Experienced, or not, the debate in Arkansas House District 28 race

One candidate for the House District 28 seat touts his political experience as a campaign selling point while his opponent says it's his lack of politics that makes him the ideal choice.

Benton City Council member Kerry Murphy, 50, will challenge political newcomer Jasen Kelly, 43, in the May 22 Republican primary election. Both are from Benton.

The District 28 seat -- which includes parts of Saline County -- is now held by Rep. Kim Hammer, R-Benton, who held the House seat for four terms. Hammer has decided to run for the District 33 Senate seat.

In the Nov. 6 general election, the primary winner will face Democrat Dustin Parsons of Benton.

Murphy -- the owner of a promotions company that produces gun sales and shows -- served eight years on the Benton City Council and said that experience will serve his constituents well if he's elected.

Infrastructure, Murphy said, is always an issue and one he faced numerous times as a City Council member.

"You never have enough money to fix the potholes, the creeks, the drainage," Murphy said. "Everybody always wants to build something new and pretty, but you've got to take your money and put it into keeping the city running."

Translated to state level, infrastructure dollars are needed for the highways and roads, Murphy added. To do that, government costs and wastes have to be reduced, he said.

Murphy supports Gov. Asa Hutchinson's initiative, announced in March, to reduce the number of state agencies that report to him from 42 to fewer than 20.

"I'm not about adding a bunch of new laws," Murphy said. "I want to cut back some of the regulations and laws that we have and protect the rights of the citizens."

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Arkansas Democrat-Gazette

A map showing the location of House District 28

Kelly, the chief professional officer of the Boys and Girls Club of Saline County, said his more than 20 years of experience with the organization in a "servant leadership" role makes him an ideal choice to be a state lawmaker.

Kelly said voters should look at his values and passion for helping youths to decide who is the best candidate.

"I'm not a politician. This is me," Kelly said. "The Boys & Girls Club kids is me. Families are me."

In 2014, the Boys and Girls Club of Saline County became the lead agency to represent all clubs in the state.

Kelly said he decided to run for office because of his work with the state's Division of Youth Services through the Boys and Girls Club that sits on the campus of the Alexander juvenile offender lockup.

"I feel like there are better systems out there in place that we can model or get from other states to really take care of the kids that are adjudicated in the state of Arkansas," Kelly said. "I'm real passionate about kids that are locked up."

As a lawmaker, Kelly wants to combine some of the rural Division of Youth Services facilities with the more centrally located ones, making it easier to provide services to pave the youths' successful re-entry to the community and arm them with life skills to keep them out of the system.

"Those kids, they're coming home," Kelly said. "They're not going anywhere else, they're coming home. We have to be better prepared for those students."

Kelly also wants to work on increasing the percentage of Arkansas lottery sales that goes to college scholarships from 25 percent to 35 percent; addressing opioid abuse by state residents; and developing a comprehensive career technical education plan.

MEDICAID EXPANSION

Although Murphy said he would not have initially voted for the state's Medicaid expansion, he is glad that it's here and is helping people in need.

Then-Gov. Mike Beebe authorized the expansion in 2013 to use Medicaid dollars to provide private health insurance for low-income Arkansans who make up to 138 percent of the poverty level.

This year, Hutchinson's request was approved by President Donald Trump for a waiver to impose a work requirement on some of the 280,000 people enrolled in the program, now called Arkansas Works. Participants will have to spend 20 hours a week working, volunteering or taking job training.

Murphy likes the work requirement but said more jobs need to be created to help reduce the number of people on the Medicaid rolls.

"I believe in a helping hand, but not a handout," Murphy said. "Any solution I can find to help reduce that number on there and to help get them off of Medicaid through jobs and the waiver like the governor got, I support."

Kelly said that while he supports the expansion, he is concerned about the income eligibility requirement. It's currently set at 138 percent of the poverty level, and Hutchinson would like to drop the level to 100 percent.

"It's scary. It's one of those issues where there's a financial side to it, but there's also a people side to it," Kelly said. "It's personal for me."

ABORTION ISSUES

Both candidates described themselves as pro-life but are flexible in cases where a mother's life is in danger. Kelly also is flexible in cases of incest or rape.

Murphy takes issue with people who seek abortions based on fetal abnormalities.

"I think that gets into selective," Murphy said. "I know a lot of friends that have kids with Downs or something else, and they're a perfectly fine, loving family."

A strong solution, Kelly said, is teaching pregnancy prevention early. Abstinence is the go-to method at the Boys and Girls Clubs of Saline County, but Kelly said the rest of the state should follow the club's lead in focusing on both boys and girls.

"Why is it so gender specific? Even in a lot of curriculum we read, it's gender specific," Kelly said, adding that abstinence programs "absolutely work, especially when you bring in people who are qualified to teach those courses."

Murphy said reducing adoption costs would help take care of those children who are unwanted by the parents.

"There are a lot of families out there that they can't have kids for whatever reason. They've always talked about the high costs of adoption," Murphy said. "It's cheaper to adopt overseas than in the U.S."

MEDICAL MARIJUANA

Kelly said he's not "sold" on the legalization of medical marijuana in the Natural State, but supports its implementation because it is the will of the people.

Arkansas voters approved a 2016 constitutional amendment legalizing medical marijuana grown and dispensed in the state. The permitting process is being challenged in court.

"It seems like it's a difficult process," Kelly said. "It shouldn't be an easy process, but I don't think it should be a barrier because the people have spoken."

Murphy said he did not vote for the legalization of medical marijuana and has an issue with the state's law conflicting with federal laws prohibiting use and sale of marijuana.

"Even if I disagree with it, I'm going to try to work on a bill that's fair for everybody," Murphy said. "But not for recreational."

He said he's OK with medical use of cannabis, but he prefers that it be consumed in alternative ways to smoking such as in oils or foods.

ENHANCED CARRY

Murphy, who produces gun shows and sales, said the state made a step in the right direction when it passed Act 562 of 2017 to allow people to take concealed weapons onto public university campuses and into other public places if they take an extra eight hours of training.

The extra class time, though, should be tacked on to the original concealed carry class instead of requiring a separate training session, Murphy said.

Kelly said he is adamantly against arming public school teachers. His wife, Jennifer Kelly, is a 20-year schoolteacher.

"She went to school to be a teacher; not a security officer," Kelly said.

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Special to the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette

Jasen Kelly

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Special to the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette

Benton City Council member Kerry Murphy

SundayMonday on 05/14/2018

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Arkansas Democrat-Gazette

A map showing the location of House District 83

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