Governor Mike Beebe called a special session of the Arkansas General Assembly to be held on March 31st.  He needs three-fourths of both houses to pass a severance tax hike on natural gas.  He has the votes, it seems, and then some.  Beebe’s tax plan expects to generate $57 million next year and $101.6 million by 2016.  95% the revenue is earmarked for road improvements across the state.  Roads = commerce = growth.

John Lyon has a story today about the severance tax issue and reminds readers about Beebe’s incredibly successful first legislative session.

“In Beebe’s first legislative session as governor, he signed into law the largest tax cut package in Arkansas history, including a 50 percent reduction in the state sales tax on groceries. He and the Legislature also increased per-student school funding by about $120 million, increased early childhood education funding by $40 million and parceled out a $919 million surplus Beebe inherited from former Gov. Mike Huckabee.“

As I noted in a post last week, with an approval rating of 82%, Beebe’s able to accomplish a severance tax increase.  His experience in the General Assembly combined with his natural ability to work well with others proved invaluable.  Which begs the question I raised in a post last week: shouldn’t Beebe’s name be on Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton’s short list of potential VP candidates?   Beebe, along with many other Arkansas elected officials, endorsed Clinton early in the campaign.

Consider that Republicans are beginning to circle the name of Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal as a likely Republican VP choice.  Jindal’s being singled out because of his recent success in a special six-day session of the Louisiana legislature.