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HALTER WILL ESTABLISH A '529-PLUS' PROGRAM

MAKE ARKANSAS #1 REGIONALLY IN NEED-BASED SCHOLARSHIPS

HALTER WILL OFFER 'TEACHER SCHOLAR' PROGRAM

MAKE OUR SCHOOLS EXCELLENT, NOT ADEQUATE

ATTRACT AND BUILD NEW AND BETTER-PAYING JOBS

MINIMUM WAGE-HIKE TIED TO INFLATION IS LONG-OVERDUE

PUTTING THE INTERESTS OF ARKANSAS PEOPLE FIRST

PUTTING LOAN SHARKS OUT-OF-BUSINESS: ENDING 300% PAY DAY LOANS 

TAXES

TRANSPORTATION BOND BALLOT QUESTION

EDUCATION BOND BALLOT QUESTION

MORE COMING SOON!

HALTER WILL ESTABLISH A ‘529-PLUS’ PLAN
New ‘Arkansas Excellence Plan’ Program Offers a Matching-Grant to Help Parents Invest in their Child’s Education

North Little Rock – Unveiling the latest plank of his Arkansas Excellence Plan, Democratic candidate for Lt. Governor Bill Halter today introduced a new “529-PLUS” program which will provide matching grants for many Arkansas parents who are planning and saving for a child’s future higher-education.

When implemented, Halter’s 529-PLUS program would be one of the nation’s most beneficial 529 college savings plans.  Currently, seven other states -- Louisiana, Colorado, Utah, Rhode Island, Minnesota, Michigan, Maine -- have a fully-operational 529 plan with a matching component.  None of those states offer a matching grant as rewarding as Halter’s program will offer.  The cost of the plan would be $575,000 per year.

Currently, the state’s 529 Plan allows Arkansans to open a tax-deferred investment account – similar to a 401K or an IRA – to save for a Arkansas college education.  The 529 also allows up to a $5,000 tax deduction dependent upon how much money is deposited into an account by the participant.  But it does not offer a matching grant.

“A matching-grant will offer many Arkansas families the ability to make a sound investment into a child’s future higher-education,” remarked Halter.  “Some families will receive three dollars matching grant for every one dollar they save.  That’s a pretty good opportunity to help folks achieve the dream of seeing their children or grandchildren achieve a higher-education and go on to lead a more prosperous life.”

529-PLUS Program

Bill Halter’s 529-PLUS Plan takes the state’s current 529 college savings plan and creates an inclusive matching grant to low and middle income individuals.

The 529-PLUS program provides a new matching grant to low and middle income families to save for a future college education.  The amount of the matching grant is dependent upon a family’s income.

The plan provides the following match schedule based upon an investment of $500:
 

Household Income                 match amount             maximum match each year

$40,001 - $60,000                   1:1                                                       $500
$20,001 - $40,000                   2:1                                                       $1000
$20,000 and below                  3:1                                                       $1500

HALTER'S 'Arkansas Excellence Plan' WILL MAKE ARKANSAS #1 REGIONALLY IN NEED-BASED SCHOLARSHIPS

Arkansas will be Top 20 in the Nation by Year 5 of Halter Plan

North Little Rock – Democratic candidate for Lt. Governor Bill Halter today announced that he will make Arkansas tops in the region at providing need-based scholarships and catapult the state into the top 20 among all states in the nation within five years.

Speaking before a group of Pulaski Tech students and faculty here, Halter also announced his plan to expand the "Career-Pathways" program to all 22 state community colleges.

●Increasing Need-Based Scholarships

"We must provide more opportunity for those who can't afford a higher education," said Halter.  "The state's Academic Challenge is a wonderful need-based scholarship program that deserves to be expanded so more people are eligible."

Halter said his 'Arkansas Excellence Plan' will offer an additional $10 million per year by Year 5.  Year One will offer $2.5 million in additional scholarship money; Year Two, $2.5 million; Year Three, $5 million; Year 4, $5 million.  Arkansas will be tops in the southern region of the country for need-based scholarships the first year it offers $2.5 million.

"Education is the key to a better, more prosperous future for all Arkansans," said Halter.  "A higher-education opens the door to higher-paying jobs and a better quality of life.   And a better educated workforce helps us attract new and better paying jobs while also strengthening our economy."

