Category: Asa Hutchinson

Republican Hutchinson, at odds with Trump, eyes 2024 U.S. presidential run

Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson said on Sunday he is considering a run for the 2024 Republican U.S. presidential nomination, making clear that he is “not aligned” with former President Donald Trump, another potential candidate.

May 02, 2022

Tagged : Asa Hutchinson, Presidential Run

WASHINGTON, May 1 (Reuters) – Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson said on Sunday he is considering a run for the 2024 Republican U.S. presidential nomination, making clear that he is “not aligned” with former President Donald Trump, another potential candidate.

Hutchinson, a former congressman and head of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, is in his final year as governor of the southern state, with Arkansas law barring him from seeking a third four-year term.

Asked on CNN’s “State of the Union” whether he was considering running for his party’s presidential nomination, Hutchinson said, “I am. But of course you’ve got to get through this year. That’s an option on the table.”

Hutchinson has criticized Trump’s continued efforts to discredit the 2020 presidential election in which Democrat Joe Biden defeated the businessman-turned-politician.

Trump has made false claims that the election was stolen from him through widespread voting fraud.

Hutchinson said Trump’s decision on whether to run will not influence his own.

“I’ve made it clear I think we ought to have a different direction in the future and so I’m not aligned with him on some of his endorsements, but also the direction he wants to take our country,” Hutchinson said.

“I think he did a lot of good things for our country, but we need to go a different direction. And so that’s not a factor in my decision-making process.”

Trump rebuked Hutchinson last year when the governor vetoed a Republican-backed bill passed by the state legislature to ban certain types of treatment for transgender youths. Hutchinson called the measure a government overreach. The legislature subsequently voted to override his veto.

“Bye-bye Asa, that’s the end of him!” Trump said in a statement at the time, dismissing the conservative governor as a “lightweight RINO,” one of the former president’s favorite insults, meaning “Republican in name only.”

Hutchinson, who last week attended a political event in the pivotal early presidential primary state of New Hampshire, said he is passionate about border security, cracking down on criminal cartels and keeping in place a COVID-19 pandemic-related policy that lets U.S. authorities rapidly expel migrants, including asylum seekers, to Mexico and other nations.

Other potential Republican contenders in 2024 include Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, former Vice President Mike Pence and former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.

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GOP’s Hutchinson Tells Governors to Shun 2020 Vote Fraud Claims Arkansas governor

Speaking at the National Governors Association winter meeting on Saturday, Hutchinson rejected unsubstantiated claims about widespread fraud in the 2020 election that have been made by former President Donald Trump.

Jan 31, 2022

‘I don’t believe the election was stolen’ Focus on the future, don’t dwell on Trump’s false claims.

Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson said that elected officials shouldn’t focus on untrue claims about the 2020 election and instead look ahead.

Speaking at the National Governors Association winter meeting on Saturday, Hutchinson rejected unsubstantiated claims about widespread fraud in the 2020 election that have been made by former President Donald Trump.

“First of all, I don’t believe the election was stolen, and I respect the results,” said Hutchinson, a Republican who won a second term as governor in 2018. “They were challenged as need be and the result is the fact that President Biden is in office.”

Hutchinson said that states have recently both expanded voting access as well as created new restrictions about “making sure that the votes have integrity,” which he said is “their prerogative.”

“To me, it’s all about the future,” he said. “Anybody who wants to talk about the last election is going to lose the next election.”

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The Largest Tax Cut in Arkansas History

Arkansas has passed the largest income tax cut in the state’s history.

Two bills were passed by the Arkansas House of Representatives and the Arkansas Senate in December 2021 and were signed into law by Gov. Asa Hutchinson

Dec 20, 2021

Arkansas has passed the largest income tax cut in the state’s history.

Two bills were passed by the Arkansas House of Representatives and the Arkansas Senate in December 2021 and were signed into law by Gov. Asa Hutchinson on December 9, 2021. These bills will provide approximately $500 million in annual tax relief for Arkansans once all the provisions go into effect in 2025.

The latest tax cut in Arkansas has already been recognized as a standout example of tax reform. In a post entitled “Arkansas’ Sustainable Tax Reform: A Gift That Will Keep On Giving,” the Tax Foundation declared, “Arkansas’s fourth round of tax reforms is a case of tax reform done right.”

The new tax cuts will benefit a large cross-section of Arkansans across the state. “This historic tax cut puts more money into the pockets of all Arkansas taxpayers and will lead to a brighter future here in the Natural State,” said Gov. Asa Hutchinson.

