ROGERS — A state government spending millions on incentive packages to lure in new businesses can afford to cut taxes to help all businesses instead, a candidate said at a Rogers-Lowell Area Chamber of Commerce forum Tuesday.
"That's picking winners and losers," said Jana Della Rosa of Rogers, a candidate in the House District 90 race, said of incentive packages. "I don't like that." Her Republican primary opponents Mike Whitmore of Rogers and Paul Caldwell of Lowell agreed lower taxes would improve the state's business climate.
The state maintains a "Quick Action Closing Fund," which has provided or committed to provide more than $50 million since July 1, 2012, according to state records. The last legislative session also provided tax-free financing and other incentives to Big River Steel, an industrial project in Mississippi County.
The forum for primary candidates in the House District 90 and 94 races took place at chamber headquarters, beginning at 11:30 a.m. Another forum is scheduled for the same time and place Friday for candidates in the House District 95 and 96 races. All four of those May 20 primary races are Republican contests. The District 94 and 96 races also have Democratic candidates and will have chamber-sponsored forums closer to the Nov. 4 general election.
District 94 candidate Rebecca Petty was unable to attend Friday's forum because of a business commitment in another state scheduled months prior to the event, she said Tuesday morning before the forum.
Her opponent, Marge Wolf, is a Rogers City Council member and was present Tuesday. The winner of the District 94 primary will face Democrat Grimsley Graham. The District 90 primary winner will face no major-party opposition.
County prisons throughout Arkansas face backlogs of state prisoners awaiting room at state prisons. This persistent problem defies a simple solution, said Wolf, a former member of the Benton County Quorum Court. Asked about the issue, Wolf said: "If I knew the answer, I'd have said it 15 years ago."
Caldwell, a pastor, said the problem would be eased by a greater sense of public morality. Whitmore said compensation paid to counties is inadequate. Della Rosa and Wolf said they would like to see changes in the court system to allow more options such as drug court, which supervise non-violent offenders in strict probation programs.
Whitmore and Caldwell oppose the "private option," a state program that subsidizes private insurance rather than expand the state-administered Medicaid program. Wolf and Della Rosa said they would wait and evaluate the results of the new program before making a decision.
On "open carry," which would allow gun owners to carry weapons in plain view, three candidates said they would support such a law. Wolf said she supported gun owners' rights and has a record of doing so, but most of the voters in her district don't want to see weapons openly worn in public.
NW News on 04/16/2014