In his re-election bid, Republican Lt. Gov. Tim Griffin has taken a few jabs from Democratic candidate Anthony Bland and Libertarian candidate Frank Gilbert in what's been a low-key campaign.
When he signed up in February to run, Bland described Griffin as a President Donald "Trump enabler who is out of tune with the people of Arkansas." Bland had switched from running for secretary of state to lieutenant governor.
In response to Bland's criticism, Griffin pledged to continue providing bold, conservative leadership to change a state government that he said taxes too much and spends too much.
During a recent Arkansas Educational Television Network debate, Griffin said he's kept his 2014 campaign promises and continues to be "the most accessible lieutenant governor." He said he tries each day to improve Arkansas to create jobs and careers for people.
During the debate, Gilbert described himself as "the least scary" Libertarian candidate that people can vote for in the Nov. 6 general election, adding "after all, what can I not say besides, Tim's cakewalk to the governorship in four years?"
Asked whether he plans to run for governor in 2022, Griffin said last week in an email, "I am focused on my job as Lt. Governor."
Griffin, a former 2nd District congressman and aide to then-President George W. Bush, has been lieutenant governor since 2015.
During his 2014 campaign for lieutenant governor, he said he would cut the office's number of employees from four to two. He said he also would push for the Legislature and the governor to conduct a comprehensive look at the state's tax system, to give a top-to-bottom review of state agencies and their regulations, and to give two-year and technical colleges a higher priority in workforce training.
Bland, who is a media technician at J.A. Fair High School, is making his first bid for elected office. He said he wants to be "a voice of the people." Arkansans should have reliable health care, livable wages and a world-class education system, Bland said.
Gilbert, who is retired and a former mayor of Tull, ran unsuccessfully for governor in 2014. Gilbert said people should vote for him as lieutenant governor to change the culture in state government.
Under the Arkansas Constitution, the lieutenant governor presides over the state Senate when it's in session, and he can vote to break ties. He serves as governor if the governor dies or is impeached, removed from office or otherwise unable to serve. The lieutenant governor no longer becomes acting governor when the chief executive is outside the state, thanks to voters approving Amendment 96 to the constitution in 2016.
Two lieutenant governors have become governor in the past 26 years. Lt. Gov. Jim Guy Tucker became governor when Gov. Bill Clinton left to become president in 1992. In 1996, Lt. Gov. Mike Huckabee became governor after Tucker resigned after his conviction in federal court.
The job is one of the state's seven constitutional officers, but it's the only one considered part-time. The job pays a salary $43,584 a year.
Republican Gov. Asa Hutchinson appointed Griffin to several tasks. Griffin's led a review of the Common Core education standards; serves as vice chairman of the governor's Transformation Advisory Board and as a member of the governor's Military Affairs Commission; and reviewed the state Department of Human Services.
Hutchinson has proposed cutting the number of agencies reporting to him from 42 to 15 with a goal of improved delivery of services and more efficiency.
Griffin said one of his priorities in the coming regular legislative session will be encouraging passage of the governor's reorganization package.
"Frankly, I was and am very impressed with the governor's reorganization plan. I think he would tell you it's not the last step, it is the very first step. Ultimately, you want to get more efficient. You want to have savings. But the first step is to pass what I call the Cracker Barrel rule. It is hard to have productive meetings with senior leaders in any organization if you can't fit them around a couple of tables pushed together at the Cracker Barrel," Griffin said.
Both Bland and Gilbert said they are skeptical that the proposed reorganization will improve efficiency.
Griffin said he supports Hutchinson's latest proposal to reduce individual income taxes.
The proposal would consolidate the three individual income tax tables into one and gradually reduce the top tax rate from 6.9 percent to 5.9 percent. The proposal is projected to reduce revenue by nearly $192 million a year. The proposal also would increase the standard deduction for single and married taxpayers, and increase individual income tax rates for some taxpayers, but the increased standard deduction would offset any tax increases, according to state officials.
"I do believe the income tax rate is a barrier to attracting not only companies but people that are needed to fill certain jobs," Griffin said.
Bland said he opposes Hutchinson's plan to help what he described as "the upper 1 percent" of Arkansans.
The state Department of Finance and Administration filed a tax lien on June 21 in Pulaski County Circuit Court against Bland for $5,576.36 in individual income taxes. The lien is for a period ending Dec. 31, 2013.
"I had to do an amendment because there was some income that was not filed" for 2013 because "the tax guy I had at the time didn't file it right," Bland said. He said he is on a payment plan with the state and hopes to pay off his taxes by the spring of 2019.
Gilbert said Hutchinson's plan to cut individual income tax rates "is a small step in the right direction, but we need to go much further." He said that would require reductions in state spending.
Griffin said he supports the work requirement that Hutchinson started to implement this summer for able-bodied low-income participants of Arkansas' version of Medicaid expansion.
The work requirement requires participants to report on a state website that they worked, attended school or job training, or volunteered at least 80 hours a month.
The Medicaid expansion -- now called Arkansas Works -- uses government money to buy private insurance for about 250,000 low-income people. Most of them are not subject to the work requirement.
Asked how he feels about the Medicaid expansion, Griffin said, "I disagreed with the decision under the last administration [with then-Gov. Mike Beebe] to expand Medicaid under Obamacare due to its unaffordability, and I said that at the time.
"Gov. Hutchinson is working to reform the expansion he inherited because expanding Medicaid under Obamacare put Arkansas between a rock and a hard place by threatening our most vulnerable Arkansans who depend on traditional Medicaid and other priorities such as education and public safety," he said.
The state pays 6 percent of the cost of the program this year, and its share increases to 7 percent next year and then to 10 percent in 2020 under current federal law. The state has projected the state's share of the cost at about $135 million and the federal government's share at $1.95 billion in fiscal 2019 that started July 1.
Bland said he opposes the work requirement in the Medicaid expansion program because "to make a work requirement for something that is not accessible to everyone is unrealistic." He was referring to the need for participants to have access to the Internet to report their status.
He said he supports the Medicaid expansion program because "all citizens should have an opportunity for great health insurance" and shouldn't struggle to have access to prescription drugs and doctors.
Gilbert said he supports the work requirement for Arkansas Works because "I believe it is reasonable and makes exceptions for those unable to work."
But he said he opposes the Medicaid expansion itself because "it is just an improper function of government." He supports ending the program.
Griffin said he opposes abortion except to save the life of the mother or in the case of rape or incest.
Bland said, "I believe that women should have a choice, and it should be their choice."
Gilbert said he opposes abortion except to save the life of the mother.
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