House foes at odds on voucher support

LITTLE ROCK — The 12th- most senior member of the Arkansas House, Rep. Mark Lowery, R-Maumelle, is turning to his legislative experience and positions on key committees to make the argument for a potential fifth — and he says likely final — term in office serving House District 39.

His opponent, Democrat and attorney Kayla Applegate, also is talking about Lowery’s record, pointing to positions that Lowery has taken as chairman of the House Insurance and Commerce Committee and as a member of the House Education Committee to contend that he is out of touch with the suburban voters.

“I’ve heard from many teachers in the public school system who don’t necessarily feel represented by him,” Applegate said in an interview this week, citing Lowery’s support for school voucher programs.

In his first four terms, Lowery has sponsored more than a dozen bills to create or expand voucher programs, or to allow private and home- schooled students greater access to public school resources, such as athletics, according to legislative records.

Lowery said his experience on the Education Committee goes further than school vouchers. He pointed to legislation he has shepherded to force school districts to spend saved-up funds; to allow for adult charter schools; and to move the state away from Common Core-aligned testing.

“I’m proud of my record,” Lowery said. “I just think we have totally different visions for how we can best serve the people of Arkansas.”

Through the end of September, Lowery has edged out his opponent in fundraising, drawing in $20,800 to Applegate’s $18,013.

Applega te has also supported her campaign through $ 3,100 in loans, and ended the month with $ 4,433 cash on hand. Lowery, meanwhile, had $66,682 available to spend, most of it carry-over funds from previous campaigns.

House District 39 includes almost all of Maumelle as well as large portions of North Little Rock. Lowery won reelection in 2018 with more than 54% of the vote.

If reelected, Lowery said it would likely be for his final term.

SCHOOL CHOICE

In an interview this week, Lowery said he continues to support school- choice initiatives, including the expansion of charter schools, voucher programs and “partial vouchers” such as Arkansas’ Succeed Scholarship Program, which gives scholarships to foster children and students with disabilities to attend private schools.

Lowery said he disagreed with arguments made by many Democrats, including Applegate, who say voucher programs divert public money from public schools. Under state voucher programs, Lowery said public schools continue to receive local funding from property taxes, and that the only funding that is affected is their support from the state.

“The public schools are not decimated by it, they just have to institute more efficiencies,” Lowery said.

Applegate said she was opposed to voucher programs that spend public money on private schools. She said she remained “open” to open-enrollment charter schools.

“The problem becomes the waivers that charter schools can often obtain” from accreditation or state Department of Education rules, Applegate said.

OTHER ISSUES

Applegate also took issue with Lowery’s lack of support for legislation proposed during the 2019 general session to create minimum habitability standards for rental housing, such as the presence of locks, fire alarms, running water and a working roof. Arkansas is the only state in the nation without such standards.

“If he’s doing any type of canvassing like I am doing, I am seeing the kind of houses where that is clearly needed,” Applegate said.

Lowery, who is chairman of the Insurance and Commerce Committee to which the bill was assigned, said he did not vote for the bill, as committee chairmen sometimes do. The legislation, House Bill 1410, failed to pass the committee by a single vote.

Lowery said he opposed the final version of House Bill 1410, which was amended to include input from the Arkansas Realtors Association, which opposed the legislation. Still, Lowery said, the bill did not go far enough to address concerns from landlords, adding that he would vote against the same legislation if it is brought up again.

“There was still a conflict on balancing the rights of renters as well as landlords,” Lowery said.

Both Lowery and Applegate said they are supportive of Arkansas’ private-option Medicaid expansion program, known as Arkansas Works, which provides health insurance to more than 280,000 low- income Arkansans.

However, the two candidates differed on their support for a work requirement that was added to the program in 2017 by lawmakers. That requirement has been put on hold pending review by the courts.

Applegate called the state’s rollout of the work requirement “blundering,” after enrollees reported problems with the website used to prove their eligibility, and the entire program cost the state more than $26 million to implement.

The requirement ultimately forced more than 18,000 people off the Medicaid rolls before it was halted by the courts.

Lowery, however, said he continues to believe in the need for a work requirement, saying that the Medicaid expansion program was intended for “working-class poor people.” Enrollees can also fulfill the requirement through volunteer work, he noted.

“I will continue to vote for [ annual funding for] Medicaid expansion and Arkansas Works as this issue goes through the courts,” Lowery said.

If the work requirement is struck down, Lowery said, “I think we’ll have to take another look at it because our stipulation is not that onerous.”

On the other hand, if the courts uphold the work requirement, Applegate said she would continue to support funding for Arkansas Works.

“That’s still better than not having it in place,” Applegate said. “But I would attempt to propose some kind of solution to make sure as many people are covered as possible.”

PERSONAL DETAILS

Lowery, 63, is an adjunct college instructor of communications who most recently taught at Henderson State University in Arkadelphia. He is divorced with two adult children, and lives in Maumelle.

Applegate, 33, is an attorney at James, House, Downing & Lueken in Little Rock who practices in the areas of family, personal injury and business litigation. She and her husband live in Maumelle.

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