2 pledge to revive integrity of office

Pair’s sights on treasurer’s post

Two candidates bent on restoring public trust are seeking the Republican nod for the Arkansas treasurer's race in this month's primary.

State Rep. Duncan Baird, R-Lowell, and Saline County Circuit Clerk Dennis Milligan have been locked in a months-long debate over which of them would safeguard the integrity of the office best after former Treasurer Martha Shoffner was convicted on 14 charges of bribery and extortion earlier this year.

The winner will face Hot Springs City Board member Karen Sealy Garcia, a Democrat, and Libertarian Chris Hayes in the November election.

Shoffner, a Newport Democrat, was found guilty in March of taking about $36,000 from a bond broker in exchange for directing state investments though the broker's firm between 2009 and 2013. She resigned almost a year ago, shortly after she was arrested in an FBI sting operation that included an informant filming Shoffner taking $6,000 hidden inside a pie box.

Shoffner's troubles have put a spotlight on an otherwise low-profile constitutional office. The treasurer is responsible for depositing checks from state agencies into the state's coffers, investing excess state funds and distributing money from sales tax collections to local governments.

The treasurer also serves on several financial boards, including the Arkansas Development Finance Authority, the Arkansas Public Employees Retirement System board of trustees and other retirement boards.

Baird and Milligan both described plans to increase transparency and earn the public's trust.

Milligan, who has also served as chairman of the Arkansas Republican Party, said he would sign a pledge to not allow any gifts to himself or his staff from anyone seeking to do business with the state.

"It will be a no-gifts policy from any vendor that does business with the treasurer's office," Milligan said. "I also want to increase the online transparency of the office, just as I've done in Saline County as circuit clerk. I want people to be able to look anytime, 24-7, to see where their money is invested, to know what commission fees are where and be assured that nothing like Martha Shoffner will happen again."

Baird, who worked for Arvest Bank as a securities trader, said he has been living under that pledge since he took office in 2009.

"I made a pledge when I was first elected to not accept any gifts, and I have been practicing that pledge since then and would bring that policy with me to the treasurer's office," he said. "I'll also work to put public documents online and increase transparency. I was the co-sponsor of the bill that formed the Arkansas Transparency website [a site that allows people to track government spending and income at various levels], and I would like to see that in the treasurer's office, as well."

Baird said if elected, he also plans to bar his staff from working on any of his future political campaigns, an issue raised about Shoffner during her trial.

While both of the candidates are running on a platform of rehabilitating the office, Milligan said something that sets them apart is their views on the private option, the state's Medicaid expansion plan that uses federal dollars to allow low-income residents to purchase private health insurance through a state exchange.

The program, which opponents have worked to associate closely with the 2010 Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (also called Obamacare), has been a key issue in several Republican primary races in the state. The treasurer will not play a role in the program or have a say in whether it continues, but Milligan said voters have asked him repeatedly about his stance on the program.

"It might not have to do with the treasurer's office, but it has to do with our decision-making process and abilities," he said. "I'm against it, and I've been against it from the beginning. I employ between 40 and 50 people, and I've seen what Obamacare is doing to Arkansas. ... It's a tax burden."

Baird, who supported the private option, said he and other Republican leaders in the state House were trying to find the best option to improve Medicaid, but he argued that the private option is not Obamacare.

"I try to make it clear that I'm opposed to Obamacare. I worked to defeat it, and I signed a [legal] brief in opposition," he said. "We said no to the proposals that were put in front of us in terms of the terrible mandates of Obamacare, and we looked for another way to mitigate the negative effects. As a result we came up with the private option."

Baird pointed to a public scuffle that the candidates had late last year when Milligan approached Baird about a late-night excursion he had made with several other lawmakers and friends to try to visit the Capitol roof. Baird covertly recorded a conversation with Milligan in which Baird said Milligan said he would go public with the videotape of the roof excursion attempt if Baird did not drop out of the race.

"My goal is to restore trust in this office, and I think that starts with telling the truth," Baird said. "Dennis Milligan was caught being dishonest with both the press and with the people of Arkansas in this episode."

Milligan disagreed with the characterization of the conversation.

"All I really want to say about that incident is that we will never really agree on the context of our private conversation or agree on the meaning and how we interpret that," he said.

After Shoffner's resignation last May, Gov. Mike Beebe appointed Charles Robinson as interim treasurer. Under state law, an appointee is not eligible to seek election to the post at the end of the term.

Shoffner is to stand trial in December on public corruption charges alleging that she misused campaign funds worth $9,800 to pay for personal expenses. No sentencing date had been set as of mid-April for her bribery and extortion convictions, which carry a penalty of up to 20 years in prison.

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Baird

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Milligan

Metro on 05/11/2014

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