My Jobs Plan

With three weeks left until the start of early voting, I'm focusing in on my number one priority as your senator, and that's creating new jobs for southwest Arkansas while retaining the jobs and industry that are here.

My plan is based on five broad themes:

(1) I want to continue to maintain a lean and efficient government with a balanced budget that doesn’t require additional taxes from employers;

(2) I want to focus on the needs of small business owners and farmers, which is the engine of our economy in southwest Arkansas;

(3) I want to promote transportation and manufacturing in an effort to make our area a transportation intermodal hub

(4) I want to invest in education, STEM, and vocational training to provide a ready workforce; and

(5) I support the governor’s quick action closing fund, which was used in 2008 to help keep Cooper Tire when we were faced with competing against other U.S. tire plants.

We must build an economy to grow into the 21st century if we want to compete with neighboring states. With this plan in action, we have already seen the construction of the John W. Turk Power Plant in my district, which currently employs over 1,700 jobs. I carried what is now Act 910 through the Arkansas Senate in 2011 for the construction of this plant. These five broad themes are my proposals for a stronger economy for southwest Arkansas, and together, we can continue to make this a better place to live, work, and raise families.