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136 Arkansas Agriculture Department 1.

We support Farm Bureau and the Arkansas Agriculture Department exploring the possibility of developing a marketing bulletin similar to Mississippi and Louisiana.

-- Drew

2.

We support the Arkansas Agriculture Department developing a disaster assistance fund to provide low interest loans and loan guarantees to farmers in counties where a natural disaster has been declared.

-- St. Francis

137 State Plant Board The following county(ies) submitted all or part of current policy.

Cross, Randolph 1.

We support continued funding for the Flag the Technology program.

-- Cross

2.

We recommend that the participation in the Flag the Technology program remain voluntary.

-- Cross

3.

We support the use of Flag the Technology and smartphone programs as a way to help prevent herbicide drift. This should not be a requirement by the State Plant Board.

-- Mississippi

4.

We support that all levee spraying ground rigs be left under the control of existing regulations and under the State Plant Board.

-- Jackson

5.

We support requiring commercial applicators carry insurance with a minimum liability limit of $1 million per occurrence, covering crop damage from commercial application.

-- Lonoke

6.

We support legislation that would hold commercial applicators 100 percent responsible and liable for crop damage resulting from their application.

-- Lonoke

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7.

We support an immediate legal mandate, requiring all commercial applicators to electronically submit a log of all controlled pesticides applied. This log should be electronically submitted to the State Plant Board on a weekly basis.

-- Lonoke

8.

We support an immediate legal mandate stating: When a legitimate complaint is filed with the State Plant Board, the Board must require the applicator to present all information and data required to determine the validity of the complaint and take appropriate action.

-- Lonoke

9.

We support legislation to require a two year rotating chairmanship for the State Plant Board.

-- Lonoke

10.

We urge the State Plant Board and the Arkansas attorney general to take the necessary steps to protect the farmer’s interest in any and all grower agreements. These agreements should be binding to both parties not just the grower.

-- Craighead

11.

We support the continuation of the State Plant Board's exemption made for 2,4-D to be used with a 10 ft. boom or less. However, we recommend increasing the boom width to at least 20 ft.

-- Cross

12.

We request that the State Plant Board take extreme caution when labeling Dicamba and 2, 4-D resistant cotton.

-- Clay

153 Taxes The following county(ies) submitted all or part of current policy.

Arkansas, Poinsett, Randolph, Sebastian (2), St. Francis 1.

We support legislation that reduces the tax burden for producing farms in Arkansas.

-- Union

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2.

We should make it a priority that the sales tax exemption on agriculture input items be expanded to include any item if it is strictly for agricultural use. There is a great deal of confusion over the present system and this would relieve merchants from liability. The Department of Finance and Administration should issue ID tax numbers for agriculture producers similar to Oklahoma.

Interpretation of tax rules should not be left up to this agency.

-- Montgomery

3.

We favor sales tax exemptions on all new and used parts and equipment, and other input items used to grow and conserve food and fiber.

-- Lee

4.

We support additional tax exemptions for farm products be funded through reforms in the current tax exemptions to prevent fraud.

-- Columbia

5.

We favor funding additional tax exemptions for farm products through reforms in the current tax exemptions to prevent fraud and misuse.

-- Calhoun

6.

We support a 100-percent tax exemption on forestry equipment and parts.

-- Dallas

7.

We recommend removing taxes on energy used in the production in farming.

-- Carroll

8.

We support eliminating taxes on utilities for farm use.

-- Conway

9.

We support additional tax exemptions for farm products be funded through reforms that are designed to reduce fraudulent claims to the current exempt products.

-- Crawford

10.

We support sales tax exemptions for farmers markets, roadside stands, and on farm stands.

-- Crawford

11.

We oppose losing our sales tax exemptions in exchange for lower state income taxes.

-- Johnson

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12.

We oppose the trading of sales tax exemptions for a reduced or eliminated state income tax.

-- Mississippi

13.

We support the exchange of the exemption sales tax on ATV sales for the elimination of sales tax on all utilities for farm use.

-- Johnson

14.

We recommend eliminating the sales tax exemption on farm-use ATV’s in exchange for a sales tax exemption on farm use utilities.

