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LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — How Arkansas' candidates for governor vary or agree on issues in advance of the 2014 primary
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REPUBLICANS:
Former congressman Asa Hutchinson has said he wants to gradually reduce individual income taxes, starting with a $100 million cut for middle class workers in his first year if elected. Businessman Curtis Coleman has proposed a broader series of tax cuts, with a plan to cut indvidual income taxes by $2.3 billion over eight years.
Hutchinson's education plan includes expanded teaching of computer science in public schools, while Coleman has called for the repeal of the 2004 law requiring the consolidation of smaller school districts.
Hutchinson has said Arkansas "private option" Medicaid plan should be reviewed for its effectiveness and either dropped or changed if warranted. Coleman opposes the plan.
DEMOCRATS:
Former congressman Mike Ross has proposed cutting individual income taxes by $575 million, but has stopped short of giving a specific timetable and says he'd make the reductions as the state budget would allow. Bryant said she's not proposing any tax cuts in her bid for governor.
Saying he wants to the "education governor," Ross has also proposed making pre-kindergarten available to every 4-year-old in the state, a plan that he says eventually would cost an additional $37.4 million a year. Bryant says she'd ask voters to approve a constitutional amendment making pre-kindergarten free for every 4-year-old in the state, but said she didn't know how much such a plan would cost the state.
Ross is a supporter of the private option and says he'll push for its reauthorization if elected governor. Bryant said she supports the private option, but would be willing to look at any alternatives by Republican opponents of the program.
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