Governor-elect Mike Beebe sat down with Talk Business for an exclusive one-on-one interview yesterday to discuss his transition to power, the activities surrounding his inaugural, and his future legislative priorities. Our full interview will air a week from Sunday, but here is an overview of part of our discussion.

Beebe says that the transition of power has been running "smoothly." He singled out Huckabee chief of staff Brenda Turner for her assistance. Beebe says that the transition has centered on three major areas: developing his legislative package, hiring his staff, and reviewing agency and department leaders.

While Beebe has announced that he will keep several current administrators, he suggests that his process of review may be extended well into next year. “It will probably be ongoing after the session because some of these decisions won’t be made or can’t be made until after the press of a legislative session.” More announcements are forthcoming “fairly soon,” he adds.

Beebe's inaugural activities will be different from previous administrations. The Governor-elect will be sworn into office on Tuesday, January 9th at 10:30 am. At noon on that day, he will deliver an inaugural address on the steps of the state Capitol. The event will be open to the public and the speech will be "thematic," according to Beebe.

On Wednesday, January 10th, Beebe will deliver his state of the state address to a joint session of the General Assembly. During that presentation, the new Governor will outline his legislative package and budgetary priorities.

What will his agenda encompass?

Clearly, Beebe plans to stick to his campaign promise to reduce the sales tax on groceries. While he will not outline that proposal until his state of the state address, the Governor-elect indicates that this top priority will depend on education needs.

“I think what we have to remember is that our first obligation under the constitution and under the Supreme Court case is that we have to fund education properly first,” says Beebe. “That will be a driving force that dictates everything that flows or follows from that.”

He also does not see room for compromise on providing income tax relief, a position suggested by Speaker-elect Benny Petrus. “I respect the Speaker. He's a good friend of mine,” Beebe asserts.

“I'm certainly willing to work with him in any fashion, but the elimination of the grocery tax, as far as I'm concerned, is something I feel strongly about. While there are other ideas and other forms of tax relief that others talk about, in my opinion, the reduction and ultimate elimination of the grocery tax is non-negotiable.”

Beebe also says that the money for reducing the grocery tax must come from the normal general revenue stream, not the $843 million budget surplus that is currently forecast.

“You can't do the groceries from that one-time budget surplus,” he says. “The grocery tax has to come from ongoing revenue.”

Beebe wants to spend the surplus on one-time capital expenditures, such as buildings for K-12 public schools, higher education infrastructure, and economic development. “The one-time surplus that has already accumulated needs to go on capital projects or one-time projects that are not recurring.”

Beebe has other strong positions on improving education, economic development, and the possibility of a roads program. We'll share aspects of that conversation in the near future. Stay tuned.