On Wednesday, the House voted 55-41 and the Senate voted 26-7 to override Gov. Mike Beebe’s veto of a section of a budget bill declaring that the sand used by oil and gas drillers is exempt from the state sales tax.
Lawmakers affirmed the tax break despite warnings from the governor that it was passed in violation of the state constitution and could cost state employees a 1 percent cost-of-living adjustment that was included in the state budget bill passed last week.
The Special Language Committee added the section to the bill earlier in the session. Beebe has said that the Legislature violated a constitutional requirement that it consider only budget bills in a fiscal session unless two-thirds of the members of both chambers vote to take up a non-budget bill.
