Governor’s Candidates Discuss Coal, Health Care, Taxes

Asa Hutchinson (R) and Mike Ross (D) both want the state to join a lawsuit by 12 other states against proposed EPA regulations that would reduce carbon emissions by coal plants.

Hutchinson and Ross discussed that issue and others during a debate at UCA Thursday that can be viewed here. It will be televised tonight at 8 p.m. on AETN.

The proposed regulation is meant to reduce carbon emissions by 30% from 2005 levels but will require Arkansas to take a 44.5% hit – a hard pill for some to swallow in a state where SWEPCO’s new John W. Turk Jr. Power Plant has only been in operation since December 2012.

Libertarian Frank Gilbert agreed that the state should push back against the EPA regulation. Green Party nominee Joshua Drake supports the regulation as a means of combatting climate change.

The candidates debated a day after the Arkansas Supreme Court ruled unconstitutional Arkansas’ law requiring voters to present a photo ID in order to vote. Hutchinson said he was surprised and disappointed by the ruling. He said he did not believe presenting a photo ID is an unreasonable burden.

The other candidates said they agreed with the ruling, with Ross explaining that the law had resulted in the disqualifying of ballots by voters who were not trying to disobey the law, including World War II veterans.

The candidates covered many of the same issues that have been discussed throughout the campaign. Ross did create a new line of attack by criticizing Hutchinson’s legal representation of James Fondren, a Defense Department official charged and ultimately convicted of giving classified information to a Chinese spy.

Ross said during the debate and in the following press conference that Hutchinson chose who to represent as an attorney. Hutchinson said he simply was defending a client, pointing to the fact that President John Adams once defended a British solder accused of murder.

Asked about the state’s Medicaid private option, Ross said he supports it, arguing that it helps people who are trying to stay off welfare. He described a meeting with a server at one of his events who said the private option had helped her obtain health insurance for the first time since her husband left her. Hutchinson, as he has throughout the campaign, said the program should be evaluated according to its costs.

“Mr. Ross is unwise whenever he says, ‘I’m for it, regardless of the costs, regardless of how many people are on there, let’s just do it,’” he said.

Hutchinson also criticized Ross for voting out of committee a health care bill that ultimately wasn’t adopted but that Hutchinson said laid the foundation for the Affordable Care Act. Ross said he voted against the ACA and was one of three Democrats later to vote to repeal it.

Gilbert opposes the private option. Drake supports it but said he would have preferred simply expanding Medicaid.

Gilbert advocated the release of all nonviolent drug offenders, explaining it would make unnecessary a proposed $100 million prison. Drake likewise said nonviolent drug offenders should not be imprisoned.

Both of the two major party candidates have proposed tax cuts – Hutchinson an immediate one for middle income earners, while Ross would adopt a more phased-in approach. Hutchinson said his plan is necessary because Arkansas has higher income taxes than surrounding states. Ross said Hutchinson was advocating for what he called the “Kansas model,” where tax cuts have led to a budget shortfall and significant spending cuts.

Gilbert said by eliminating corporate welfare, no longer imprisoning nonviolent drug offenders, and making other cuts, Arkansas could eliminate all income taxes without raising others by the end of his eight years in office. Drake said taxes should be lowered on the middle class and raised on the wealthy, while the minimum wage should be raised to $10 an hour.

On immigration, Hutchinson said border security should come first followed by immigration reform. Ross said illegal immigration had increased while Hutchinson was under secretary for border and transportation security of the Department of Homeland Security, while illegal drug use had increased while Hutchinson was director of the Drug Enforcement Agency.

“Now, if Congressman Hutchinson can’t run a couple of little government agencies, I don’t know how in the world he’s going to run the state of Arkansas,” Ross said.