Under the two bills, Arkansas will cut its top income tax rate from 5.9% to 4.9% by 2025. The top individual income tax rate, currently 5.9%, will decrease to 5.5% in 2022, 5.3% in 2023, 5.1% in 2024, and 4.9% in 2025.

The tax cut will include a $60 tax credit for low-income Arkansans, eliminating taxes for more than 100,000 individuals in the state.

Corporate income tax rates will also be lowered in the coming years. The top corporate tax rate will decrease from 6.2% to 5.9% in 2022. Under the new bills, the corporate tax rate will decline to 5.7% in 2023, 5.7% in 2024, and 5.3% in 2025, provided that revenue goals are met.

Lowering taxes in Arkansas will have a positive impact on economic development and business recruitment in the Natural State. By lowering the income tax and corporate tax burdens, Arkansas is making the state even friendlier for businesses.

“Through conversations with several companies looking to create jobs and move operations to this state, it is clear to me that one of the main factors these companies take into consideration when deciding where to locate is a state’s income tax burden. This change will increase our competitiveness as a state in attracting industry and talent to Arkansas,” said Gov. Hutchinson.

“Enacting this historic tax reform is a major win for Arkansas’ economy that will benefit Arkansans and businesses across the state,” said Arkansas Secretary of Commerce Mike Preston. “Thanks to Gov. Hutchinson’s tax reform initiatives, Arkansas is more economically competitive and is well-positioned to encourage business growth and to attract new and expanding businesses to the state.”

Arkansas has consistently cut taxes to provide relief for individuals, families, and businesses.

State leaders have enacted multiple tax cuts that have benefitted Arkansans during Gov. Hutchinson’s administration. There have been tax cuts in 2015, 2017, and 2019, that have collectively provided more than $250 million of income tax relief for Arkansans.

All of the tax cuts have been possible as a result of Arkansas’ balanced budget – a requirement under the state’s Revenue Stabilization Act. “It’s a signal that we manage our state from a budget standpoint, which means we’re applying some good business principles to state government,” said Gov. Hutchinson.

Cutting taxes in Arkansas was a simple decision for Gov. Hutchinson. The decision boiled down to helping Arkansans and boosting the state’s economic competitiveness. “It allows hard-working Arkansans to keep more of their hard-earned money and also makes Arkansas more competitive with our surrounding states, spurring job creation and economic growth for years to come,” he said.

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Gov­ernors hear Hutchin­son pitch – State’s com­puter plan goes national

Gov. Asa Hutchin­son touted Arkan­sas’ suc­cess in fur­ther­ing com­puter sci­ence edu­ca­tion as he unveiled an ini­ti­at­ive to take the pro­gram nation­wide at a lunch­eon of the National Gov­ernors Asso­ci­ation on Fri­day in Wash­ing­ton, D.C.

Oct 07, 2021

Tagged : Arkansas, Asa Hutchinson

Gov. Asa Hutchin­son touted Arkan­sas’ suc­cess in fur­ther­ing com­puter sci­ence edu­ca­tion as he unveiled an ini­ti­at­ive to take the pro­gram nation­wide at a lunch­eon of the National Gov­ernors Asso­ci­ation on Fri­day in Wash­ing­ton, D.C.

Hutchin­son’s national ini­ti­at­ive — NGA Chair­man’s Ini­ti­at­ive, K-12 Com­puter Sci­ence Edu­ca­tion — will mir­ror the Arkan­sas Com­puter Sci­ence Ini­ti­at­ive he kicked off in 2015.

“Arkan­sas has become known nation­ally for our com­puter sci­ence edu­ca­tion pro­gram and, through this ini­ti­at­ive, I want to show­case the efforts in other states and show why this mat­ters and how we can expand com­puter sci­ence edu­ca­tion,” Hutchin­son said.

“Arkan­sas has become known nation­ally for our com­puter sci­ence edu­ca­tion pro­gram and, through this ini­ti­at­ive, I want to show­case the efforts in other states and show why this mat­ters and how we can expand com­puter sci­ence edu­ca­tion,” Hutchin­son said.

The ini­ti­at­ive encour­ages gov­ernors around the nation to imple­ment the ten­ets of Arkan­sas’ pro­gram in their home states in order to build a wider tech work­force and keep com­puter jobs from going over­seas.

“It is an ini­ti­at­ive that is urgent and it is very neces­sary,” Hutchin­son said.

