Arkansas Lt. Gov. Tim Griffin isn’t a fan of government as usual, and he’s telling Arkansans they shouldn’t be either….
In a 30-minute address, Griffin touched on “killing ‘the TOW Tax,’” operating government more like a business, and embracing new technologies through both operational efficiencies and educational focus so Arkansas is governing “like it’s 2018, not 1918.”
On the mysterious TOW Tax, a term Griffin coined, he said he wanted to “get bumper stickers made that say, ‘Kill the TOW Tax’” — The Old Way Tax — because taxpayers are paying “more taxes than you should so your government can do things the old way. That means services are done inefficiently or not well at all, and as a result, you have fewer services at a higher cost.”…
Griffin said legislators need to be working as the private sector does “to remain competitive,” adding that “24 hours a day you are bettering yourself in the private sector, but government is not that way because there are no market forces.”…
To illustrate, Griffin used the example of a tree removal team using crosscut axes, “sawing back and forth” until a tree comes down instead of using chainsaws. With government, he said, “We’ll get the trees cut, but it could take all week instead of all day, and you will pay more.”
Borrowing from a former politician, Griffin shared a quote he picked up from former Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels: “If it’s in the Yellow Pages, why is the government doing it? It’s not legitimate for the government to be blocking out the private sector.”…
“We have a moral obligation in government because we take your money by force. So if you’re an official in government, you have an obligation to be a good steward of that money,” Griffin said. Besides, “We will get better services — as in more services” through finding efficiencies. That means DHS and the Department of Revenue, other departments, will be able to do “more for less.”
Griffin…used his own office as an example, stating he had cut his office staff in half since 2015. “And we’re doing more things with less people.” Doing this government-wide means “we will save money” — a necessity for competing against states like Texas and Tennessee where there is “no income tax.”
“And I’m telling you, legislators, you will never get anywhere until you find the savings. You’ve got to find the savings first, and then reform the tax code. We’ve already got the money. It’s just not being spent right. Don’t ask me for one more penny in taxes until you can look me in the eye and say every single dollar is being spent wisely. It ain’t.”