Issues ranging from abortion to wastewater systems were part of a 3rd Congressional District debate Monday (Oct. 17) in which U.S. Rep. Steve Womack, R-Rogers, said he would support a nationwide abortion ban if it included “certain exemptions.”
Womack, the incumbent in the race who is seeking his seventh term in the U.S. House of Representatives, faced Libertarian Michael Kalagias and Democrat Lauren Mallett-Hays in Monday’s debate televised by Arkansas PBS and moderated by Steve Barnes.
The first question to the candidates was about infrastructure spending in the 3rd District. Womack, noting that about 30 people a day are moving into Northwest Arkansas, said regions in the district have passed taxes and taken other actions to address such needs, but “a federal partner is going to be necessary” for big projects like a bridge across the Arkansas River in the Fort Smith metro to help complete Interstate 49 in the state.
Mallett-Hays proposed a big idea for transportation infrastructure.
“One key piece that we’re missing is public transportation in the form of commuter rail. I think connecting the Northwest Arkansas corridor to Fort Smith and then on down to Little Rock will be a significant improvement for our area as far as the rapid growth we are going to see,” she said.
Kalagias said taxes are already in place to meet infrastructure demand, and the housing supply is largely a problem of too much government regulation on developers and builders. He…
