Gray, Collins Face Off In District

— Fayetteville and southeast Washington County voters will decide a race Democrats and Republicans consider key to deciding which party controls the state House of Representatives in the upcoming legislative session.

Democrat Adella Gray, a Fayetteville City Council member, is challenging Republican Rep. Charlie Collins of Fayetteville, who is seeking re-election in House District 84. Collins narrowly defeated incumbent Jim House, a Democrat, in his 2010 House race.

Will Bond, state Democratic Party chairman, called this year’s race one of the best prospects for a Democratic gain in the House. Bond was speaking in Rogers last month when he made the remark. Republican leaders have declared their intention to keep the seat.

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District 84 voters should look at who would represent them best, both candidatessaid in separate interviews.

The borders of the district changed after the last U.S. Census, but it still largely consists of east Fayetteville and a swath south of the city.

Collins hopes to be a leader in a House with a large number of Republican freshmen. He emphasizes reducing the state’s income tax in a way that would benefit the working-class poor, not the higher-earning taxpayers. The reduction is key because the income tax hurts the state’s economic competitiveness with surrounding states, which have lower income tax rates, he said. Potential employers have to pay more for workers here because higher wages are needed to cover the expense of the income tax and still leave the same amount of take-home pay, he said.

He also supports the governor’s plans to cut sales taxes on groceries and detailed a step-by-step process to reduce income taxes at a gradual rate to keep the cuts from having a serious impact on the state budget.

Collins’ priorities mirror the national Republican Party, Gray said. She supports the governor’s continued priority on cutting taxes on groceries, but said Collins’ plan will ultimately benefit the richest people and companies more than anyone else.

“Because he did not support our very popular serving governor,” Gray said when asked why voters should choose her over Collins. “I don’t think I’m alone in thinking the governor’s done a good job,” she said.

Whatever the achievements of this particular governor, Democratic dominance of state government for more than a century has Arkansas ranking last or near to last in every important category of progress, Collins said.

Gray emphasized education in her interview. Collins emphasized economic development. Each said their priority was the key to the state’s future success.

“He’s from the corporate world, and I’m a life-long educator. Our passions are pretty far apart,” Gray said.

Gray is a retired school counselor with a master’s degree from the University of Arkansas in the field. She has worked at the Prairie Grove and Springdale school districts. Collins is a U.S. Navy veteran. He is a partner in Crown Partners Executive Search, which recruits executives for business clients.

The education system needs the taxes from economic growth and better pay, Collins said. Supporting that system and other government priorities with higher taxes is self-defeating, he said.

Gray said that the number one problem for all employers in Arkansas, including higher-paying ones, is finding enough educated workers.

The two took opposite views of the proposed expansion of Medicaid to much of the working poor in Arkansas. Gray said she would vote for the plan to expand the Medicaid rolls to add an estimated 250,000 members. The governor has made the budget case that this can be done safely, she said. Collins said that the plan amounts to accepting a promise of payment from a federal government that is clearly in budget trouble.

News, Pages 1 on 10/08/2012

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