The 86th General Assembly will convene on Monday for a special session to consider raising the severance tax on natural gas.

If passed, it will be the first time that the tax has changed in more than 50 years.

Workers at the Arkansas State Capitol spent much of Friday getting ready for legislators, while Governor Beebe’s office dealt with last-minute paperwork, making sure the actual bill is in its proper form on Monday.

The possibility of a compromise between the governor and the natural gas industry seemed dead just a few weeks ago.

(Governor Mike Beebe) “I thought negotiations were dead, and we were proceeding with an alternative approach such as an initiated act--and then after a few days the industry called back and said, ‘Ok, let's sit down again.’”

They sat down and came up with this agreement: A 5% tax on the proceeds natural gas companies make on the sale of the gas. Beebe says it would bring in as much as $100 million a year.

According to Beebe, 95% of all that money would go towards state highways and city roads.

The catch has been convincing three-quarters of both the House and Senate to sign off.

(Beebe) “Members of the General Assembly know that their word is their bond, and they know that when they tell somebody something, they stick to it, and so I'm confident that the members of the General Assembly that have indicated to us that they will support this bill will indeed do that.”

Beebe says he now has 32 votes in the 35-member Senate, and 81 votes in the 100-member House--both above the 3/4 vote needed to pass the tax.

The special session is expected to last three days.

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