Gubernatorial hopefuls would ‘stand up’ to EPA
Two of the state’s gubernatorial candidates said Thursday that they would “stand up” to the Environmental Protection Agency and oppose the federal government’s overreaching rules and regulations.
“Eight years ago, if I’d talked about overreaching regulations, no one would have known what I was talking about, but today, the EPA comes to mind,” Republican candidate Asa Hutchinson said while addressing a morning session of the Arkansas Environmental Federation’s 47th Annual Convention at the Hot Springs Convention Center.
“What comes to mind, if you believe in the Second Amendment, is the president wanting to regulate firearms. What comes to mind when it comes to health care is the Affordable Care Act and the overreach of the federal government. People understand the reach of the federal government into our everyday lives, so it’s up to the states — not in an overly contentious way, but in a leadership way — to say ‘back off, federal government, we want to be able to manage our affairs,’ or ‘you’re hurting our state in what you are planning to do,’” Hutchinson said.
“I will stand up to the EPA
just as I did when I was in Congress,” Democratic candidate Mike Ross said as he spoke to the group Thursday afternoon.
“We need to make decisions based on common sense, sound science, and not by a knee-jerk reaction or emotions. I think that we’ve got to recognize that, as related to energy, there is no silver bullet and we have to have a diversified mix. Instead of turning our backs on coal, we should be finding ways to clean it up,” he said.
“I believe in a variety of energy sources, from nuclear, to alternative fuels, to coal and gas. All of these are part of the mix of our electric generation in Arkansas, as is hydro power and we need to continue that diversity. We need to try to keep rates affordable for industry and individual consumers,” Hutchinson said.
Hutchinson said that while he served as undersecretary of Homeland Security, the agency reached the conclusion that partnership was better than regulation and instead of telling industries how to conduct their business, it told industries they were expected to protect their critical infrastructures and products, perform a security risk assessment and develop a plan to remedy those risks.
“It was a partnership relationship where they took on the responsibility, but it was better than having the federal government tell them how high to build their fences,” he said.
Ross also told the group that he wants to be the “education governor,” and believes that Arkansas students can start sooner and finish stronger. He intends to make prekindergarten programs available to all families and find a way to improve upon the low percentage of college graduates.
He said there should be a desk available for every 4-year- old child whose parents want to enroll them in a pre-K program.
He said studies show that children who attend a pre-K program are less likely to repeat a grade, more likely to complete high school and college, more likely to be employed as an adult when others are not, and less likely to end up on government assistance or in prison.
Ross said there should also be a renewed interest on vocational-technical, or career-technical, training for those students who may choose not to attend college, or don’t finish college, and for persons who may lose their jobs, so they can learn a trade or skill for a good paying job to provide for their families.
Ross said he believes that social issues, such as hunger, homelessness, crime and poverty, are based on issues in education. He wants to see a renewed emphasis on career and technical education and believes that the state can do better to prepare more workers.
“In doing so, it helps provide our state with an educated trade and skilled workforce that we need to attract the better paying jobs of today and tomorrow,” Ross said.
Hutchinson said that he has previously said he hasn’t thought about what he would want his legacy to be, if elected, but noted Thursday that “I want to be the jobs governor.”
“I want to drive the economy forward. I want to pay teachers more, but you have to grow the economy and expand the number of taxpayers to do that. I want to increase infrastructure and highway development, but to do that you have to increase the economy so that you have more revenue producers and more taxpayers. That is how we grow the state and provide greater service,” he said.
“There can’t be a higher privilege that I can have than to represent the people of Arkansas as the governor. I’m passionate about economic growth, moving the state forward, and making sure it is the best place in quality of life and environment for our children and grandchildren,” Hutchinson said.
Ross said he is not running to be the governor of the Democratic or Republican parties.
“I’m fed up with the extremes of both and am running to be governor of all the people. The last thing we need in state government is the kind of partisan bickering and dysfunction we see in Washington, D.C.,” he said.
Other gubernatorial candidates include J. Joshua Drake of the Green Party and Libertarian Frank Gilbert.