Damage control
Sunday, September 24, 2006

By Michael French
Marietta Daily Journal Staff Writer

MARIETTA - Jim Martin wants to build bridges between Republicans and Democrats in Georgia government.

"I have the ability to work with people and solve problems," Martin said, describing himself as a moderate Democrat. "My views are generally more in the middle."

He said he sees the position of lieutenant governor as an opportunity for the Democrats to have an authoritative voice in a majority Republican government.

"The Democratic Party needs to speak with effect and authority," he said. "If one person's deciding, there's no debate at all. Somebody with the skills I have has to be able to reach across party lines."

Now running a tight race with Republican contender Casey Cagle, Martin said he would conduct a positive campaign that will compare platforms.

"We plan to compare our record with Casey Cagle's record," he said. "We're not going to distort someone's record."

He added his campaign would defend itself if the election gets personal.

"We will respond if attacked," he said.

Martin, who earned three degrees from the University of Georgia and spent 18 years as a Georgia Representative, said he wants to ask Cagle why the state has fallen behind in education, why manufacturing jobs have left and why 200,000 Georgians have lost healthcare.

Jobs
Martin said tax incentives are not the solution to bring businesses to Georgia and create new jobs.

"I've talked with a lot of business people in this state about why they came to Georgia," he said. "It wasn't any kid of tax incentive."

Martin said businesses were lured to Georgia because of quality-of-life issues like good infrastructure, good schools and a well-trained workforce.

He said other states could modify their tax incentives to lure companies away from Georgia, but if a state's infrastructure was inferior to Georgia businesses would be less likely to leave.

He said tax incentives' success was not measured once the businesses moved into the state.

"You can't change the infrastructure," he said.

Health care
"The state's got a role in making sure health care works," Martin said.

He added that approximately $700 of a person's health insurance premium is to pay for uncompensated health care.

Martin said the state should allow insurance pools for small businesses to help curb insurance costs and allow more businesses to provide coverage.

"That's the kind of activity that really produces good jobs in Georgia," he said.

Martin added that health care is needed for all Georgia children.

"Children as a group in this state are the least expensive to cover and the most deserving," he said. "About half the children in this state who are uninsured are eligible for a (health) program."

Education
Georgians know state schools aren't making progress, Martin said. The solution is to keep the state out of the school.

"There's a role for local school boards," he said. "I don't believe the state should take over education."

Martin said Gov. Sonny Perdue's education bill that requires 65 percent of all education funding spent in the classroom has problems.

He said school systems with special needs students were not included in the 65 percent formula.

"The state has an obligation to provide adequate public education," he said. "The question is what's the remedy."

He said the state's funding formula for education should be adjusted for inflation.

"We're not doing that now," he said.

Immigration
Martin said he wants a "comprehensive approach" to solve illegal immigration.

He said he wants secure borders and better enforcement of existing immigration laws.

"The laws ought to be enforced and they're not being enforced," he said. "Part of the way to protect our borders is with comprehensive reform."

Martin said he feels illegal immigrants are taking jobs away from American citizens.

He said employers who benefit from illegal aliens working in their plant should be punished.

"That needs to stop," he said.

Open records
Martin said he would support open government and open process and oppose House Bill 218.

"I stood up for open government, which I think is a conservative issue," he said.

The bill would change Georgia Open Records law to prevent public access to records regarding economic development programs by government agencies.

"Confidentiality protects the people we serve, not the department of public resources," he said.

Martin added that open government makes the process work better.

"It's too easy to spend the public's money in secret," he said. "Let the public know what you're proposing. Let the people have some input in that."

mfrench@mdjonline.com