Carl Frank, a com­puter sci­ence teacher at the Arkan­sas

School for Math­em­at­ics, Sci­ences and the Arts, said he was excited to hear Hutchin­son’s announce­ment. Frank has served on two of the gov­ernor’s task forces on com­puter sci­ence edu­ca­tion and cyber­se­cur­ity and on numer­ous stand­ards and frame­work com­mit­tees for the Arkan­sas Depart­ment of Edu­ca­tion and what is now the Divi­sion of Career and Tech­nical Edu­ca­tion.

“The suc­cess of the Arkan­sas Com­puter Sci­ence Ini­ti­at­ive and the multistate col­lab­or­a­tion efforts and part­ner­ships that have been formed here may serve as a model to other states,” Frank said. “Every state has unique chal­lenges and per­haps solu­tions to those chal­lenges. A national com­puter sci­ence ini­ti­at­ive will help facil­it­ate strategies that work among the states, and provide mech­an­isms for shar­ing new ideas and approaches that may emerge.”

“The suc­cess of the Arkan­sas Com­puter Sci­ence Ini­ti­at­ive and the multistate col­lab­or­a­tion efforts and part­ner­ships that have been formed here may serve as a model to other states,” Frank said. “Every state has unique chal­lenges and per­haps solu­tions to those chal­lenges. A national com­puter sci­ence ini­ti­at­ive will help facil­it­ate strategies that work among the states, and provide mech­an­isms for shar­ing new ideas and approaches that may emerge.”

Hutchin­son told the group gathered in the National Press Club ball­room that jobs that require com­puter sci­ence skills will con­tinue to grow and there are cur­rently more than 410,000 open com­put­ing jobs.

“Today, com­ing out of the pan­demic, through the pan­demic, the need has never been greater to emphas­ize com­puter sci­ence edu­ca­tion,” he said. “Take advant­age of this unique moment in his­tory when stu­dents see it, under­stand it and value it.”

Global com­pet­i­tion for com­puter sci­ence jobs is intensi­fy­ing with the major­ity of H1B skilled-worker visas com­ing from com­pan­ies that can­not fill their open­ings, Hutchin­son said.

Fur­ther­more, the U.S. Bur­eau of Labor Stat­ist­ics projects that the num­ber of com­puter sci­ence jobs will grow by 11% by 2029, Hutchin­son said. Com­puter sci­ence majors earn up to 40% more than the aver­age col­lege gradu­ate.

Arkan­sas became the first state to require every pub­lic and charter high school to offer a com­puter sci­ence course when Hutchin­son’s ini­ti­at­ive was imple­men­ted six years ago.

The Arkan­sas Com­puter Sci­ence Ini­ti­at­ive was ini­tially launched as a peer-learn­ing pro­gram that took teach­ers from five of the state’s pub­lic high schools into a peer-learn­ing pro­gram to bring com­puter learn­ing to the state’s stu­dents.

The Arkan­sas Com­puter Sci­ence Ini­ti­at­ive was ini­tially launched as a peer-learn­ing pro­gram that took teach­ers from five of the state’s pub­lic high schools into a peer-learn­ing pro­gram to bring com­puter learn­ing to the state’s stu­dents.

The Arkan­sas School for Math­em­at­ics, Sci­ences and the Arts in Hot Springs led the project by provid­ing train­ing, sup­port and ment­or­ing for teach­ers across the state, who in turn provide com­puter sci­ence courses to stu­dents in their dis­tricts.

In 2014, before the ini­ti­at­ive began, fewer than 500 high school stu­dents in Arkan­sas took a class in com­puter cod­ing, and 25% of that num­ber hailed from the Arkan­sas School for Math­em­at­ics, Sci­ences and the Arts.

Today, more than 10,000 of the state’s high school stu­dents have taken a com­puter sci­ence class, and the num­ber of com­puter-sci­ence cer­ti­fied teach­ers has grown from fewer than 20 to more than 600, Hutchin­son said.

Today, more than 10,000 of the state’s high school stu­dents have taken a com­puter sci­ence class, and the num­ber of com­puter-sci­ence cer­ti­fied teach­ers has grown from fewer than 20 to more than 600, Hutchin­son said.

Hutchin­son has been to more than 80 school assem­blies in the state pro­mot­ing com­puter sci­ence.

“The mes­sage that I had for them is, ‘If you learn to code and you have access to high-speed broad­band inter­net, you could run the the world from your front porch in rural Arkan­sas,” the gov­ernor said.

There are six major goals of the NGA ini­ti­at­ive, Hutchin­son said:

■ Increase the num­ber of the nation’s high school stu­dents who take at least one com­puter sci­ence course.