●Expand the Career Pathways from 11 to all 22 Arkansas community colleges

"The Career Pathways program is a successful idea that deserves to be expanded to all Arkansas community colleges," said Halter, who also noted that the program was supported by Democrats and Republicans alike.

Halter announced he would double the Career Pathways program to cover all Arkansas community colleges.  Currently funded at $8 million per year, Halter would fund the program at $16 million per year. Funding for Halter's program expansion would be paid for by the federal block grant know as Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF).

"We have thousands of Arkansans trying to provide for themselves and their families a brighter future," said Arkansas.  "We can help empower people by removing some of the everyday obstacles they face, such as transportation and childcare.  Career Pathways is a wonderful program that helps do just that."

Arkansas Career Pathways provides services including financial aid, child care and transportation stipends to more than 750 adults. In addition to lowering the college price tag, Career Pathways offers counseling to help parents thrive in the college scene and tackle obstacles that have kept them away from it.

HALTER WILL OFFER 'TEACHER SCHOLARS' PROGRAM

'Arkansas Excellence Plan' Offers Arkansas Teachers Incentive to Become More Highly Qualified

North Little Rock – Democratic candidate for Lt. Governor Bill Halter - who last week unveiled majors planks of his 'Arkansas Excellence Plan'– today announced another new initiative as part of his plan to attain educational excellence and build and attract new and better-paying jobs.

The 'Teacher Scholars Program' will offer as many as 600 Arkansas public school teachers each year the opportunity to enroll in a Master's Degree program within an Arkansas state college or university and have half of their tuition reimbursed.  As many as 150 additional teachers who teach in 'High Priority' or economically distressed areas will be eligible to have the full-cost of their tuition reimbursed.

"The 'Teacher Scholars Program' will encourage some existing teachers to become even more highly-skilled at teaching our children," remarked Halter. "It will also be an incentive to attract teachers into our state and to attract more into our high-priority, economically distressed school districts."

The approximate average tuition cost for a Master's Degree program in an Arkansas state college or university is $4,000 per year.  With full participation in the 'Teacher Scholars Program' its costs would be at most $1.8M for the first year and $3.6M each year thereafter.

Currently, the state's Department of Education offers a limited number of grants aimed at helping minorities achieve teacher certification or enter into a Master's Degree program.   In addition, the state offers a "Teacher and Administrator Grant Program" that reimburses a limited number of Arkansas teachers and administrators for up to only three hours of coursework.  But no current state plan comes close to Halter's initiative to help teachers enhance their own skills and to encourage more highly qualified teachers to teach in economically-distressed areas.

"Last week I announced important initiatives to help make our schools excellent, rather than just adequate," said Halter.  "My 'Arkansas Excellence Plan' will put our state on the pathway toward taking average teacher pay from 37th among all states to within the top 20. It will also encourage more students to become teachers, especially in subject areas and school districts where teachers are critically needed."

Halter recently announced that his 'Arkansas Excellence Plan' included a $5,000 pay-raise phased in over five years and financial bonuses for teachers who teach in economically distressed, 'high-priority' school districts.  Tuition reimbursement incentives for students who graduate from an Arkansas state college or university and then teach in an Arkansas public school were also released as part of Halter's plan.

"With new thinking and ideas, we can encourage more people to teach in Arkansas and increase the number of highly qualified teachers in our schools across the entire state," Halter said.

Halter brings his campaign and 'Arkansas Excellence Plan' to northwest Arkansas early this week with stops in Fort Smith and Fayetteville. On Monday and Tuesday alone, Halter will deliver speeches to the Northwest Political Animals Club, Washington County Democrats, Northwest Arkansas Senior Democrats, and the University of Arkansas Young Democrats.  He will also visit the Genesis Business Incubator at the University of Arkansas.

MAKE OUR SCHOOLS EXCELLENT, NOT ADEQUATE

Halter Calls for Lottery to Fund Education:
● raise teacher pay
● provide tuition scholarships
● pre-kindergarten available to all Arkansas children
● without raising taxes

“As Lt. Governor, I would pursue excellence rather than settle for adequacy in our schools -- without raising new taxes,” said Halter.  “First, we must re-examine how our schools are spending our education dollars and make sure money isn’t being wasted or misused in a way that clearly does not benefit our children.  Second, I would end the pork barrel expenditures that totaled over fifty million dollars last year.  Third, our current budget surplus can provide funds for education investments.   And fourth, we should enact an education lottery to make another significant investment in making our schools excellent rather than just adequate.”

