Beebe may seek voter approval for highway bond program

Governor Beebe announced today that he'll likely ask voters in 2010 to approve another bond program to pay for interstate improvements. In the 86th General Assembly, we approved legislation (Act 511 of 2007) granting the Highway Commission the power, with voter approval, to issue up to $575 million in bonds.

The governor differentiated the '07 Act from the failed 2005 proposal in that the new law calls for the Arkansas Highway Commission's bond authority to expire at the end of 2013. One of the primary objections to the proposal put before voters in 2005 is that the bonding authority would've been ongoing without voter approval. Arkansas State Highway and Transportation Department Director Dan Flowers has estimated the state has about $19 billion in highway needs. Here's the AP article.