Gov. Beebe To Speak At Jan. 23 Policy Foundation Forum

"The Arkansas Policy Foundation estimates that a family of four will save $234 a year on grocery bills alone, a significant savings in a state where the average taxpayer shells out $3,088 a year in state and local taxes."

The Wall Street Journal (February 13, 2007)

"More than $100 million, which annually had gone into the state's coffers, will now stay in consumer pockets."

Forbes magazine (Dec. 24, 2007) citing the Policy Foundation


(December 2007) Freshman Arkansas Gov. Mike Beebe will speak at a Jan. 23 Policy Foundation forum in Little Rock on the topic of his proposal to phase-out the state sales tax on groceries. The forum will start at 10 a.m. at the Peabody Hotel.

Gov. Beebe proposed phasing-out the grocery tax while seeking the governor’s office in 2006. Earlier this year he proposed to cut three cents (50 percent) from the six-cent tax. The state General Assembly approved, and Gov. Beebe signed the biggest tax cut in Arkansas history into law.

The Policy Foundation recommended phasing-out the grocery tax and subjecting it to dynamic analysis as part of a 12-point Road Map for Arkansas Prosperity (December 2006).

Gov. Beebe was born in Amagon (Jackson County), in 1946. He earned a bachelor’s degree in political science from Arkansas State University (1968), and completed law school at the Univ. of Arkansas in 1972, while serving in the U.S. Army Reserves. Gov. Beebe and his wife, Ginger, have three adult children. He is an active member of Trinity Episcopal Church in Searcy.

Please contact the Policy Foundation at (501) 537-0825 to make a reservation for the event.