Governorship of Mike Huckabee - First Full Term

First Full Term

In January 1999, Huckabee joined the presidential exploratory committee of Lamar Alexander. Later, Huckabee endorsed George W. Bush. The Washington Post reported in February 2000,

"This is a guy who gets things done," said Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee. "The more people get to know George Bush, the more than are going to get to like him."

On April 1, 1999, Huckabee signed into law a three cent increase in tax on gasoline and a four cent increase on diesel. Attached to the bill was a bond issue to pay for highway construction. The Commercial Appeal reported: "All the diesel money will be earmarked to pay off the bonds or, if the bond issue fails, to directly finance repairs to the interstates. The gasoline tax money will finance work on non-interstate state roads, notably projects approved in a 1991 road program that without new money remains seven years from completion. Should the bond issue fail, the taxes would remain in place, lessening the chances that the trucking industry will campaign against the bonds." Huckabee commented that the bond issue "won't affect taxes, it will only affect construction acceleration."

Huckabee led a public relations campaign for the bond program for road reconstruction. Arkansas voters approved Huckabee's program. In 1999, the Arkansas Comprehensive Testing, Assessment and Accountability Program (ACTAAP) was established. Huckabee modeled ACTAAP after K-12 programs in other states:

"..I've been fortunate to become friends with Gov. Jim Hunt of North Carolina and Gov. George W. Bush of Texas. They've shared their comprehensive assessment and accountability programs. We now have statewide academic standards that allow us to set clear teaching objectives. We have statewide assessments linked to those standards. We have accountability systems with consequences for schools that fail to perform."

Subsequent legislation amended ACTAAP to conform to No Child Left Behind. Later, in 2005, Huckabee stated,

"And one thing I salute about is No Child Left Behind, and no matter what you've heard about it let me tell you it's the best thing that ever happened in education because it says we're not going to let children spend years and years and let taxpayers spend thousands and thousands of dollars only to find out when the kid graduates high school that he's basically a functional illiterate, that we're not going to leave him lingering back in those classrooms and that he or she will get a decent education and we will hold accountable those who are responsible for getting that child a good education."

In July 1999, Huckabee hosted a $500-a-plate fundraiser for Rudy Giuliani's campaign for US Senate in Little Rock.

Rather than funnel 100 percent of the state's tobacco settlement revenues into the general fund, Huckabee campaigned to put it in the state's health care system.

On March 7, 2001, Huckabee signed a tax on private nursing homes for $5.25 per day per non-Medicare patient. However, Huckabee was named "Friend of a Taxpayer" by Americans for Tax Reform for his cut in statewide spending.

On April 11, 2001, Huckabee signed the "Covenant Marriage Act," a marriage contract option that compels couples to seek counseling if problems develop during the marriage, provides limited grounds for divorce or separation, and restricts lawsuits against spouses. Huckabee said the law, "offers couples a chance to be held to a higher level of marital commitment." He and his wife converted to a covenant marriage in 2004.

In 2001 Huckabee urged student districts to allow students to pray and proclaimed October as "Student Religious Liberty Month."

Later in 2001, his refusal to raise taxes in the face of a budget shortfall sparked criticism from lawmakers and the media. In response to the criticism he created the "Tax Me More Fund", which was a voluntary fund for people who felt that the government needed to raise more taxes. State Sen. Minority Leader John Brown called the "Tax Me More Fund" a campaign tactic. However, the Club for Growth argues Huckabee increased state spending 65.3 percent (1996–2004) and supported five tax increases. In response, Huckabee said he doubled the standard deduction and the child care tax credit, eliminated the marriage penalty and the capital gains tax on the sale of a home, and reduced the capital gains tax for both businesses and individuals. Ernest Dumas of the Arkansas Times, a consistent Huckabee critic, responded most of the tax cuts were small deductions and exemptions initiated by the state legislature, that the broad-based tax cut was proposed by his predecessor and Huckabee was "the biggest taxer and spender in Arkansas history." Former Arkansas State Representative Randy Minton (R) has said; " support for taxes split the Republican Party, and damaged our name brand." The group has pointed out that Huckabee publicly opposed the repeal of a sales tax on groceries and medicine in 2002, signed a bill raising taxes on gasoline in 1999, and signed a $5.25 bed-tax on private nursing home patients in 2001.

In 2002, Huckabee ran for Governor and his wife Janet ran for Arkansas Secretary of State. The New York Times reported this set off an "avalanche of criticism." A Republican State Representative, Jake Files, commented, "'That's just a lot of power in one family's hands" Mike Huckabee later stated that his wife tried to recruit other Republican candidates willing to run for Secretary of State. But no one else was willing, so she ran herself. Mike Huckabee won his race with 53 percent of the vote, while his wife Janet lost her race by 62% to 38%.