Release of funds for Statewide Trauma System
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The Arkansas Department of Health has provided information concerning the release of funds to both "emergency medical system care providers or ambulance providers and Level I-IV Trauma Systems" pursuant to the Trauma System Act (Act 393 of 2009).
The Department has released $2,056,600 in block grants for 152 ground service providers and 20 Air service providers of ambulance services.
The Department has released the following for level I-IV Trauma systems:
$2,975,500 for four Level I applicants
$2,500,000 for five level II applicants
$2,625,000 for 21 level III applicants
$1,000,000 for 40 level IV applicants
Please click here to read the entire report
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Revenue and Tax
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Here are couple of issues discussed in last week's Revenue and
Tax Committee meeting.
Streamlined Sales Tax
The argument for streamlined
sales tax continues. This change in the tax code was initiated to allow
equitable taxes on goods ordered over the Internet and shipped into Arkansas. Currently, neither federal nor state sales
tax is charged on goods purchased through the Internet, which in my opinion is
one of the biggest appeals to purchasing anything from food to cars in this
manner. Since a growing amount of sales
are conducted via the Internet - some figures estimate almost 23% -- states
that rely on sales tax revenue continue to lose. Estimates suggest that Arkansas would be
able to collect between $100,000,000 and $236,000,000 in tax revenue that is currently
not being collected on transactions with remote sellers.
To date, there has not been any
legislation filed in Congress this session. Currently there are 20 "full member states"
of which Arkansas is one. A "full member State" is a state that is in
compliance with the SST Agreement through its laws, rules, regulations and
policies.
We continue to hear arguments for
and against this Streamlined Sales Tax. If
you have an opinion on this issue, please let me know. I appreciate the feedback as I continue to
work to control spending, increase economic development and keep taxes on
Arkansans as low as possible.
More Tax Relief
Senator Denny Altus has an interim study proposal presented
at the committee meeting that would further reduce sales taxes. The proposal
entitled, "AN ACT TO CLARIFY THE DEFINITION OF FOOD AND FOOD INGREDIENTS TO
INCLUDE DIETARY SUPPLEMENTS FOR SALES AND USE TAX PURPOSES;" basically changes
the definition of vitamins and any kind of dietary supplement as "food".
Currently these items are taxed as drugs would be, but by changing this
definition they would enjoy the same reduced sales taxes as food does now. My
hope is that Senator Altus is successful in this endeavor. Projections suggest that it will decrease the
tax burden on Arkansans by up to $23 million.
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