I Support David Shafer For Lieutenant Governor

I support David Shafer, and I’ve voted for him both in the May primary and during early voting during the run-off.  I’m proud to support my friend, and I’m proud to cast my ballot for him to become Georgia’s next Lieutenant Governor.  I know he will do a great job.

I have known David Shafer for a number of years, and I know he’s a solid conservative and effective legislator.  Candidates quickly take on the role as an “Outsider”.  It’s, unfortunately, necessary in this day and age of #AntiEstablishment everything.  It seems that the ability to be an effective elected official is seen to be more of a negative more so than a positive.  It’s unfortunate, but it’s reality.  However, an effective legislator who can build relationships and consensus will be an effective leader to help guide policy.  That’s what our Republican nominee for lieutenant governor should be, and it’s what our great state deserves and needs.  I believe the person who best fits that is Senator David Shafer.

David is a fighter, and he has authored and sponsored a number of policy initiatives during his service in the Georgia Senate.  One of the hallmarks as senator is the zero-based budgeting bill (which he introduced five different times over the years) was finally signed into law by Governor Nathan Deal in 2012. David outlined his motivation for zero-based budgeting in a 2013 chat with the Gwinnett County Chamber of Commerce:

[Senator David Shafer] noted that the state has reduced spending from a high of $21 billion in 2007 to a recession low of $15.9 billion, and said that despite these reductions in real spending, state government is now better and more efficient.

Senator Shafer placed much of the blame for the ever-increasing state budget prior to the recession on what he called continuation budgeting, noting that what legislators receive from the governor is a list of proposed new programs, along with a single line item that represents all appropriations from the previous year. Shafer called for zero-based budgeting at the state level so that out of date programs could be eliminated. He said that Governor Deal’s elimination of several thousand state positions in a previous budget didn’t really remove any workers. Instead it just took away money that was being spent elsewhere because the positions were no longer needed, but were being funded through the continuation budgeting process.

In 2014, David Shafer sponsored Senate Resolution 415 which placed an amendment to cap the state income tax at 6 percent.  The amendment was ratified by voters that November, and Georgia became the first state in the Union to cap its state income tax. I believe David has the policy chops for the job, and I believe he can rally around good legislative ideas that Senators drop in the hopper.

A sound understanding of policy is important.  Ideas for legislation are great, but navigating those ideas through the legislative waters without relationships with fellow legislators or with the governor’s office diminish the chance of success.  A candidate with good, principled policy ideas must have the ability to build consensus to get those ideas moving through the legislative process.  I know David can do that.  After all, the Senator was elected unanimously as President Pro-Tempore of the Georgia Senate in 2013 and reelected to that post twice.  He has earned the respect and trust of his colleagues, so I’m confident that he will be an effective leader of the State Senate.  I believe he will work with our next (Republican) governor and Speaker David Ralston to craft and pass conservative policy that will help Georgia continue to prosper.

I hope you will join me in supporting and voting for David Shafer for Lieutenant Governor on July 24th.

Note: This is strictly a personal endorsement and doesn’t reflect the views of the other contributors of GeorgiaPol.

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