Former Governor of Arkansas
Asa Hutchinson
‘Whenever you look at my role as governor (of Arkansas), I’m very proud of what we did in terms of the economy ... and I’m very proud of the fact that we led the nation in computer science education,’ says former Arkansas governor Asa Hutchinson. Former Arkansas governor Asa Hutchinson was excluded from the second national GOP presidential debate, having polled too low to qualify. He has committed to campaigning through November, after which he will drop out if he doesn’t raise his numbers.
Hutchinson has been highly critical of former president Donald Trump and has predicted his popularity will wane as the impact of criminal indictments weigh him down. That has yet to happen, as Trump continues to command the field.
Hutchinson recently visited the offices of NH Business Review to appear on our Down to Business Podcast: Primary Edition with Publisher Ernesto Burden, Editor Mike Cote and Managing Editor Amanda Andrews. Here are selected highlights from the interview, edited for space and clarity. Listen to the complete interview at nhbr.com.
Q. You were excluded from the most recent presidential primary debate. What message would you have delivered were you on the stage that night?
A. I would have said that Trump’s economic plan is disastrous for America. He has proposed a 10% across-the-board tariff for every good or product that comes in the United States. And he actually calls it a ring around our economy. He goes back to protectionist policy of a tariff for our friends and allies, as well as our adversaries for products coming to the United States. The Tax Foundation says that will cost the American consumer $300 billion in a tax … We have inflation right now; it would increase that inflationary pressure enormously. It is a disastrous policy for America.
Q. Another issue is the workforce shortages that have hurt New Hampshire. How would you help fix that as president?
A. You look at the reduced workforce since we came out of the pandemic. That’s a struggle for our businesses all across the board. We need workers. And here, in New Hampshire in 2019, you had 194,000 workers that were not employed. They were over 55 years old. And that has increased to 234,000 after the pandemic. And so that’s a 40,000 increase of unemployed of those over 55. In other words, they left the workforce.
One of the reasons they leave the workforce is they’re ready to take Social Security. I want to eliminate the penalty on Social Security recipients ages 62 to 66. They’re penalized for working right now. That would give people the option of continuing in the workforce without penalty. Obviously, from these statistics, that would help you in New Hampshire and our small businesses.
Secondly, when we look at the challenges of immigration, we’ve got to make sure that we control our border, and we don’t want anyone coming to the United States without authority. But I would like to allocate to governors, have a state-based visa program where they can say we need workers in the health care industry or we need workers in construction or in food service. And so they can provide for a visa program under federal authority. … Let’s give the states the ability to manage this program that would help their workforce, that would help them meet the needs of their industries.
Q. What’s the right recipe for our economy right now?
A. It’s not hard to understand when you talk to American families. They just simply have higher costs of goods in the store. It’s harder to provide for their families, and their wages have not kept up with the inflation.
And sure, we can say we’ve got low unemployment rates and businesses are still hiring. But the fact is families are struggling because of the inflation. And so that’s what has to be addressed. And you do it by getting at the root cause of inflation, which is excessive printing of money in Washington, D.C.
That needs to stop, and we need to move toward a balanced budget again. So that’s exactly what would be done. We would curtail that federal spending, that would tell the feds that we got inflation under control, stop raising the interest rates, and that would help the American family.
Q. What do you think the solution is to inflation and high costs in the housing market?
A. That’s where you need to say and recognize that the federal government can’t solve all the problems. But it is a serious issue, not just here in New Hampshire, but across the country. But I was in a factory here, and the workers raised that issue to me. I mean, it was actually a mental health issue for them that they could not afford housing, and they were bunking together. You’ve got to do this by local initiatives in terms of encouraging affordable housing. That happens through making sure you’ve got a favorable regulatory environment as well as the right zoning requirements. And then secondly, it’s about the workforce and making sure that we can build the houses that we need. The federal government does have a role, I believe, because we already have a program for first-time homebuyers. We want people to own their homes in America and young couples to have that opportunity.
Q. What do you consider your most important achievements as governor of Arkansas, and how would that help you lead the nation?
A. The most important principle that I followed as governor was I wanted the private sector of the economy to grow faster than the government sector. And with that fundamental principle, we lowered taxes, we reduced regulations, we created 100,000 jobs, and we reduced state employment by state government employment by 3,000 workers.
And that’s the mindset I have as going in as president as well. I want the private sector, the economy, to grow faster than the government sector. And we’re going to reduce the federal employment by federal government employment, nondefense area by 200,000 workers. That’s a 10% reduction. That’s a good start.
But whenever you look at my role as governor, I’m very proud of what we did in terms of the economy. … We had a balanced budget for eight years and left a $2 billion surplus for my successor. That’s how we need to manage government. But I’m very proud of the fact also that we led the nation in computer science education.
Q. Do you see technologies like artificial intelligence assisting in that government workforce reduction?
A. I do. I’m the only candidate for president that’s used AI so you can go to askasa.us, and you can ask any question and we’ve got an AI response, which means it’s accumulated things that I’ve said during the campaign and my public life. And it’s got those parameters, and it will compile the answer from what I’ve already said. It’s realistic, (but) somewhat limited. We’re learning from that.
Q. What does leadership mean when we’re talking about the Ukraine, and now what’s happening in the Middle East with Israel?
A. My heart goes out to Israel. Anyone who sees the civilians that have been captured, that have been murdered through this horrendous attack, you rise up and you want to support Israel as they respond. And they understand they have to do that. And the same thing is true in Ukraine. You had freedom-loving people that valued their sovereignty, that was attacked by an oppressor. And we stand with them, not with our men and women in uniform, but through being able to support them militarily through equipment.