■ Engage more gov­ernors in the part­ner­ship.

■ Grow policy sup­port for com­puter sci­ence edu­ca­tion.

■ Increase the fund­ing by the states to sup­port com­puter sci­ence edu­ca­tion.

■ Expand the num­ber of states that require pub­lic and charter schools to have at least one com­puter sci­ence class for high school stu­dents.

■ Increase racial and gender diversity in cod­ing classes.

“We’re going to do this by mes­saging, just like today,” Hutchin­son said. “We’re going to do it by call­ing national atten­tion to it. We’re also going to have regional con­fer­ences at which we are going to be able to show­case what other gov­ernors are doing, draw atten­tion to it and try to engage other states.”

“We’re going to do this by mes­saging, just like today,” Hutchin­son said. “We’re going to do it by call­ing national atten­tion to it. We’re also going to have regional con­fer­ences at which we are going to be able to show­case what other gov­ernors are doing, draw atten­tion to it and try to engage other states.”

Hutchin­son praised the bipar­tisan sup­port for the ini­ti­at­ive from numer­ous gov­ernors around the nation.

Frank said Arkan­sas has already helped to shape com­puter sci­ence in other states through col­lab­or­a­tion and through the par­ti­cip­a­tion by Arkan­sas mem­bers of the Com­puter Sci­ence Teach­ers Asso­ci­ation in devel­op­ing a multistate com­puter sci­ence licen­sure test.

“Arkan­sas has been a leader in com­puter sci­ence edu­ca­tion and has done a tre­mend­ous job in trans­form­ing com­puter sci­ence edu­ca­tion in the state,” Frank said.

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President Joseph R. Biden Call with Governor Asa Hutchinson of Arkansas

Yesterday, President Biden spoke with Governor Asa Hutchinson of Arkansas to discuss the increasing COVID-19 case rates in the State and what more the federal government can do to offer support.

Aug 11, 2021

Yesterday, President Biden spoke with Governor Asa Hutchinson of Arkansas to discuss the increasing COVID-19 case rates in the State and what more the federal government can do to offer support. Last month, the Administration announced COVID-19 Surge Response resources, including increased testing, treatment and vaccination support, and the Surge Response teams are working hand in hand with state officials to help get the virus under control. The President commended Governor Hutchinson on his efforts to get more Arkansans vaccinated, including through his Community COVID Conversations, and noted the increasing rate of vaccinations in Arkansas. Governor Hutchinson thanked the President for his support and the two leaders committed to continue to work together to protect the health and well-being of all Arkansans.

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Arkansas governor says that fellow GOP Gov. Kristi Noem set ‘a bad precedent’ in using private funds to send National Guard to US-Mexico border

“I would consider it a bad precedent to have it privately funded. Now, whenever you are looking at supplemental pay for some state employees, we use private foundation money, so it is not an across-the-board rule against that.”

Jul 07, 2021

Tagged : Asa Hutchinson, National Guard, US-Mexico border
  • Gov. Hutchinson said that sending troops to the border using private funds sets “a bad precedent.”
  • “This is a state function,” he told host Dana Bash on CNN’s “State of the Union.”
  • Gov. Noem received a donation to be used to aid in efforts at the US-Mexico border.

GOP Gov. Asa Hutchinson of Arkansas on Sunday said that deploying a state’s National Guard troops to the US-Mexico border using private funds sets “a bad precedent.”

During an interview on CNN’s “State of the Union,” anchor Dana Bash asked Hutchinson about fellow Republican Gov. Kristi Noem’s decision to use a donation from Tennessee billionaire Willis Johnson to send 50 South Dakota National Guard members to the border.

Last week, Hutchinson announced hat he would deploy National Guard troops from Arkansas to the border, the latest salvo in a national GOP-push to highlight the surge in attempted migrant border crossings in recent months.

However, Hutchinson is not using private funding and chided Noem for doing so.

“Would you use a political donation to send your troops to the border?” Bash asked.

“Not for this purpose,” Hutchinson replied. “This is a state function. It is something that we respond to other states in terms of disaster.”

He added: “I would consider it a bad precedent to have it privately funded. Now, whenever you are looking at supplemental pay for some state employees, we use private foundation money, so it is not an across-the-board rule against that.”

Johnson directed the funding to South Dakota through his family’s foundation and told The New York Times last week that he wanted to aid security efforts at the border.

“You’ve got illegals coming in and I just think they ought to follow the rules of America,” he told the newspaper. “South Dakota is a small state. They want to help America, I want to help them.”

