Rather than wait for the legislature, the Arkansas Municipal League has endorsed Sheffield Nelson’s idea of a ballot initiative to raise the gas severance tax to pay for road construction. Cities would be guaranteed a share of the increased take.

House Speaker Robert Moore has talked of fiddling with the severance tax; Republican Rep. Jonathan Barnett has talked of putting a sales tax increase before voters. Legislative receptiveness to these ideas amid the competition for many other tax measures seems problematic. The Municipal League might be right to emphasize the most direct path, though it presumably could be expected to throw in behind any legislative efforts from which it might benefit.

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