HOT SPRINGS -- Democratic gubernatorial nominee Mike Ross on Thursday proposed a series of priorities that he'll pursue for Arkansas senior citizens, including protecting Medicaid and working to reduce hunger among the elderly.
Ross also said he would encourage the state's attorney general to file a lawsuit against the federal Environmental Protection Agency over its proposed rules reducing carbon dioxide emissions.
Speaking before about 100 people attending a Greater Hot Springs Chamber of Commerce event at the Arlington Hotel, Ross said his "Seniors Bill of Rights" will help guide his efforts.
Seniors have a right to affordable health insurance and to know that Medicaid will be protected, he said.
That's why, he said, he has been a consistent supporter of the state's bipartisan private option program under which the state is using federal Medicaid dollars to purchase private health insurance for low-income Arkansans and why he fought to protect the Medicaid program when he served in Congress.
Ross said 35 percent of the people enrolled in the private option program are older than 45, more than one in seven is older than 55 years old and it's helped cut the number of uninsured Arkansans in half.
He said his administration also would work with state and federal agencies, legislators and nonprofit groups "to tackle senior hunger head-on." He said he would encourage employers to hire elderly Arkansans; work to improve the state's long-term care services for seniors, and work with the attorney general to protect them against those who defraud seniors.
Afterward, a spokesman for Republican gubernatorial candidate Asa Hutchinson called Ross' proposal "more generalities and vague promises."
"If Mike Ross truly cared about Arkansas' seniors, why did he vote for President [Barack] Obama's original health care takeover? He voted for cuts to Medicare, a public option, an individual mandate, an employer mandate and health care exchanges, all of which Arkansans strongly opposed," said Hutchinson spokesman Christian Olson.
Ross repeatedly has said he opposed and attempted to repeal the federal Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act in 2010, which is often called Obamacare.
Three days after Hutchinson called on Arkansas to join a lawsuit challenging proposed carbon dioxide emissions restrictions, Ross said he and Hutchinson share the same position.
The proposed rules would cut these emissions an average of 30 percent across the nation by 2030, but would mean about a 45 percent reduction in Arkansas because of its reliance on coal-fired power plants, the candidates have said.
A dozen states already have filed suit in an attempt to block the proposed restrictions.
"I would encourage the attorney general to file a lawsuit," Ross said in an interview, adding, "I said that on the day that he announced it."
Ross said Monday in his written statement that he pledged "to do everything in my power to stop the overreaching EPA." But he didn't explicitly say he'd encourage the attorney general to sue.
Hutchinson Thursday said that Ross is following his lead.
Ross is a former 4th District congressman, state senator and Nevada County Quorum Court member; Hutchinson is a former 3rd District congressman, federal homeland security undersecretary and director of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.
Metro on 08/08/2014