Noem, a former congresswoman who is seen as a potential 2024 GOP presidential candidate, said that the $1 million donation from Johnson came as “a surprise.”

In sending the troops to the border, the governor continues to raise her national profile among conservative voters.

“The border is a national security crisis that requires the kind of sustained response only the National Guard can provide,” she said last week. “We should not be making our own communities less safe by sending our police or Highway Patrol to fix a long-term problem President [Joe] Biden’s Administration seems unable or unwilling to solve.”

Last month, GOP Gov. Ron DeSantis, another possible 2024 presidential aspirant, deployed state law enforcement officers to the border.

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Gov. Asa Hutchinson ponders future in GOP that feels effects of Trump

Leading a state that went heavily for Donald Trump in the 2020 election and that has enacted some of the most aggressive laws on social issues, Republican Gov. Asa Hutchinson in Arkansas has been in the national spotlight this year.

But not for embracing the state’s turn toward Trump and his politics. It’s for distancing himself from it.

Jul 07, 2021

Tagged : Asa Hutchinson, GOP

Leading a state that went heavily for Donald Trump in the 2020 election and that has enacted some of the most aggressive laws on social issues, Republican Gov. Asa Hutchinson in Arkansas has been in the national spotlight this year.

But not for embracing the state’s turn toward Trump and his politics. It’s for distancing himself from it.

At a time when red state governors like Ron DeSantis in Florida and Kristi Noem of South Dakota are carrying forward Trump’s rhetoric and policies, Hutchinson is doing the opposite. He’s taking a contrarian position that’s making him an outsider in the state party he helped build and that now could test whether there’s a path forward for ambitious Republicans in the reddest parts of the country that doesn’t rely on the former president.

“He represents an important voice in the party, a voice that is relatively independent of any established consensus,” said Republican pollster Whit Ayres, whose firm worked with Hutchinson before he was governor. “He thinks for himself and there are a number of us in the party who find that refreshing.”

But, Ayres said, where the party is headed right now “remains a very open question.”

Hutchinson couldn’t be more different than Trump, at least when it comes to style. A mild-mannered attorney, Hutchinson tweets out Bible verses every Sunday morning. He tries to split the difference on contentious issues , such as when he supported keeping the state’s Medicaid expansion but with a work requirement later blocked by courts.

He’s also trying to manage an increasingly ominous covid-19 situation in his state, with cases on the rise and vaccine rates low. His powers to address it were curbed by conservative lawmakers angry about his earlier restrictions.

Midway through his second term, Hutchinson, 70, would seem poised for a big move. He is to take over next week as chairman of the National Governors Association, a position that predecessors Bill Clinton and Mike Huckabee used to launch their own White House bids. He’s started a political action committee that he said will help Republican candidates in next year’s midterm election.

He’s also become a fixture on cable television, defending his veto of legislation targeting transgender youths in the state and warning fellow Republicans about tying their fortunes too closely to Trump.

“If Trump is the issue in 2022, we lose,” Hutchinson told The Associated Press in a recent interview in his office. “He’s not on the ballot and we have to be the party of ideas and principles that are relevant to what’s happening in our country today. We can’t be revisiting what happened last election and we can’t relitigate that.”

Hutchinson has provided a contrast with other top Republican figures in his state, including the frontrunner to replace him. Sarah Sanders is seeking the party’s nomination with a campaign that showcases her time as Trump’s press secretary, during which she regularly sparred with reporters and defended the president’s most contentious policies.

Sen. Tom Cotton, a hard-edged conservative, has already been laying the groundwork for a presidential campaign, with visits to key early states.

Hutchinson’s history in Arkansas’ politics dates back to the 1980s, when Ronald Reagan appointed him as a U.S. attorney. He went on to chair Arkansas’ Republican party and was elected to Congress before serving as head of the Drug Enforcement Administration and later as a federal Homeland Security official in George W. Bush’s administration.

He ran unsuccessfully for statewide office three times before winning the governorship in 2014. Some critics on his right now say the state’s politics have left him behind.

“What he’s done for the last 30 or 40 years isn’t how the party is going to succeed moving forward,” said Republican Sen. Trent Garner, who frequently clashed with Hutchinson. “While I can appreciate Gov. Hutchinson’s service, he is a relic of the past. Trump and Trumpism is the bold new future of the Arkansas Republican Party.”

Hutchinson leaves office in 2023 and it’s unclear what he plans on doing next. Unlike his Democratic predecessor Mike Beebe, Hutchinson won’t rule out another run for office.

