District 91 Republican candidates differ on best way to help state

A newcomer hopes to replace a three-term Arkansas House member in District 91 in the approaching Republican primary.

State Rep. Dan Douglas, a cattle farmer and commercial real estate manager living outside Bentonville, seeks a fourth, two-year term with an eye on improving highways and career education.

Scott Richardson of Bentonville, an Arkansas National Guard veteran and technology director at an engineering firm, said he's the more fiscally responsible choice.

District 91 stretches from north and east of Siloam Springs through Gentry to Centerton and Cave Springs. The primary is set for May 22, with early voting starting Monday. The winner has no opponent in November's general election, so the primary result decides the seat.

Douglas said he has learned how to get more done as a legislator over the past several years, and he sees plenty to do. He is chairman of the House Agriculture, Forestry and Economic Development Committee.

Arkansas is behind on state highway maintenance and will need to replace a half-cent state sales tax for road projects that'll run out early next decade. Douglas last year pushed for a sales tax on wholesale fuel sales for the work.

Douglas said he also supports expanding and improving career and technical education around the state.

"If we want to truly reduce state spending and reduce the expenses, we've got to figure out ways to reduce the people on Medicaid and the people in prisons," he said. "The way you do that long term is to give them a skill to where they have a career opportunity to make a better living."

Douglas, 61, said Northwest Arkansas' secondary and post-secondary schools do a good job along those lines, but the state overall simply needs more or better education, such as tailoring two-year colleges' curriculum to businesses' needed skills.

Douglas said the state's Medicaid expansion, now dubbed Arkansas Works, has helped people obtain health care who couldn't before, and the state has tweaked and assessed it in good ways.

The federal government recently gave the state permission to require adult, nondisabled recipients to work or do work-related activities, which Douglas and Richardson both supported.

Douglas hopes to work with the state's pharmacy association to allow pharmacies to take back unused prescription medications, as many sheriff's offices do, to help lower opioid abuse and overdoses.

Richardson, 46, said raising taxes is the wrong approach for the state's needs, because Arkansas spends too much and its residents are overtaxed. The Washington-based nonprofit Tax Foundation, which analyzes state tax rates, has found Arkansas collects more in state taxes from residents than the nation's average and had the 17th highest state and local tax burden in fiscal 2012.

"Until we get a good handle on why and have a clear picture of the spending problem we have, it's very difficult for me to support any taxation, any increase," Richardson said. He supported Gov. Asa Hutchinson's idea to consolidate some state departments and said pressing department heads to find more savings could also help.

The state should do more to plan for the long term, Richardson added. The state plans capital spending in two-year bursts, but highway projects can take much longer.

Richardson has a master's degree in information technology from Arkansas Tech University and said he oversees services, staff management and budgeting at his job. He said his career and community service through his church have prepared him for his first attempt at joining state government.

"You can't know everything about everything, and that's not the intent, but having a solid foundation of education provides you that growth opportunity," he said.

NW News on 05/03/2018