LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — The Arkansas tax cut bill is now heading to the desk of Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders after passing through the House and Senate.
The income tax cuts will be the third reduction signed by Sanders, who has called for phasing out the income tax since she took office last year. The state has been forecasted to end its current fiscal year with a $708 million surplus.
The legislation calls for cutting the top individual income tax rate from 4.4% to 3.9% and the top corporate rate from 4.8% to 4.3%, retroactive to Jan. 1. Finance officials say the cuts will cost about $483 million the first year and $322 million a year after that.
The proposed tax cut bill has varying levels of confidence from local legislators, with many Republicans in the state voicing their support and some Democrats letting their concerns be known.
“I think we're in a good position to further reduce this tax burden on our citizens,” Republican Rep. Les Eaves said at the Special Session on Monday.
On the other side, lawmakers like Democrat Vivian Flowers said that she doesn't see how the bill would be beneficial and that it would be further funding for government officials.
"I don't think that it makes any sense for us to raise money as legislators running for office from the private sector, and then we get here, and then we talk about how government doesn't work. We are the government. And I think that if you know rules and regs don't work, we fix them," Flowers said.
This move comes after Arkansas lawmakers initially met on Monday, advancing income and property tax cuts and a compromise proposal to avoid a shutdown of the state's hunting and fishing programs.
Democrats in the Legislature and advocacy groups have said they are worried the cuts are too skewed toward higher earners and have said the revenue could go toward other underfunded needs.
(The Associated Press contributed to this article)