Equipment World Digital Magazine
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message and drove the point home to the states' residents that fund- ing their highways was a long-term investment that would benefit each individual, in addition to the states as a whole. This meant job creation and the overall economic well being, with improved transporta- tion for commerce, and long-term savings in the cost of driving for residents. They mostly diverted the dialogue away from making these efforts partisan in nature. The message was that improving road and bridge in- frastructure was good for everyone and vital to the future of each state. The Arkansas Example Raising taxes is never a popular move for any purpose, let alone for one as important as infrastructure, but political leaders in Arkansas found a way to get a temporary tax on the ballot, and more importantly, get it voted in by the state's voters. In 2011 Arkansas voters approved a constitutional amendment, known as Issue No. 1, which created a temporary, 10-year 1/2-cent general sales tax dedicated to a statewide, bond-financed highway improve- ment program. While it was a slight tax increase, it was "consumption tax" and did not apply to groceries or medicine. The amendment was approved by 58.2 percent of the vote. Also created was the reissuance of Grant Anticipation Revenue Ve- hicles (GARVEE) bonds to improve state interstates using a revenue stream that was already in place for that purpose, a similar bond pro- gram passed in 1999. In addition, one cent per gallon of the existing fuel tax was permanently dedicated to the State Aid City Street Program. This was a culmination of efforts originally started in 2009 by the Arkansas General Assembly's Blue Ribbon Committee on Highway Finance. This temporary standing committee operated between 2009 and 2010. The state's legislature created the committee via Act 374 of 2009 to investigate ways to pay for maintaining and constructing highways in the state. To help the committee determine needs and promote the committees recommen- dations, industry members formed the Move Arkansas Forward cam- paign. The committee took 18 months to create their recommendations. Move Arkansas Forward helped the committee conduct statewide focus groups to help the committee de- velop its considerations and recom- mendations. Douglass, who served as the Move Arkansas Forward campaign coordinator, says the focus groups allowed the general public and some interest groups to comment on what was needed in their area. "We didn't make any proposals in the groups," Douglass says. "We just listened and noted local qualitative concerns that could be addressed in the issue. We then tested through quantitative survey research some of the comments we thought could be salient in the context of a campaign. One such message was that in every focus group, people wanted to feel 'more connected' to one another. This 'better connecting Arkansas' idea tested well, and was used as one of the selling points in the campaign messaging." The gist: Move Arkansas Forward and the committee were mak- ing potential legislation to fund highway construction real for the people of the state. It had to be pal- atable to folks, and the campaign was working to give solid reasons why it was so important. Doing this required there to be a "credibility of the process," according to Douglass. It wasn't just a committee creating recom- mendations that made sense to the committee itself; it was having a research-driven process. "The 'credibility of the process' is also supported through the public rationale or 'talking points' which become the 'reasons why' the pro- April 2015 | EquipmentWorld.com 52 highway contractor | continued In today's boisterous anti-tax environment, getting increased funding for highway construction and maintenance seems a daunting task. But organiz- ers in these two states found that a powerful, unified message and strategy were the keys to success. Craig Douglass