State Representative Ashley Hudson (D-Little Rock, District 75) speaks in response to Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders' Republican response to President Joe Biden's State of the Union Address.

PRESS RELEASE

LITTLE ROCK - State Representative Ashley Hudson (D-Little Rock, District 75) provided the Democratic Party of Arkansas's response to Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders's national televised address. In her speech following President Joe Biden's State of the Union address to a joint session of Congress, Governor Sanders falsely claimed that his administration had fallen short on delivering real solutions and leadership. In fact, President Biden is already making historic investments in Arkansas by delivering over $4 billion for roads, bridges, rebuilt schools, waterways, and broadband. The Biden-Harris administration and Arkansas Democrats at the state legislature are successfully building an economy from the bottom up and middle out, not the top down.

President Biden’s predecessor -- and Governor Sanders's former boss -- passed a nearly $2 trillion unpaid for tax cut with benefits skewed to the wealthy and large corporations, and the deficit went up every single year. Under President Biden, the deficit has fallen by $1.7 trillion, and his reforms to take on Big Pharma, lower prescription drug costs, and make the wealthy and large corporations pay their fair share will reduce the deficit by hundreds of billions more. His administration's $35 a month cap on insulin is saving thousands a year for senior citizens in Arkansas on Medicare.

Below is a portion of Rep. Hudson's remarks concerning the state's public education system. Her full remarks and photo from the event are attached to this email."Currently, Arkansas has the dubious distinction of paying its teachers less than most other southern states," said Rep. Hudson in her remarks. "And, as the pay gets less competitive, we lose great teachers to other states and professions, and we see our kids’ education outcomes suffer. Over time, this slow march of teachers out of the classroom makes our state’s workforce less competitive.

"To solve that problem, Arkansas Democrats recently proposed the RAISE Act, legislation that will give Arkansas teachers a substantial raise and boost their starting salaries to 50,000. We currently have the lowest teacher pay in the South. We also filed legislation to increase pay for our hardworking school staff."

"While some of my Republican colleagues are writing laws to police school bathrooms, regulate drag shows, and ban books they haven’t read but don’t like, Democrats in Arkansas remain focused on making Arkansas the very best place in the country to receive a public education."

A video of her remarks is available here >> https://www.facebook.com/ArkDems/videos/521258213443213