State Rep. Terry Rice of Waldron is challenging state Sen. Bruce Holland of Greenwood for the Senate District 9 seat.
Both men are Republicans. There are no other candidates in the race, so the winner of the May 20 primary election will be the district's next senator.
Holland, a cattleman and rancher, has held the seat since 2011.
Rice, who has served in the House of Representatives since 2009, is term-limited and can't run for re-election in that chamber. Rice owns Rice Furniture and Appliance Inc. in Waldron and Heavener, Okla.
Holland said the two men generally get along well.
"I bought a freezer off of him back in September from his furniture store," Holland said. "Everything went well in that transaction."
Rice said he donated to Holland's campaign two years ago.
"I donated to Sen. Holland because he was espousing and had brochures out that he was fighting Obamacare," said Rice, referring to the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010.
The candidates differ over one issue in particular: Arkansas' "private-option" Medicaid expansion.
Holland voted for it in the Senate. Rice voted against it in the House.
The private-option program uses federal funds to purchase private health insurance for low-income Arkansans.
Last year, the federal government agreed to pay 100 percent of the cost of the private option for three years. The amount approved for fiscal 2015, which begins July 1, is $915 million.
Under the plan, in 2017, the state would be expected to pay 5 percent of the cost, or $45.75 million, if the total expenditure remains at $915 million. The state's share would grow to 6 percent in 2018, 7 percent in 2019 and cap at 10 percent, or $91.5 million, in 2020, assuming the total remains the same.
Opponents argue the amount could be more than that.
Supporters say the private option will generate economic activity and increase state tax revenue. When those things are taken into consideration, the net cost of the program would be much less, according to a study by Arizona-based Optumas.
"I believe it was the right thing to do for the folks in Arkansas," Holland said. "It wasn't a great alternative. Expanding Medicaid was a bad option. Doing nothing was a bad option because of its impact on small businesses. I believe the Legislature came up with the best solution with the information we had."
Rice thinks the private option will be a bad deal for Arkansas in the long run.
"The state of Arkansas has aligned ourselves with an unfaithful partner, that being the federal government," he said. "We have signed up for federal dollars that have been committed. There is not a sustaining revenue flow for this. ... When you put off the pain just to get the people signed up, that to me is like teaser rates. But there are other things coming in the fine print. If Obamacare collapses, this will collapse."
Holland said Rice has been telling voters that Holland voted for the Affordable Care Act.
"That's very misleading to folks," said Holland. "Obamacare was federal law, not state law. ... The voters aren't that dense. They understand Obamacare is a federal law."
Opponents of the private option often call it Obamacare because funding was made possible by the Affordable Care Act. Supporters maintain it's not Obamacare because it was created by Arkansans and the state obtained waivers from the federal government for the program.
"[Holland] campaigned last time on opposing Obamacare," Rice said.
"Those on both sides will explain that it is Obamacare Medicaid expansion," he said of the private option. "It's Obamacare dollars."
This primary is one of numerous Republican primaries for statewide and legislative seats in which the private option will be a key issue. The issue deeply divided Republicans in the Legislature in the 2013 and 2014 sessions.
"We have put in the largest expansion of Arkansas government in its history with the private option," Rice said.
Holland said Arkansas' private option already seems to be providing some financial relief to hospitals. People began signing up for the state's private-option program Oct. 1.
"From what I'm hearing, hospitals are getting less uncompensated care already," said Holland.
Besides the private option, the candidates also have touted their records regarding guns.
The National Rifle Association gave both men an A rating, meaning the group believes each is "solidly pro-gun," according to its website.
Holland said he got a better rating than Rice on gun rights from the Advance Arkansas Institute, a nonprofit research group "committed to advancing public policy based on free markets, individual liberty and limited, transparent government," according to its website.
The institute rated Holland 100 percent and Rice 71 percent.
Holland noted that the two men were voting on different bills in the House and Senate.
"Whatever gun bills came through the Senate, I voted in favor of," Holland said. "A 71 compared to a 100 is still a C-minus."
Rice said he has a solid record on Second Amendment rights. Rice said he has a concealed-carry permit and is a member of the National Rifle Association.
"He's comparing apples and oranges," Rice said. "Those were not the same votes on the Senate end and House end."
Rice said the institute's rating on gun rights concerned eight bills during the 2013 session, six of which went before both chambers of the Legislature. Rice said he refrained from voting on two of those bills because they came up late in the session and weren't adequately explained.
"The two I didn't vote on ... were put up right at the end, and to me take away from Second Amendment rights," said Rice.
He said many legislators had concerns that one of those, House Bill 1284, might conflict with existing laws.
HB1284 would have changed Arkansas Code Annotated 5-73-306(16), allowing churches charitable immunity "with respect to injury or death caused by a handgun on the premises," whether or not church officials allowed concealed handguns on the property. Under the bill, churches wouldn't be vicariously liable for the actions of a person with a handgun on church property.
HB1284 passed 52 to 21 in the House, with 27 members not voting. The bill died in the Senate Judiciary Committee at the close of the 2013 legislative session.
"There were a lot of question marks in people's minds as to what they were trying to do," he said.
Senate District 9 includes Scott County and parts of Crawford, Franklin and Sebastian counties.
Metro on 05/08/2014