But he’s not making overt moves. He appears more eager to talk about dry policy than identity politics. He testified before a Senate committee in favor of efforts to end the sentencing disparity between crack and powder cocaine offenders. He aims to promote one of his pet issues: computer science education in public schools.

Hutchinson said next year’s midterms may demonstrate whether his message still resonates with the electorate.

Hutchinson drew the ire of some conservative lawmakers this year by vetoing a bill that banned gender confirming treatments for transgender youth. The veto, which was promptly overridden, was also criticized by Trump, who called Hutchinson a “RINO,” or Republican In Name Only.

The bill was among several that the governor complained were the product of culture wars and weren’t necessary.

But Hutchinson hasn’t strayed as far from the right wing as he could have. He was among more than two dozen governors who decided to end supplemental federal unemployment payments before they were set to run out. He’s signed other bills restricting transgender people’s rights, including one banning trans girls and women from competing on women’s school sports teams.

This week, he announced he was joining the growing list of GOP governors directing law enforcement or other help to Texas to assist with security along the border with Mexico in a fight with the Biden administration over immigration policy. Hutchinson initially said he would not send state troopers, citing public safety needs in the state. But hours later he announced he was dispatching up to 40 members of Arkansas’ National Guard.

Hutchinson has defended his party, even when his nephew, state Sen. Jim Hendren, made a high-profile exit after the deadly riot at the U.S Capitol.

Hendren, who has formed a group aimed at promoting centrist candidates, pointed to his uncle as a model for Republicans in the post-Trump era.

“I would be surprised if he’s ready to lay down that mantle of public service that he’s carried for so long,” Hendren said.

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Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson looking to make ‘America Strong and Free’

Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson may not have formally committed to a 2024 Presidential run, but he’s raising his profile to be a national voice in the 2022 cycle.

Apr 20, 2021

Tagged : Asa Hutchinson

Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson may not have formally committed to a 2024 Presidential run, but he’s raising his profile to be a national voice in the 2022 cycle.

Hutchinson said Sunday (April 18) in an exclusive Talk Business & Politics interview that beyond taking the reins as chairman of the National Governors Association (NGA) this summer, he plans to start a political action effort for education advocacy and to raise money for GOP candidates across the U.S. in the 2022 elections.

“2022 is a very, very important year for our country and for our party, and I want to be engaged in that debate. So when the legislative session is over with, I hope to set up a national leadership effort called ‘America Strong and Free,’ where I can help influence the direction of our country in 2022. We’ll see where that leads,” he said.

The two-term Republican governor said there will be an education advocacy arm to the “America Strong and Free” effort as well as a fundraising element to support candidates. Legal paperwork has not been filed yet, he said.

“There will be two parts of ‘America Strong and Free.’ One will be an educational branch that will help raise money, educate people on the principles and issues. Then, there will be a leadership PAC, part of it that will help in supporting the candidates, but also the national voice in terms of what I can do in 2022,” he said.

Hutchinson said the group, as well as his chairmanship of NGA, will focus on speaking up on big government issues at the state and national levels.

“I am concerned about what the future holds under the Biden administration. We’re spending too much money. We’re over-regulating, there’s a lot of pushback, and I think it’s important for me to be a balanced voice, but also an important voice in pushing back on that, but also shaping our party in a good way in 2022,” he said.

His comments squarely suggest he hopes to steer the national GOP in a different direction away from former President Donald Trump, who was recently critical of Hutchinson for vetoing a transgender restriction bill.

“I indicated that I wouldn’t support him in 2024. I don’t necessarily expect him to run, but I thought he did not handle and did not lead our country in the right direction post-election on January 6th. That’s part of speaking your mind and that’s part of him speaking his mind. I don’t get bent out of shape about that,” Hutchinson said of Trump’s criticism.

He added that he does not think Trump is the de facto head of the Republican Party.

“I wouldn’t consider him that at all. You can make a case that there’s many voices, and it’s traditional whenever we don’t have the White House. You have many different voices of leadership in the party. Governors are one. You’ve got Senate and House leadership on the Republican side,” he said.

“But President Trump has the largest megaphone now just because he has such an enormous following of support and voters. So he’s certainly a player. I pay attention to that. But there’s many voices in the party and I hope we have a good discussion of ideas and the future going into 2022,” Hutchinson added.

Hutchinson’s full interview can be watched below. He offered a broad range of thoughts on this year’s legislative session and efforts addressing the COVID-19 pandemic.

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