetteville Shale Play, if combined with the severance tax increase dedicated to the creation of an Arkansas Promise Trust Fund, provides an historic opportunity to finally and permanently change the dynamics that have driven the economic and social development of the state, according to a publication by the Southern Good Faith Fund Public Policy Program.
The publication suggested earmarking the new revenue from the severance tax for an Arkansas Promise Trust Fund.
While shale gas has been explored for and tested as a gas resource since the 1980s, it only recently became an economic source of gas supply because of the advent of better oil field service, drilling technologies and higher natural gas commodity prices, according to a report by the UA Center for Business and Economic Research.
"We need to get our hands on a little bit of this," said Sen. Tyler Bone. "I think if we don't act, we may not see this money go toward tuition to in-state colleges."
The state could eventually create a scholarship to guarantee every Arkansan with a high school diploma or GED the opportunity to go to college and earn a degree, similar to the El Dorado Promise and Georgia's HOPE Scholarship Program, according to the publication.
Severance tax is a tax imposed by a state on the extraction of natural resources, such as oil, coal or gas, that will be used in other states, according to the American Heritage Dictionary.
The resolution calls for the Senate to petition the UA administration to lobby the Arkansas General Assembly and Gov. Mike Beebe concerning a severance tax increase proportional to that of some of the surrounding states, such as Oklahoma.?
Also, the resolution proposes that all or much of the additional tax revenue be used to support programs improving higher education.
The increased production of natural gas from the Fayetteville Shale Play, if combined with the severance tax increase dedicated to the creation of an Arkansas Promise Trust Fund, provides an historic opportunity to finally and permanently change the dynamics that have driven the economic and social development of the state, according to a publication by the Southern Good Faith Fund Public Policy Program.
The publication suggested earmarking the new revenue from the severance tax for an Arkansas Promise Trust Fund.
While shale gas has been explored for and tested as a gas resource since the 1980s, it only recently became an economic source of gas supply because of the advent of better oil field service, drilling technologies and higher natural gas commodity prices, according to a report by the UA Center for Business and Economic Research.
"We need to get our hands on a little bit of this," said Sen. Tyler Bone. "I think if we don't act, we may not see this money go toward tuition to in-state colleges."
The state could eventually create a scholarship to guarantee every Arkansan with a high school diploma or GED the opportunity to go to college and earn a degree, similar to the El Dorado Promise and Georgia's HOPE Scholarship Program, according to the publication.
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