Election Profiles: Arkansas House District 83 (Updated)

Editor’s note: Between Oct. 13 and Oct. 27, The City Wire will present information from candidates in 15 key races in Crawford County, Sebastian County, Fort Smith and area legislative districts. A schedule of races presented will accompany this article and each article in the series.

Tom Fite (R) and Leslee Milam Post (D) are after the Arkansas House seat opened with the term-limited Rep. Beverly Pyle, R-Cedarville, unable to seek re-election.

The district includes the mid-section of Crawford and Franklin counties, and includes the cities of Alma, Mulberry and Ozark.

To win the district, Post will have to convince voters she is not a Washington-style Democrat. Most polls and Arkansas political watchers are showing a ballot advantage for Republicans in most Legislative races.

An early September 2010 survey by Talk Business Research/Hendrix College quantified the voter mood.

"Party identification produces sizable leads for Republicans at this juncture of the general election cycle, but if you remove the party labels you get much different results with Democrats leading opponents as well as a much larger undecided voting bloc,” Talk Business executive editor Roby Brock said in the survey report.

Updated info: However, Fite faces a legal challenge to his ballot status. Michael Grulkey has filed a lawsuit in Pulaski County Circuit Court saying that Fite has a 1984 criminal conviction that makes him ineligible for election.

Indeed, documents sent to The City Wire show that Tom Fite faced a federal jury trial in February 1984 on several counts of medicaid fraud and bribery. The trial, held in the Eastern District of Arkansas, ended in a mistrial, and Fite eventually pleaded guilty to a lesser misdemeanor charge and was given three years probation.

Fite has refused to respond to several attempts by The City Wire for comment on the matter.

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.

• Tom Fite response:
There has been a lot of discussion this election season about the need for job creation from both the Republican candidates and the Democrat candidates, however, what I haven’t heard is how to create these jobs. It is true — we need jobs in our state, and these jobs are mostly created by small businesses. This leads me to dare to ask the question, "How can we make our state more business friendly?" Arkansas has the 12th highest tax rate on businesses in the country, and this needs to be changed.

My solution to creating jobs is simple. We stimulate the Arkansas economy by creating a way to encourage businesses to update their equipment and infrastructure with expanded tax write-offs.

How, do you ask? Let me explain: Construction Company A needs to buy a new backhoe, but wants to wait until the economy improves. If that Construction Company A purchases the backhoe from an Arkansas dealer only, we simply double the deduction.

By doubling the deduction this would encourage Construction Company A to purchase now. Construction Company A would receive an approximate 7% savings, the state would receive the 6% sales tax, and the dealer that sold the backhoe would pay his fair share of income tax on his profit. It’s a win for the buyer, the seller and the state of Arkansas.

The higher level of economic activity would create new jobs and protect the jobs we already have. It’s time we act; we can be a magnet for new businesses, stimulate our economy and create new jobs.

Highway funding
Hold on to your hats, or should I say your pocket books. A "Blue Ribbon" tax increase, in some form or another, is coming!  Arkansas Blue Ribbon Committee on Highway Finance is trying to find ways to raise your taxes to improve and build new roads.

What’s the problem? The problem for Western Arkansas is that any new taxes WILL NOT be distributed fairly within the state. For example, Washington, Crawford, Franklin, Sebastian, Scott and Polk Counties receive $18.49 per person for roads, while Southwestern counties receive $195.07 per person for roads. That’s more than 10 times the money, 1000 plus percent to be exact! That’s a big disparity!

If we don’t have control over how the new taxes are spent, then why give them the money? If it is not distributed equally, don’t tax us.

• Leslee Milam Post response:
Economy/Jobs
The unemployed worry they will not be able to find a new job, those employed worry their job will be lost, and the future graduate worries that no job will available upon graduation.

We must make sure that everyone has an opportunity to work. I promise, as your State Representative, to bring more job opportunities to our area, including working with the Governor to encourage businesses to relocate or expand to our District. District 83 has potential that is not utilized, such as land companies could use to build their factories or plants, access to delivery systems (Interstate 40, railroads and the Arkansas River); and the residents who are willing and able to work. We must show this potential to companies, so they will choose District 83 for their next relocation or expansion.

Education
ALL children deserve a quality education, which includes: high quality teachers, updated facilities, advanced equipment and structured programs from preschool through college.

Education and the economy are inseparable and a quality of education our children receive the more likely a company will want to locate to District 83. I am a strong supporter of the Arkansas Better Chance (ABC) Preschool Program that Gov. Mike Beebe started.

However, this program is only available to high risk 3- and 4-year olds and we need to expand this program to all children in our State. Research shows that children in this program show significant improvements in early language, literacy and mathematics as opposed to children outside the program. I would support legislation expanding this program to all Arkansas families. The future of Arkansas is our children.

Public Safety
In many of the communities of District 83 the police, fire and emergency response teams are faced with small staffs. I will fight for funds to support our local public safety needs and local roads that are crucial for emergency response.

Another issue of concern is jail overcrowding and the fact that criminals are being released early from their sentences. We should try and rehabilitate the criminals to avoid them returning to a life of crime. However, in the event we cannot rehabilitate them, we need to expand our county jails, so those criminals are required to complete their sentence. The protection of the families of District 83 is a priority to me and I will do everything possible to make sure our community is protected.