State House race in south Dayton suburbs repeat of 2014

Republican state Rep. Niraj Antani is facing Democratic challenger West Carrollton City Councilman Pat Merris in the race for Ohio’s 42nd House district.

It is a repeat of the race from 2014 in which Antani won, 64.5-35.5 percent.

The district includes Washington Twp., Moraine, West Carrollton, Miamisburg, Miami Twp., Germantown and German Twp.

We asked Antani and Merris questions about jobs, schools and other issues as part of our voters guide. See some of their answers below. Find other answers and learn about other candidates and issues on the ballot at vote.daytondailynews.com

Q: What will be your top priority if elected?

Niraj Antani: I believe that workforce development is the biggest priority of this state. My top priority will be continuing an effort to create a better skilled workforce for Ohioans. If we can help people get the skills needed to obtain these open jobs, more Ohioans will have the ability to achieve the American Dream.

Pat Merris: Top priority when elected will be Fairness and Transparency across the board to boost Economic Prosperity

Q: Ohio has consistently cut income taxes over more than a decade. Do you support further reductions or increases in the state income tax? Why?

Niraj Antani: I do support further cuts to our state income tax, and hope to see it eventually be cut entirely to 0 percent. I believe in the principle that Ohioans deserve to keep more of their hard earned money. I also believe that the more taxes there, the more economic growth is constrained. By cutting taxes, we can infuse more capital in the market, allowing job creators to hire more people and grow their businesses. We can and will continue to cut the state income tax.

Pat Merris: There should be a moratorium on new tax cuts until the tax structure as it is at present is evaluated and overhauled to prevent fraud and abuse at all levels.

Q: The state gas tax has not been increased in more than a decade but Ohio roads and bridges need significant work. How do you propose addressing this?

Niraj Antani: I believe we do need to do more to help address our aging infrastructure, but raising taxes is not the answer. We need to find ways to increase revenue without raising taxes, and dedicate that revenue to critical roads and bridges. As well, we can send a larger portion of our general revenue fund to repair these roads and bridges. Finally, we can look at creative ways to finance construction, such as taking our a bond.

Pat Merris: The gas tax needs to be raised, but not allowed to be pushed off on the consumer. Overhaul the speculation process and require any rise in per gallon cost to be absorbed by the oil companies and middlemen.

Q: Heroin and opiate addiction have become a major issue in the state. What ideas do you have to deal with the crisis?

Niraj Antani: The heroin crisis is the largest tragedy our state has faced in a considerable amount of time. It is truly a crisis and should be treated as such. We need to do a better job both on prevention and treatment, as well as law enforcement of drug dealers and traffickers. On the treatment end, we need to dramatically increase the availability of medication assisted treatment. This can be done by increasing reimbursement rates for physicians to incentivize them to offer the treatment, and by ensuring Medicaid covers all of these treatments. We must also stop treating addiction a crime, but rather as a disease. That said, using the legal system as a mechanism to get people through treatment is effective, and we should require each court to set up a drug court. For prevention, there needs to be a major effort in the schools to educate children about the dangers of heroin and other drugs. Regarding enforcement, we need to give law enforcement the tools necessary to combat the dealers and traffickers. That means providing special funding to sheriffs and departments of the most trafficked areas, including Dayton. As well, we need to severely increase the penalties for anyone who deals or trafficks in Ohio.

Pat Merris: Reduce use of Narcan on habitual users. Develop a way to identify someone that has been revived using it and have them sign a waiver like a Do Not Resuscitate.

Q: K-12 education in Ohio is all over the place when it comes to success. There are very successful public schools and failing ones. What ideas do you have to improve education in Ohio?

Niraj Antani: I am proud of our successful schools, and commend all of the teachers, parents, and students who make them successful. With that said, there are many schools that struggle and fail. We need a major intervention in these schools. We need to ensure they receive the best teachers by incentivizing top ranked teachers to teach there through pay bonuses. We need to increase dramatically the amount of after school programs and tutoring for students in these struggling schools. As well, for struggling schools, we need to institute hefty summer programs for them to combat the summer slide and keep their growth on track. Finally, we need to institute co-op and internship programs for these struggling schools to help these students learn soft skills and real life work experience.

Pat Merris: Common Core does not equal Common Sense. If open enrollment and test scores are used as tools to show progress with a fear of cutbacks to balance a school budget, there is definitely a problem. School boards and Superintendents need to have more options.

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