Ross Tours Center For Nonprofits

Ross
Ross

— Democratic governor's candidate Mike Ross toured the Center for Nonprofits in Rogers on Monday, calling the center an outstanding example of the cooperative approach he wants to take as governor.

Ross said in an interview before the tour he is "tired of extremists on both sides." He cited the debate on the private option before the state Legislature as the most important public policy question in Arkansas today. It has also become highly partisan, he said. The state House was preparing Monday for its fifth try to muster the three-fourths super majority required to pass a Medicaid budget including the plan. Ross said he was in favor of passing the private option.

Private option is a plan that uses about $915 million in the next state fiscal year for subsidizing private insurance policies for lower-income Arkansans. The federal taxpayer money was originally earmarked for expanding the state-administered Medicaid program. The state obtained a waiver from the federal Department of Health and Human Services to implement private option.

"A lot of people think this vote in the House is just on the private option," Ross said. "It's not. It's on the whole state Department of Human Services budget. That includes Medicaid and other programs that help the working poor and our seniors."

Ross criticized Asa Hutchinson, one of two announced Republican candidates for governor, for not taking a position on private option. "I don't understand how anyone running for governor can say you're still studying the most important public policy question we face, when it passed a year ago," Ross said. The measure passed in April but money for the program is up for reappropriation. Hutchinson's Republican primary opponent, Curtis Coleman, opposes the expansion.

Neither he nor Ross needs to be harping at decision-makers from the sidelines, Hutchinson said when contacted for a response. "We only have one governor at a time," Hutchinson said. "This decision is going to be made by the people in office now. The last thing they need is candidates directing traffic, so to speak. So, yes, I've intentionally left it up to them."

Tom Galyon, the nonprofit center's property manager, told Ross that the center is the largest of its kind in North America. The building is the former site of Mercy Hospital Northwest Arkansas. Including homes also owned by the center in Rogers and Springdale, the center has 300,000 square feet of space.

Galyon attended the Non-Profit and Shared Service Conference in Denver in June and was surprised to learn that the Rogers center was the largest of its kind by far. "The closest thing to it is in San Francisco," he told Ross.

Commentary on 02/25/2014

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