FORT SMITH -- Democratic gubernatorial candidate Mike Ross said Thursday that he wants to provide more state money to the governor's fund designed to create jobs, to a program to reward public schools based on their performance and improvement, and to a scholarship program.
Ross, a former 4th District congressman and state senator, said he also intends to cut red tape and reduce state government regulations, and place a renewed focus on career and technical education and entrepreneurship.
These proposals are in Ross' 46-page economic development plan that he's calling "Jobs First," which includes several proposals that he made previously.
"My job creation plan will strengthen public education and workforce training, cut taxes and reduce government regulations ... and create more and better-paying jobs and grow the Arkansas economy for everyone," Ross said at a news conference at Chaffee Crossing with Democratic lieutenant governor candidate John Burkhalter of Little Rock at his side.
But Republican gubernatorial candidate Asa Hutchinson, through spokesman Christian Olson, later countered that Ross "has zero credibility in job creation in the congressional district he represented for more than a decade in Congress."
Hutchinson, a former 3rd District congressman and federal homeland security undersecretary, noted that the nation's unemployment rate increased from 4.2 percent to 7.9 percent during Ross' 12-year stint in Congress.
Ross, a former pharmacy owner, said he unveiled his plan at Chaffee Crossing because the Fort Smith region "is no stranger to hardship and the folks who live here have seen too many pink slips and unemployment lines that are way too long. Unfortunately, it's a story not that uncommon in many parts of Arkansas."
The success story at Chaffee Crossing, located on former Fort Chaffee land, "gives me hope that Arkansas is on the verge of an economic comeback," noting that developers invested more than $35 million at Chaffee Crossing last year to help create 150 jobs and that transportation and logistics firm ArcBest announced plans last month to build a new corporate headquarters and create 975 jobs.
The Fort Chaffee Redevelopment Authority, local government officials, the state's Economic Development Commission and Democratic Gov. Mike Beebe have worked together to create jobs, Ross said.
Ross, of Little Rock, said he wants to fully fund the governor's Quick Action Closing Fund at $50 million every two years, "so we can give the state and local communities the tools and resources that it needs to bring more jobs to Arkansas, to be competitive with surrounding states and to help replicate successes like here at Chaffee Crossing in communities all over Arkansas."
Beebe proposed creating the fund in his successful 2006 campaign, and the creation of the fund in 2007 has led to the announcement of more than 30,000 new jobs in Arkansas, Ross said.
The fund has about $3.6 million in unobligated funds, said Scott Hardin, a spokesman for the Arkansas Economic Development Commission.
Hutchinson -- who referred to Beebe's idea for creating this fund as giving the governor a "kitty" during Hutchinson's unsuccessful bid for governor in 2006 -- said in his statement that the funding level should be determined along with other state budget priorities and that it is too early to specify the amount.
"As governor, before I would reauthorize funding, I would require (1) stronger protections for the taxpayers in the claw-back requirements when an industry does not create the jobs promised; (2) I would require a cost benefit and risk analysis prior to the release of funds; and (3) there should be greater transparency when a company fails to meet its end of the bargain," Hutchinson said in a written statement.
Ross said his economic plan would:
• Give $2 million more a year in state general revenue to the Arkansas School Recognition and Reward Program, which rewards schools based on performance and improvement. He said he plans to change the program so that it recognizes schools for performance and improvement separately. The program receives $7 million a year, according to the state's budget office.
• Provide $1.6 million more a year in state general revenue to the Governor's Distinguished Scholarships program so Arkansas can encourage more of its best students to remain in the state for college. The program receives $13.2 million a year, according to the state's budget office.
• Give $5 million in surplus funds to create the Innovation Laboratory Fund to encourage innovation in public education.
• Provide $3 million in surplus funds to create the Strengthening Entrepreneurship and Economic Development program to provide grants for support of entrepreneurship.
• Create an online central business licensing system to dramatically reduce the time it takes to start a small business in Arkansas.
• Require the state to publish rules and regulations issued by state agencies, boards and commissions in a centralized online location in a user-friendly format.
• Establish a bipartisan task force to review all rules and regulations issued by state agencies and boards and commissions that have been in place for more than three years, and make recommendations on which rules and regulations to keep, revise or repeal.
Ross' plan includes his previous proposals to create the Governor's Cabinet on Economic Development, headed by Burkhalter, to coordinate the state's job creation efforts; overhaul the state's income-tax brackets through gradual changes that would ultimately reduce state tax revenue by $575 million a year; gradually cut the state's sales and use tax on the partial replacement and repair of machinery used in manufacturing and reduce state tax revenue by $40 million a year; and phase in an expansion of the state's pre-kindergarten program that would cost the state $37 million more a year after it's fully implemented within 10 years.
Hutchinson released his own job creation program in April, he said, adding that "job creation is so vitally important that, as governor, I will lead our economic development and not delegate it to another office."
Burkhalter is vying with U.S. Rep. Tim Griffin, a Republican who represents central Arkansas' 2nd Congressional District, and Libertarian candidate Christopher Olson of Leslie for lieutenant governor in the Nov. 4 general election.
Green Party candidate Joshua Drake of Hot Springs and Libertarian candidate Frank Gilbert of Tull also are running for governor along with Hutchinson and Ross.
Metro on 06/13/2014