In District 19, private option separates foes

McLean faces Collins-Smith in race for state Senate seat

Linda Collins Smith 140063
Linda Collins Smith 140063

In a contentious battle in Senate District 19, state Rep. James McLean, D-Batesville, and former Rep. Linda Collins-Smith, R-Pocahontas, disagree on the state's private-option health insurance program for low-income Arkansans and on Common Core education standards in Arkansas.

McLean describes Collins-Smith as "pretty much being married to an extreme point of view" and talking about "Tea Party things that don't amount to a hill of beans."

Collins-Smith counters that she's "just conservative," and that her Democratic opponent is grasping at straws, adding that she wants to help create "jobs, jobs, jobs."

The race has been spiced up by House Speaker Davy Carter, R-Cabot, who recently endorsed McLean -- a move that state Republican Party Chairman Doyle Webb of Benton disagreed with on Friday.

The seat is now held by state Sen. David Wyatt, D-Batesville, who defeated Collins-Smith with 15,442 votes to her 14,716 votes in the 2012 general election. Wyatt has decided not to run for re-election.

District 19 includes Independence, Izard and Sharp counties and parts of Fulton and Randolph counties.

McLean, 44, has served in the state House of Representatives since 2009 and has been chairman of the House Education Committee since 2013.

He previously served on the Independence County Quorum Court from 2005-09. He is a funeral director for Roller Funeral Homes in Batesville.

Collins-Smith, 52, served in the state House of Representatives from 2011-13. She was on the state Ethics Commission from November 2008 through July 2009.

In August 2011, Collins-Smith announced that she was switching from the Democratic Party to the Republican Party because the state Democratic Party had become more liberal, and "I have not changed." At the time, Collins-Smith had donated money to Republicans on the federal level, according to the Federal Election Commission.

Collins-Smith owns Days Inn & Suites Hotel in Pocahontas and the Rock & Roll Highway 67 Inn in Pocahontas, as well as various rental properties.

Carter appointed McLean as chairman of the House Education Committee last year. McLean said Carter's endorsement in the Senate race shows that he works well with both political parties.

But Collins-Smith noted that Carter was elected House speaker in November 2012 over state Rep. Terry Rice, R-Waldon, with the support of House Democrats and a band of House Republicans, and that Carter supports the private option.

Webb said he disagrees with Carter's endorsement of McLean, saying Republicans overwhelmingly support Collins-Smith. But Carter said his endorsement "has more to do with McLean than her," adding that McLean supported legislative initiatives with Carter that other House Democrats opposed.

McLean said voters should cast their ballots for him instead of Collins-Smith because "to me, public service has never been about politics or a particular political philosophy."

"I want to help people solve problems and be a resource for people," he said. "Being in the Legislature has allowed me to do that."

Collins-Smith said voters should select her over McLean because "I am the right person," and that she'll "keep all the people in mind and not [just] a select few" when she's in the state Senate.

"I would never vote for Obamacare in Arkansas," she said.

McLean has voted for it several times during the past two years, Collins-Smith said, referring to the private option that uses federal Medicaid funds to purchase private health insurance for low-income Arkansans.

The expansion of the Medicaid program, approved by the Legislature last year, extends coverage to adults with incomes of up to 138 percent of the poverty level -- $16,105 for an individual or $32,913 for a family of four. More than 170,000 Arkansans have enrolled in private health insurance through the program.

The state will be required to start paying 5 percent of the program's cost starting in fiscal 2017, gradually increasing to 10 percent of the cost in fiscal 2020.

Opponents of the private option often call it "Obamacare" because funding was made possible by the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010. Supporters maintain that it's not "Obamacare" because it was created by Arkansans and because the state obtained waivers from the federal government to offer it.

Collins-Smith said the private option "is taking people who are able-bodied and putting them on Medicaid," and its "cost is just out of control."

"I would vote to end it. No matter what you call it, it is Obamacare," she said.

McLean said he would "absolutely" vote to reauthorize funding for the private-option program, and there would be "no rural health care" in Arkansas if the private option is eliminated.

McLean said a vote against the private option "will cripple" the largest employer in Independence County -- White River Medical Center in Batesville.

He said Collins-Smith "wants to shut down rural health care in Arkansas by crippling small hospitals. ... She is going to vote against the private option on Day One, and that will effectively end rural health care."

Collins-Smith said it is "just a flat-out lie" that she wants to end rural health care in Arkansas.

"That is just a flat-out diversion to what he voted for," the largest expansion of state government in the state's history and "a bureaucratic mess," Collins-Smith said. She said she hasn't done anything to hurt rural hospitals.

"You can say all day long that you care about the people, but when you tell people there is only one industry that is funded by Obamacare, you've got a problem," Collins-Smith said.

The Arkansas Board of Education in July 2010 adopted the Common Core State Standards in mathematics and English/language arts, putting Arkansas among more than 40 states and the District of Columbia to all adopt the same set of standards.

The new standards replaced Arkansas' old standards over three years' time, starting in kindergarten-through-second grades in the 2011-12 school year and finishing this year in grades nine through 12. Three states, including Oklahoma, have repealed those standards.

McLean said the Common Core standards are confusing to parents, students and teachers, but he doesn't favor repealing them. Having high standards in the public schools is a good idea in theory, but their implementation has been poor, he said.

"It needs to be fixed, and there are some implementation issues that need to be addressed," McLean said, adding there hasn't been much communication about the goals of Common Core standards.

Collins-Smith said she would "probably vote to repeal Common Core because it is so disliked.

"I don't support Common Core at all," she said.

Collins-Smith said she wants to continue her research on the Common Core standards.

"Today I do not believe that Common Core curriculum is what we should stay with. I believe we can do better than that."

McLean said he's "a supporter of the pro-life cause," and voted for bills last year to ban most abortions after 12 weeks of pregnancy and to ban most abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy.

He said he didn't vote to override Democratic Gov. Mike Beebe's vetoes of the bills because "there were already more than enough votes to override the veto," and he didn't want to do anything that would damage his good relationship with the governor.

Beebe vetoed the bills, contending that they were unconstitutional. A federal judge has ruled that the 12-week ban law is unconstitutional, and the state has appealed the judge's ruling.

Collins-Smith said McLean "is pro-life when it's convenient. ... You can't claim you are pro life if you don't vote [to override Beebe's vetoes of those bills]."

McLean said he opposes abortion, except to save the life of the mother or in cases of rape or incest. Collins-Smith said she opposes abortion, except to save the life of the mother.

McLean said he also wants to work on cutting income taxes for middle-income families, helping to get powerful broadband access to rural schools in Arkansas and expanding technical training in the public schools.

Collins-Smith said she wants to cut taxes, such as individual income taxes, and "do something that actually puts people back to work." She said she also wants to push to provide more job training geared to private industry's needs.

Metro on 09/23/2014

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