Republicans Ed Mills, Mike Wilson And Regina Webb "Debate" In 38Th Senatorial District Race. Read More Below.

Mike Wilson (from left), Regina Webb and Ed Mills, Republican candidates competing for the state Senate’s 32nd District seat, participate in a debate Thursday at Western Kentucky’s Downing University Center.

On common ground
Economic woes a focus in Republican state Senate debate
By ROBYN L. MINOR

The possibility of eliminating the state income tax was floated first by one Republican candidate for the 32nd District Senate seat and then a second.

Ed Mills was first to bring the idea up during a friendly debate Thursday at Western Kentucky University. He was followed by Regina Webb.

Mills’ response came when he was asked what he would do to combat the state’s high unemployment rate. Mills also said he had a 10-point plan to increase wealth in the state by buying local and ensuring that the state contracted as much as possible with companies within its borders.

“Eighty-five percent of the dollars spent on those contracts with state companies would remain here,” he said.

If outside goods and services are contracted for, just 15 percent remains in the state, he said.

Webb said she wanted to lower income taxes and later said she might also favor eliminating the income tax.

“When companies want to locate somewhere, they are looking for lower taxes,” she said.

Mike Wilson didn’t broach the income tax elimination.

“The big thing is removing the barriers for the companies who want to locate here,” he said. “Eighty percent of companies looking to locate somewhere rule us out because we are not a right to work state.”

Wilson pledged to sponsor such legislation.

Webb, owner of Regina Webb Spa and Salon; Wilson, general manager of Christian radio WCVK; and Mills, retired from General Motors and one of the co-founders of Hitcents; are vying to battle Democrat incumbent Mike Reynolds in the November election. The primary is May 18.

When asked Thursday if state budget problems were a spending or revenue issue, Webb said it was wasteful spending.

As an appointee by former Gov. Ernie Fletcher to the state Board of Cosmetology, Webb said she saw firsthand “all the wasteful spending that goes on in Frankfort.”

Wilson also thinks the state spends too much.

The Senate did the heavy lifting on the budget by blocking the money House Democrats wanted to spend on school projects in their districts, he said.

“But if the revenue is not coming in ... you need to live on a budget,” he said.

But Mills said the state needs to focus on increasing jobs that ultimately would create more wealth and revenue in the state.

“Two billion deficit (over two years) is too much to overcome by eliminating wasteful spending,” he said.

On expanding gambling, all three candidates said voters should decide the issue by voting for or against a constitutional amendment.

Only Wilson expressed a personal opinion about expanding gaming - he’s against it.

Wilson said Mississippi has found the costs of gambling are far greater than any revenue it brings in.

“And they still had to raise taxes,” he said.

Mills said if sent to Frankfort, he would decide on business issues and leave such social-related issues to the voters.

In regard to further reforms they’d like to see in education, Mills said Kentucky missed its chance for federal Race to the Top dollars because it did not have charter schools. If it had them, Kentucky would have scored higher than Tennessee and gotten the $100 million that state recently received.

Webb said Kentucky should pay its teachers more.

“If we raise the pay, we can attract people who have more heart into it,” she said.

Wilson said education reforms on both the state and federal level have saddled teachers with too much paperwork.

“If we free them up of some of that, they can have more of an impact on students,” he said.

Wilson said eliminating prevailing wage on state projects could free up as much as $130 million in a budget that could be spent in education.

When asked if lawmakers should cap university tuition, Wilson and Mills were adamantly opposed to it.

Webb was less decisive, saying the issue was something she needed to study.

When asked, aside from jobs, what was the most important issue he or she would focus on, Mills said education; Webb said lower taxes; and Wilson said finding ways for the state to deal with the $300 million annually of unfunded mandates created by health care reform.

Thursday’s debate was sponsored by Western Kentucky University Student Government Association and the Political Engagement Project and was moderated by Barb Deeb, a producer and host for WKYU-TV.