Halter’s lottery proposal would not be tied to any other new form of gambling and would first need to be approved by a vote of the people.  Halter supports legalized charitable bingo.  The lottery funds would not replace existing education spending but would increase baseline levels.

“We need to raise our teacher pay, we need more scholarships for Arkansas students to attend our state universities and colleges, and we need pre-kindergarten programs available to every child,” Halter continued.  “Education is the key to better opportunities for all Arkansans. Excellence in education will help us overcome some of our most pressing problems.” 

“I want to make sure children today in Arkansas have the same opportunities I had, but if we continue to settle for a merely adequate education system, then we’re going to handicap our children,” said Halter.  “Every hard-working parent in this state should know their children are in excellent schools, not just adequate schools.  And when they grow up, those children won’t have to leave Arkansas to find success because we will build and bring great-paying jobs here.”

ATTRACT AND BUILD NEW AND BETTER-PAYING JOBS

“Rapidly growing areas around the country have sprung up around first rate research universities.  A key to attracting and creating great jobs in Arkansas is further strengthening our universities, colleges and community colleges.

“We also need our fair share of federal funding.   Today Arkansas is dead last among all the states in per capita federal research and development spending.  If we were at the national average in federal R & D dollars Arkansas would receive $500 million more dollars per year or $5 billion over a decade.  These funds would strengthen our research universities and help us build the jobs of the 21st Century in Arkansas. Jobs that would pay two and three times the average Arkansas salary today.”

MINIMUM WAGE-HIKE TIED TO INFLATION IS LONG-OVERDUE
Halter Endorses “Give Arkansas A Raise Now” (GARN) and Collects Signatures

Little Rock – Democrat Bill Halter, who just returned from his wedding last weekend, today returned to the campaign trail to fulfill his first campaign promise: to gather signatures in support of the recently approved ballot initiative petition to raise the minimum wage.

Halter, joined by Steve Copley -- chair of Give Arkansas A Raise Now (GARN) -- gathered signatures this afternoon here at the city’s historic River Market area.  Halter’s first campaign promise was to collect signatures for the effort to raise the state’s minimum wage saying the hike in wages was “long overdue.”

“The last time the minimum wage was increased was in 1996 and 1997,” said Halter.  “Since that time inflation has eroded the value of those wages. We need to make sure working men and women have better opportunities to support their families. This first step, along with other policy initiatives, will help.”

“I am delighted to be part of this effort,” continued Halter.  “I am very hopeful that with Steve Copley’s leadership and his coalition, along with the help of other Arkansans, that we can get this proposed amendment on the ballot and passed.”

Halter said over the course of the campaign he will release a package of initiatives designed to lift incomes in Arkansas by striving for excellence, rather than adequacy in our schools and by building and attracting new and better paying jobs to the state.

“Sadly, many of the special interests are satisfied to keep wages low in Arkansas, including the minimum wage.  Well, I’m not afraid to tell you I support an immediate increase of one dollar an hour in Arkansas’ minimum wage, and I would index it so that its value is not undercut by inflation in future years.” 

PUTTING THE INTERESTS OF ARKANSAS PEOPLE FIRST

“I know the special interest lobbyists aren’t going to just roll over when I’m elected Lt. Governor.  I know what I’ll be up against.  But it’s time we restore the public’s confidence that their interests come first.  It’s time for a complete overhaul of our government ethics laws in Arkansas.”

“When I’m elected Lt. governor, I intend to tell the special interest lobbyists to fold up their wallets and put their checks away. Influence should no longer be for sale here in Arkansas.  It’s time to ban all campaign contributions from lobbyists or their PACs.  Second, it’s time to require all retiring members of the state legislature to wait at least two years before becoming lobbyists.  Third, it’s time to ban all travel paid for by lobbyists.  With reforms like these we achieve the kind of results our citizens deserve and expect from their state government.”
Helping Empower Parents to Gain More Control Over Media and their Children

“Another way we’ve been failing working people is not helping parents meet the challenges they face today.  More two-income families, longer commutes, and the explosion of the internet and exploitive television programming make it more and more difficult for parents to protect their children.” 

