LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR Q&A with Democratic nominee for lieutenant governor

Democrat Party nominee for Georgia lieutenant governor Sarah Riggs Amico sat down with the MDJ editorial board on Oct. 18. The following is an edited transcription of the interview.

So it’s interesting. I see it as an executive role in the State Legislature, and in fact, that’s one of the reasons I selected this office specifically to run for. I wanted something that had an executive skillset that matched my work experience and my skills. I do think it’s an important partner for the governor, and I think as she moves her legislative agenda forward next year, she’s going to need somebody that can build bridges across the aisle. I think she’s going to need somebody that understands how to bring people together from a wide variety of perspectives to make a deal. And at the same time, I still think you’re ultimately accountable to the voters. I mean, I think too often our elected officials forget this. They’re taking a paycheck from the voters. It’s no different than me taking a paycheck that ultimately is generated by shareholder returns. The boss is the voter.

Fully funding it every year. Not once every 16 years.

Yes. Because you only gave me one thing. If you gave me two, I’d update the QBE formula. …

Number one, first and foremost, it’s a formula, as I understand it, from 1985 or there about. So I’d like my children who were in Cobb County public schools to have a funding formula from the century in which they were born. … Because our formula is from 1985, it can’t possibly account for the kinds of technology that we might need in classrooms today. I don’t think it adequately appropriates money for special needs populations, for school districts that have extra needs. And my view is you don’t take the groups, the school districts that are functioning well, and take money away from them and redistribute it. We need a second pool of capital that can go into support schools that are struggling. We need a better look at wraparound services.

I’d like to see that be bipartisan. I mean, I’ve got to think this is one of the areas, maybe one of the last stands, everyone can make together. And I actually think Nathan Deal made a valiant effort to try to get there. But again, I believe he was stopped largely by his own party. … This is an on ramp to the American dream for people. This is one of the great equalizers of opportunity in our country. You know, public education was a revelation when this country was founded. They wanted — now they missed a few of us along the way — but they gave the vote liberally for the time in which this country was founded and the Constitution was written and part of how they ensure we would still have a vibrant and functioning democracy

AGE: 39

OCCUPATION: Chairperson of Jack Cooper Holdings

FAMILY:

RESIDENCE:

EDUCATION:

CAMPAIGN WEBSITE:

CAMPAIGN EMAIL: and an engaged and educated citizenry was public schools. This should be one of the crown jewels of this country’s achievements. And to see it fully funded only once in 16 years is an embarrassment. …

Yeah. It’s not the right approach. So I have 47 terminals in our core business, for example. If one of them or say three of them are dramatically over performing and three of them are dramatically underperforming, I don’t take from the over performers to equal out the underperformers. I send resources to the underperformers, and I change the leadership of those terminals to bring them up to the right level. That’s the appropriate response. So no, I don’t agree with taking money from one district to another, but I do agree that we need to look at what new revenue streams potentially could create additional pools of capital to support districts that are struggling. There are plenty of options for that.

I think on gun laws, the primary principle for me is always this: If you’re a violent criminal or recidivist offender, if you are a domestic abuser or if you are mentally ill, you should not have a firearm. And I would hope those three things are things that everyone across the political spectrum can agree on. As long as we’re enforcing the statutes we have along those three lines, I think that’s a very good place to start. … I do think we need to be very careful about the training and licensure requirements. I do think it needs to be a continued conversation about whether or not we’re making sure those three categories of people do not have firearms: violent recidivist offenders, domestic abusers, mentally ill. But if we get those three things done, you know, I think we’re doing pretty well.

I certainly would. In fact, I’d support all public officials in the state of Georgia being subject to those laws. I think it’s most interesting that our state legislators carved themselves out of those laws that city officials have been subject to for some time now.

… Number one, I think if we were to use the full first 28 days in a more even fashion and perhaps focus more on the policy construction and less on the politics, things like stripping away Delta tax credits over the NRA tussle or passing a resolution about kneeling football players on the field. Perhaps if we stopped allowing the state Senate to chase those rabbits and instead had a clear set of priorities from day one of the session of the problems and issues facing Georgia families that we would like to tackle, then you could actually have a clear touchstone.

And again, this should be bipartisan. We should be able to agree on some basic stuff. We don’t have to agree on the approach or the policy construction. It’s not that hard, guys, to work with people who disagree with you. I have 2,000 teamsters and machinists in my company, 1,500 nonunion employees, Fortune 100 clients, institutional investors, independent board of directors and world class management team. If I can get all of those constituencies rowing in the same direction, I surely don’t think that there’s an excuse for the state Senate not to have the same ability. If we set the priorities upfront and say that these priorities have to be addressed before we chase any other shiny object, it should be really clear. You should have plenty of time … Nobody should be forced to vote on a bill they don’t have time to read.