Six goals to guide decision-making this year
As the Georgia Senate moves forward in the 2017 legislative session, the Senate Majority Caucus wants to remind our citizens that Georgia’s priorities are our priorities. Our leadership has established six goals for the Senate to accomplish in order to continue improving Georgia’s economic growth and its citizens’ safety.
1) Reduce regulation
First, we want to reduce the regulatory burdens placed on Georgia’s small businesses, while simplifying the licensing processes and eliminating unnecessary taxes. Our small businesses employ millions of people throughout the state and it’s important that we don’t hold them back from success with redundant administrative practices. We will continue to look at avenues to remove these pointless constraints for our greatest drivers of job creation.
2) Keep Georgia safe
This year, Georgia will continue to lead the nation in protecting our residents against terrorist attacks by working to ensure our resources are being put to the best possible use. Through a federal and state partnership, Georgia can provide our local law enforcement officers with the capability to easily report suspected terrorist activities up and down the chain of command. Georgia officers will then be provided with accurate, timely and actionable intelligence to dismantle would-be terrorist cells from ever gaining a foothold in this state.
3) Develop skilled-labor pool
Third, the Senate Majority Caucus is seeking to give our high school students another avenue to success in the workforce. We are working to partner with Georgia’s industries to develop skilled-labor courses in high schools across the state. This way, not only will our students be more ready for life after graduation, but Georgia’s businesses will have a steady flow of skilled and ready labor.
4) Improve regional transportation
Another one of our goals is to improve regional transportation frameworks. We want to work with all invested parties, including industry experts and local stakeholders, to create an enduring plan for our transportations infrastructure’s future. We are looking to implement 21st century methods and technology, like Uber, Lyft, self-driving cars and more, to improve the way people move throughout Georgia.
5) Improve rural access to healthcare
Healthcare access has long been an issue for the citizens of Senate District 50. We’ve listened to the concerns of all Georgians, like us, who live outside our big cities, and because of this, we are working to improve access to healthcare for rural Georgians. This includes access to hospitals, drug addiction treatment services and mental health services. All Georgians should have the ability to access the right care at a time and place that’s best for them.
6) Adjust Georgia Lottery education funding
Finally, the Senate Majority Caucus wants to improve access to Pre-K education and the HOPE Scholarship by improving how the Georgia Lottery funds these programs. To accomplish this priority, the Caucus will establish guidelines for minimum contributions from the Georgia Lottery to be made directly into the Lottery for Education Account. We’ll also be building in safety measures to ensure maximum education funding. It’s imperative that we provide every child and student with the opportunity to succeed in life, by safeguarding the funding mechanism for these programs we are doing just that.
If you have any questions about these priorities or the supporting Senate Bills, please feel free to reach out to my office. As always, I am humbled to represent you under the gold dome.
About the author: Sen. John Wilkinson serves as the Chairman of the Agriculture and Consumer Affairs Committee and Vice Chairman of the Education and Youth Committee. He represents the 50th Senate District which includes Banks, Franklin, Habersham, Rabun, Stephens and Towns counties and portions of Hall and Jackson counties. He can be reached by phone at 404-463-5257 or by email at [email protected].