-- Washington

15.

We recommend trading the ATV sales tax exemption for farm utility (propane, natural gas, electricity and water) exemptions.

-- Bradley

16.

We propose to remove the words natural gas, electricity, coal or any other utility.

It will read: We support removal or reduction of the sales tax paid on propane used in the production of poultry and other agricultural products.

-- Scott

17.

Strike current policy, “We support the current forest land per acre fire tax.”

-- Bradley, Drew

18.

We support Farm Bureau in making the final decision on taxes for rural fire protection of agricultural land.

-- Mississippi

19.

We oppose raising the severance tax.

-- White

20.

We oppose the inequity placed on land owners by the state property tax and support looking at alternatives such as severance tax. Severance tax (particularly natural gas) and income tax rates should be among the first areas to be increased if more revenue is needed for education.

-- Cross

21.

We oppose any attempt by the governor or any legislator to increase the severence tax on natural gas production in Arkansas.

-- South Logan

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22.

We oppose any increases in the severance tax on natural gas.

-- Crawford

23.

We support ad valorem taxes on natural gas being assessed on an annual bases.

-- White

24.

Strike: " We support raising the severance tax on natural gas to the average of surrounding states and recommend that all entities receiving royalties be assessed at the same rate."

-- Crawford, Sebastian

25.

Ad valorem taxes should not be the sole local funding source for public schools or city and county governments.

-- Arkansas

26.

We support a measure be enacted by the legislature that aids small school districts when assessments change abruptly and causes sudden and sharp declines in local school revenue.

-- Yell

27.

We support that the milage tax collected in a school district stays in the school district that collects the tax.

-- Garland

28.

We urge a plan more equitable than tax on real property be devised to finance public schools on the local level.

-- Craighead

29.

Strike language on tax-free weekend in August for school supplies since it’s already in effect.

-- Washington

30.

We recommend that any government agency that purchases public or private land should be required to pay a fair and equitable amount of monies equal to taxes paid by private citizens.

-- Cross

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31.

We believe sales tax increases should be subject to a 60-percent vote in the Arkansas Legislature.

-- Cross

32.

We support increasing the diesel sales tax surcharge on the barges to improve the river system.

-- St. Francis

33.

We support keeping taxable sales in the border counties of Arkansas that are currently being lost due to the surrounding states giving tax exempt status to items used in the production of agriculture (cattle, poultry, oil, netwrap, fencing materials, repair parts) i.e., items that are currently taxable.

-- Scott

34.

We oppose any legislation that unfairly adjusts inheritance tax laws in Arkansas.

-- Union

35.

We recommend that if sales taxes are collected on Internet sales that care should be given not to create another bureaucracy to enforce collection of the taxes.

-- Poinsett

36.

We recommend the state rules concerning depreciation and tax code to follow federal tax codes and extend the first year bonus at 100 percent for new equipment placed in service.

-- Lee

37.

We recommend that full-time farmers be allowed to buy annual fuel permits from the Department of Finance and Administration to exempt sales and use tax to burn off-road fuel.

-- Montgomery

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38.

Drainage and levee district delinquent taxes are treated the same as property taxes. The counties keep the delinquent taxes on the books for two years. If the delinquent taxes are not paid the county collector sends the unpaid delinquent taxes to the state. If the delinquent taxes are not collected by the state within two years the state auctions off the property to satisfy the delinquent taxes. We recommend drainage and levee district’s delinquent taxes be handled the same way. (Note: The Jefferson County collector stated that she does not have any problem handling the delinquent taxes on drainage and levee districts the same way as property taxes.)

-- Jefferson

155 Roads & highways 1.

We support the proposed Constitutional Amendment for a temporary 1/2 cent sales tax to finance a $1.3 billion bond issue for the continued construction of four-lane highways connecting all parts of the state.

-- Sharp

2.

We support Issue 1 of 2012 - (1/2 cent sales tax for the roads).

-- Garland

3.

We support Issue 1 of 2012 for continued construction of four-lane highways in Arkansas.

-- Calhoun

4.

