Jonesboro, AR – (JonesboroRightNow.com) – Oct. 14, 2024 – Candidates for State Senate District 20 met in the ASU-TV studio Thursday to debate education issues, the LEARNS Act, the state budget and more.
This was the final debate between incumbent Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan and Democratic challenger Erika Askeland.
KLEK 102.5 general manager LaGanzie Kale, KASU reporter Rebecca Robinson and The Herald editor-in-chief Jerry Don Burton moderated.
The candidates were asked what they would do to combat increasing housing costs in Arkansas.
Askeland said she would work to implement an incentive for first-time homebuyers, as well as improve renters’ rights.
“We already have no renters’ rights that can be spoken of in our state, and that is abysmal,” she said. “It takes so much to be able to purchase that first home, we need to incentivize that. We’re looking at college students and saying we need to give them a leg up, but then they get out and they’re facing $1,200 to $1,300 a month in rent.”
Sullivan responded by asking where the money would come from with such an initiative and said creating jobs in the area would solve the issue.
“We get more jobs, which A-State is working toward, more high-paying jobs and make it affordable. It’s just not affordable now because of inflation,” he said. “What’s attracting people is our jobs, the high-paying jobs just like the steel mills.”
The two were asked what they would prioritize in balancing the state budget. Arkansas has a biennial budget, meaning a new budget is passed every other year. For the 2025 fiscal year, Arkansas allocated over $2.4 billion toward public primary and secondary schools.
Askeland said she would work to stop “the bleeding immediately whenever it comes to us funneling tax dollars into private schools,” regarding education freedom accounts.
Education freedom accounts allow eligible families to cover private school tuition fees, uniforms, and some other required expenses up to $6,856 for the 2024-2025 school year.
“We’re funneling that money into [education freedom accounts] to where they have no way to get the funds to the people in a consistent manner,” Askeland said. “At this point, there are so many [families] that are jumping on the bandwagon to receive the [money]. Families are unable to make the purchases that are needed for these children’s education and wait for the reimbursement to come through.”
Sullivan responded that “the legislature has made a commitment that we’re going to fund the LEARNS Act piece a time.” He then questioned why parents were taking their kids out of public schools and enrolling them in private schools.
“The answer has to be folks don’t think they’re getting the bang for the buck they deserve,” Sullivan said. “It’s because people want to make a decision on their own.”
The candidates took a question about what they would do to combat climate change and encourage sustainability efforts.
Both said they wanted to speak with local farmers about how to best approach sustainability efforts. Askeland added she wanted to incentivize companies to make climate-friendly changes, such as investing in electric vehicles and renewable energy. Sullivan responded by asking where the money for these incentives would come from.
Toward the end of the debate, the two were asked what they would do to combat homelessness.
Sullivan said bringing in businesses would create jobs and combat homelessness. He cited Jonesboro Cycle & ATV as an example of this. In 2022, it purchased a 100,000-square-foot manufacturing building in Bono and refurbished it into a new dealership.
“Bono was really struggling and then one of the largest businesses that opened out there selling ATVs, they changed their trajectory of Bono forever by moving out there,” he said. “They almost matched in property taxes what all the rest of the community did.”
He continued that this caused people to move and new businesses to open in the town.
Askeland said she wanted to have “further conversations” with the Jonesboro and Bono mayors and county leadership to get their ideas. She added that tax surpluses could be used to fund homeless shelters.
“We have a surplus in our state that could be used, rather than tax breaks and giving these subsidies for private school education, where we could have shelters that could offer housing for people while they’re going through traumatic times,” she said.
Watch the full debate here.
The final ASU-TV debate will be Oct. 17 at 6 p.m. and will be between the four Jonesboro mayoral candidates.