“We can help them in a number of ways with more and better after-school programs, facilitating more parental involvement at their children’s schools, establishing a uniform ratings guide for many forms of entertainment, making it easier to identify and block children’s access to pornographic web sites, and prohibiting the sale of extremely violent and sexually explicit video games to children under the age of 18.”

PUTTING LOAN SHARKS OUT-OF-BUSINESS: ENDING 300% PAY DAY LOANS 

"Why are we allowing the legalized loan sharks known as payday lenders to charge interest rates of up to 300 percent when somebody needs help for a few days before they get their paycheck?  It’s one of the worst forms of exploitation imaginable and it should be outlawed.”

TAXES

From NWA News – 10/30/2005

In describing his philosophy of taxation, Halter also stressed fairness, competitiveness and economic growth. He added that, in his view, his professional experience with the Social Security Administration has made him sensitive to the needs of middle-class Arkansans. "First, obviously, more details will be forthcoming in the event of an announcement to run. I think we need to be concerned about the fairness of taxes. We have unfortunately had a situation, in recent years, where the middle-class is paying more and more of the tax burden. And that’s something that we need, in proposals to change taxation, to be mindful of. I think fairness is an important part of what we need to address.

"And, we also need to make sure that we, as a state, are competitive with surrounding states, and that we are pursuing a tax policy that puts us in a position to add jobs in the state’s economy and to add high-paying jobs in the state’s economy. "If you look at my background, I fought very hard to make sure that any changes to the Social Security system were fair to middle class Americans. And it would be the same for me as lt. governor: I would fight hard to make sure that any tax changes are fair to the middle class in Arkansas," Halter said.

That awareness of the middle class will shape his tax policies if he’s elected lt. governor, Halter said. "It’s early in the race. There will be proposals out there. I just want to ensure that, whatever we do with the tax code, that we focus on making it more fair for the middle class and not to have changes that result in special interests or a few very wealthy individuals paying less than their fair share while the middle class has to bear the burden.

" I think that’s my overriding philosophy, and at the same time to ensure that we have a tax system that is competitive and that puts Arkansas in a position, vis a vis other states, where we are well-positioned to attract jobs and capitol to the state, so we can have higher incomes for all Arkansans, "he said.

His opponents are not providing specific details of their proposals so it’s hard to tell exactly how his approach to tax policy might differ from that of Beebe or Hutchinson, Halter said.

" I haven’t seen any specific proposals from them, " he said.

HALTER OPPOSES TRANSPORTATION BOND BALLOT QUESTION #1

Question 1, if approved, would empower Arkansas’ Highway Commission to keep up to $575 million in bonds issued at any time for the improvement of interstate highways.  Arkansans would no longer be allowed to vote on new transportation bonds.
“Without question, the current highway bond program approved by voters in 1999 has been an improvement over a pay-as-you-go system. Many people have already seen a noticeable difference in some of our state’s roads.  I believe we should continue to have the capital available to make necessary improvements. But I think we got it right, then – there was a need and average Arkansans authorized the bonds necessary to make it happen.

“This bond proposal is a close call, but it seems only reasonable that Arkansans should not rush in to the ballot box and approve a measure that still has many unanswered questions and will take the power of accountability out of their own hands.  I don’t see an urgent need or reason that justifies taking the power of the bond purse strings away from average Arkansans.  We got it right in 1999.  There is no reason why voters can’t continue to get it right with future bond authorization votes.”

“The cost of taking bond authorization power away from the people could cost us a lot more than the cost of a special election.”

HALTER SUPPORTS EDUCATION BOND BALLOT QUESTION #2

The education bond issue is Question One on the December 13th statewide ballot.  If passed, it would approve $250 million in new bonds to be divided among the state’s two- and four-year universities as well as the University for Medical Sciences.  Some of the bond money will be used to retire previous bonded indebtedness.
“We must fulfill our commitment to higher education in Arkansas because it is vital for making our economic engine run stronger.  A robust higher education system in Arkansas means a better-trained workforce which will help attract new jobs to our state.

“Investing in higher education is also investing in our future leaders, our future new small business owners, researchers and scientists.  I hope my fellow Arkansans will join me on December 13th and make an investment into our state’s economic future as well as our children and grandchildren’s future.”