We support increase maintenance for rural state highways.

-- Jackson

5.

We oppose creating any new taxes to fund highway improvements.

-- Craighead

6.

We support expanding the current transportation weight exemptions for raw agriculture products to import items such as poultry feed, fuel, and fertilizer.

-- Conway

7.

We support maintaining the 80-thousand lbs. weight limit on county and state roads and oppose any efforts to lower this limit.

-- Yell

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8.

We support any road improvements designed to handle 80-thousand lbs. vehicles.

-- Crittenden

9.

We recommend any road improvements to state highways be designed to handle 80-thousand lbs. vehicles.

-- Cross

10.

We support establishing a harvest permit for 100,000 lbs. to transport from field to first point of delivery.

-- Drew

11.

We oppose the reduction of weight limits on highways.

-- Crittenden

12.

We support adding the covering or tarping on truck loads of poultry litter to the list of items in our existing policy.

-- Yell

13.

We encourage enforcing laws and fines regarding unsecured loads on trucks and trailers.

-- Jackson

14.

We request the Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department research ways to reduce the fog and spray created by trucks during wet conditions.

-- Desha

15.

We support legislation that would allow Arkansas cities and towns to install red light cameras. The legislation would authorize enforcement agencies to cite red light violators by mail and make the vehicle owner responsible for the ticket.

Additionally, the legislation must establish a presumption that the registered owner is the vehicle driver at the time of the offense and provide a mechanism for the registered owner to inform authorities if someone else was driving during the offense. According to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, cameras reduce red-light running by 24 percent, angle crashed by 32 percent and rearend crashes by 16 percent. Red light runners cause hundreds of deaths and tens of thousands of injuries each year. In 2010, 673 people were killed and an estimated 122,000 were injured in crashes that involve red light running. About half of the deaths in red light running crashes are pedestrians, bicyclists and occupants in other vehicles who are hit by the red light runners.

-- Cleburne

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16.

Current regulations restrict the ability of local government to maintain the integrity of bridges and roads at a reasonable and economical rate. As it is, the high cost of maintenance because of the inability to reroute flood damaged streams is being passed on to local government. Many times this is bankrupting county road budgets. We recommend that county judges be given the authority to manage water flow and the design of creeks and bridges at the bridge site and upstream.

-- Polk

17.

We urge the Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department to allow grass along the highways to be baled for hay purposes by local farmers or ranchers.

-- Scott

18.

We support developing a handbook relaying information about how DOT rules and regulations effect Arkansas farmers and ranchers.

-- Woodruff

19.

We support an exemption from the seat belt law while driving farm trucks tagged with farm tags.

-- Little River

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156 Education 1.

We urge local business owners offer a mentor/apprenticeship through the school for students that are interested in learning a trade rather than attending college.

-- Scott

2.

We support additional programs that provide greater educational opportunities for the gifted and talented students.

-- Garland

3.

Schools and communities have shared responsibility to provide all students with access to high quality, affordable, nutritious food and beverages. We urge county, state, and American Farm Bureau to back the same and or increased funding for the free/reduced meals of the school feeding programs. (Also in N111 School & Government Food Purchasing Programs) -- Jackson

4.

We support additional funding for secondary technical centers.

-- Garland

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5.

There are a greater number of positions for Arkansas students in out-of-state veterinary schools. At least four new positions are needed and should be earmarked for students attending the Mississippi State University School of Veterinary Medicine.

-- Craighead

6.

We support additional funding for Arkansas veterinary student tuition assistance program, and all positions authorized by the legislature should be fully funded.

-- Craighead

7.

We oppose establishment of a veterinary school in Arkansas as it is cost prohibitive. It would make more sense economically for the state to continue to pay the difference between in state and out of state tuition for Arkansas students accepted in to a school of veterinary medicine.

-- Craighead

174 Health & welfare The following county(ies) submitted all or part of current policy.

Cross 1.

We oppose mandatory employer paid health insurance.

-- Cross

2.

Participants to age 60 who qualify and are receiving assistance for state welfare programs should be tested for drug use. (Also in N-157 Narcotics and Substance Abuse) -- Lee

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