In the Falmouth Outlook series for candidates for Kentucky House of Representative District 78 race, questions were submitted to Republican Mark Hart and Libertarian James Toller. Candidates were limited to a 250-word response. Next week, the candidates will address the #1 for the house and what bills they will be sponsoring or supporting that benefit Pendleton County.
Toller did not return answers to the questions submitted to him.
By Mark Hart, Republican
78th District House of Representative
The Ky budget has been hit hard by Covid-19 but had already needed some addressing. We have heard a lot of suggestions and would like you to weigh in on where/how should Kentucky look to increase revenues for the state budget.
We need to look at responsible tax reform that can create sustainable revenue sources that can carry Kentucky into the future. Kentucky needs to reform our current tax code and move from a production base code to a consumption-based code. A consumption-based code will expand the tax base and require more people, people who are not residents of Kentucky, to pay into it, thus, creating more revenue. Also, by moving to a consumption-based tax code, it will allow us to eliminate income tax and the taxpayer to keep more of the money they earn.
We are in the midst of a pandemic and many say will be here late into 2021. Where does Kentucky stand now both in our response to the pandemic and what do we need to be doing in the future to protect Kentucky’s and the Kentucky way of life?
First, we are going to have to open Kentucky up and stop destroying our small businesses. Our economy will never survive or recover if we do not. No major corporation was ever asked or forced to shut down, but our small businesses were. Now some are bankrupt and closing which is a permanent hit to our economy. Kentucky is going to have to learn to co-exist with this virus without unconstitutional mandates and dictates from the governor that completely and deliberately ignore the law and constitutions. The executive branch is going to have to communicate and work with the legislative branch and both branches work together to lead Kentucky through this pandemic so that we can protect our citizens health and constitutionally protected rights.