Election Profiles: Arkansas House District 87

Editor’s note: Between Oct. 13 and Oct. 27, The City Wire presented information from candidates in 15 key races in Crawford County, Sebastian County, Fort Smith and area legislative districts. This is the final profile in that series.

Justin Harris (R) and Earl Hunton (D) seek the open Arkansas House District 87 that covers the northern portion of Crawford County and southern parts of Washington County.

The seat is open because Rep. Mark Martin, R-Prairie Grove, is term limited. Martin is the Republican candidate in the Arkansas Secretary of State race.

Harris owns a faith-based preschool — Growing God’s Kingdom — in West Fork.

Hunton, a former member of the Lincoln Public School Board, is a farmer living in Prairie Grove and also works as president of the Lincoln Chamber of Commerce.

CANDIDATE RESPONSE REQUEST
In 400 words or less, please identify what you believe to be the top three needs/issues in your district and what you plan to do in Little Rock to address the needs/issues.

To the following list, simply note whether you are you FOR or AGAINST the item.
FOR or AGAINST: Renewal of the Governor’s quick action closing fund
FOR or AGAINST: Elimination of the remaining 2% sales tax on groceries
FOR or AGAINST: Raising user fees and/or fuel taxes or other taxes to pay for highway improvements
FOR or AGAINST: Consideration of an increase to the number of terms allowed under Arkansas’ term-limit law.

• Justin Harris response:
The number one issue in District 87 is jobs.

As I have gone door to door, people want to talk about how we are going to put people back to work. We continue to have steady unemployment rates. I have created 33 jobs in the city of West Fork.

Arkansas is growing government quickly, yet no jobs are being created in the private sector. It’s not the government that creates jobs, it’s the entrepreneurs that create growth and stimulate the economy. We must lessen the tax burdens on small businesses and lower the income tax on individuals.

I would propose that we cut the Capital Gains Tax. This is a penalty on Arkansans for making a profit. If the citizens of Arkansas could keep their profit, they could grow their businesses and create job growth and stimulate the economy.

Education is the second issue for the people of District 87. People want a quality education for their children. They believe they should have a choice in their child’s education; where they learn and what they learn. Schools must make sure funding goes toward the children. Northwest Arkansas has the highest paid school administration staff in the state, yet we continue to go to the tax payers and ask for more money. Teachers need the increase, not the administration.

The legislature must also look at the burden of the No Child Left Behind Act has on schools and on special education. Often times a school may be performing great, but because of the NCLB, schools continue to be on a school improvement list because they don’t show a percentage of increase in performance. This can hurt funding and local control of schools.

Thirdly, we must repeal Obamacare. Over 60% of Arkansans do not want the President’s Health Care Plan, yet Sen. Lincoln cast the deciding vote to move it forward. The Health Care Bill creates an unnecessary burden of $200 million on our state.

Arkansas currently owes $390 million to the Federal Government for borrowed Unemployment Benefits. Added together, this will cause an increase in taxes and an unnecessary cut in Medicaid.

I side with Congressman Boozman and say no to Obamacare. Let’s cut insurance cost by allowing people to shop for insurance across state lines. This would create competition and allow for lower premiums.

I have signed the “No Tax Pledge.” People can’t afford an increase in taxes.

• Earl Hunton response:
The most important job of a State Representative is constituent service. We have to have someone who will go to Little Rock and not take on Washington D.C. but help the people of District 87.

That is exactly what I will do if elected. I will work to improve our public schools.

Education is the key to bringing business and good paying jobs to the state. I will put pressure on the highway commission to fix roads in the district, roads like Hwy 71, Hwy 59, Hwy 220, Hwy 156, Hwy 170, Hwy 45, and others badly need repairs.

I will work for stronger safer communities. I will do this by sponsoring a bill that will make sex offenders that move into the state be under the same law they were under in their previous state until they can be processed into the Arkansas system. They will also have to report to the local police department in which they live. If they fail to do any of the previous they will go to jail for one year and pay a ten thousand dollar fine.

I will help Gov. Beebe remove the rest of the tax on groceries. I will also try to remove the estate tax for Arkansas as this tax hurts small business and farmers the most. I will help communities in the district in getting grants for water projects. I will support our local police and fire departments get the equipment and training they need. I will help our senior centers and meals on wheels programs.

Next I will try to restore trust in government. I will do this by making the state government more accountable to the people. We have seen with recent problems with state cars that we have to continually monitor government agencies for efficiency and fiscal responsibility. It is the job of our Representatives to look out for our best interests.

One of the greatest needs we have as a state is educating our children. Our State Constitution says Education is a State responsibility. We can do this by making pre-school available to more students. Studies show for every dollar you spend on pre-k you save ten dollars in remediation costs. We have to continually monitor the state lottery and make sure as many students as possible get scholarships. We also need to include technological schools and junior colleges.