Legislative Watch 
LEGISLATIVE
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2/9/05-The director of the Ozark Regional Transit, Phil Pumphrey, wants his board to form a regional transportation authority that would collect a local fuel tax to fund public transit and roadwork.
Pumphrey plans to lobby state legislators to pass a bill enabling regions to form their own transportation authorities and levy taxes. The Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department has drafted the bill and is looking for a state lawmaker to do the legwork, the Arkansas Democrat Gazette reported.
If the bill passes, communities could use an interlocal agreement to form a Northwest Arkansas transportation authority. Voters would have to approve a fuel tax separately.
The regional authority would control revenue generated by the tax and be able to direct it to road projects or to run other forms of transit.
Pumphrey has not proposed a figure for the fuel tax to support the transportation authority. Drivers in the state now pay 21.5 cents per gallon for gasoline and 22.5 cents per gallon for diesel.
The proposal also would override state law prohibiting cities, counties or municipal corporations from levying taxes on fuel.
A draft copy of the bill includes a clause that 70 percent of the revenue generated from the tax must go to state highway improvements. Pumphrey told the Democrat Gazette he is hoping his board members can lobby the Highway Department to remove that clause.
