- Better Schools
- Stronger Neighborhoods (see video)
- Fairer Taxes (see video)
- Traffic Reduction and Improved Transportation Options
- A Stronger State Economy
- DeKalb County Government Reform
- Health Care
- Privacy
- Efficient and Ethical Government
- The Environment
Better Schools. We have to take a no-excuses approach to education in Georgia. We need properly funded schools, a return to emphasizing fundamental skills over a constant stream of standardized tests, incentives for outstanding educators to remain in their classrooms, smaller class sizes and assurances that school tax dollars raised locally will not be unfairly redistributed to other regions. We must maintain a strong HOPE Scholarship program.
Stronger Safer Neighborhoods. To protect our families and our homes, we need a legal system that will put and keep career criminals behind bars. To make our streets safe to walk and drive, we need strong drunk-driving laws. Earlier this year, Governor Perdue signed into law legislation I sponsored, creating a felony-level DUI offense for the first time in Georgia. The Governor also signed into law this year two Senate measures of which I was House sponsor , the first designed to combat internet identity-theft schemes and the second closing a loophole in Georgia law that allowed people to escape punishment for vehicular homicide. I will continue to work to protect our families.(see video)
Fairer Taxes. No matter where they live in the County, DeKalb taxpayers should be charged a fair, uniform rate based on their homes’ actual values. We must eliminate unfair property tax rates, hiding behind so-called "quality point" rate adjustments and ensure that older residents on fixed incomes aren’t forced from their homes by spiraling tax increases. I will continue my efforts in the legislature to reform the current unfair system of taxation. (see video)
Traffic Reduction and Improved Transportation Options. We need twenty-first century transportation and growth planning, a modern public transportation system and the development of work-live-and-play communities within urban centers. Both the quality of our lives and the continued prosperity of our business community demand a sensible, comprehensive regional transportation plan, which lessens the need for more and more roads and which protects our disappearing green spaces. We must find way to lessen our dependence on increasingly expensive foreign oil.
A Stronger State Economy. Stop our state government from "offshoring" jobs, sending our taxpayer dollars overseas to do jobs that could be done here in our community. Support local companies by empowering State government to prefer buying from local businesses that pay taxes here instead of sending money out of state.
DeKalb County Government Reform: During the 2008 session, I helped shepherd into law important and long-overdue reforms to the structure of DeKalb County’s government. However, more reforms are needed, and I will continue to push for them in the legislature. It is vital that we restore a balance of power to a system currently tilted too heavily in favor of the Chief Executive Officer. (link to articles)
Health Care. I support efforts to reform and stabilize the operation of Georgia’s trauma care system, including Grady Hospital. I also support efforts to pool state health-insurance purchasing power to provide access to affordable insurance for our small businesses and for hard-working families. Lowering insurance costs protects Georgia jobs. In addition, state purchasing power should be used to help older adults with the rising costs of prescription drugs. I support maintaining the existing coverage for such things as mammograms, pap smears, prostate cancer screenings and children’s immunizations and believe that women, and not government bureaucrats, should control their own reproductive health.
Privacy.We must protect our individual liberty from the continuing threat of government intrusion. In this new Information Age, personal privacy is a growing concern, and we must have safeguards against spying on our private lives by government, by individuals and by businesses while we use our computers, visit the doctor’s office or shop at the store.
Efficient and Ethical Government. An efficient and ethical State government starts by trimming waste from government spending (especially spending on wasteful pet projects funded with taxpayer dollars) and cleaning up state purchasing. We need a State "Comptroller" (as 40 other states have) to purchase goods and services for State agencies. Pooling buying power lowers costs. Meaningful ethics reform and enforcement will help protect against special interests and corrupt dealing. In addition to greater transparency regarding all monetary and in-kind campaign contributions as well as gifts to government officials, stricter enforcement of ethics law is needed to catch and punish violators, especially habitual offenders.
The Environment. We need to attract greater investment in alternative energy sources and mass transit in Georgia. Our state can help lead the way in the development of alternatives to fossil fuels, creating growth opportunities for our economy while improving our environment at the same time. We must take steps to build upon existing efforts in this area, such as the 2007 groundbreaking in Treutlen County of the nation's first commercial cellulosic ethanol plant
