The number one issue in Senate District 45 is traffic congestion. Because of rapid growth in the Metropolitan Atlanta regional area, Gwinnett County citizens have been stuck in gridlock on Interstate 85 and Georgia Highway 78. Historically, our citizens have stepped up to the plate and responded by approving special local option penny sales tax referendums providing construction of major corridors like Jimmy Carter Boulevard, Ronald Reagan Parkway, Sugarloaf Parkway, and Peachtree Industrial Boulevard. The county has addressed traffic mitigation with road widenings, intersection improvements, bridge building and maintenance, sidewalk improvements, and bus transit services. Gwinnett County has invested over $1.25 billion total since 1988.

Transportation funding in Georgia comes from two sources - a 7½ cent per gallon fuel excise tax and from 3% of the 4% sales tax collected on fuel. In the FY 2009 state budget, these revenues are estimated to total $826,557,516. In addition, 26 million is appropriated in state funds, federal funds are budgeted at $1.269 Billion and agency funds at $7.4 million for a total DOT budget of $2.1 billion. This represents 5.6% of the $37.4 billion state total funds budget. The most recent local highway project in Gwinnett County completed is the Wayne Shackleford interchange of Interstate 85 and Georgia Highway 316. This project cost $193 million and has taken approximately ten years to plan, design, and build. It has drastically reduced drive time for citizens of District 45.

As City Mayor, I was concerned about re-paving existing roads, signalization, school traffic, and safety with the local police department. As a county commissioner in 1990, I was concerned about paving rural roads, establishing east-west corridors, and expanding intersection improvements. Controlled zoning was also a major objective. Today as a legislator, I am aggressively fighting to reduce traffic commute times through regional co-operative planning and building. To do this requires additional federal and state dollars for transportation.

I commit to the citizens of District 45 to continue:

• Fighting for an optional regional T-SPLOST initiative in the metro 15 county region. I voted and lobbied for this in the 2008 General Assembly session and will continue lobbying the Executive branch, the Senate and the House members until we are successful.
• Fighting to make sure transportation dollars are spent here, in the traffic choked suburbs of Metro Atlanta and not building rural "roads to nowhere" for bogus economic development plans.
• Fighting against the so-called congressional balancing formula that formulates where transportation dollars will be spent based upon gerrymandered political district lines. Dollars need to be allocated based upon where roads and improvements are justified.
• Fighting for tax credits to business and citizens who practice carpooling and job networking.
• Fighting to reorganize the Georgia DOT "good ole boy system" to promote accountability, flexibility, and expediting projects.
• Continue examining public-private initiatives to build new toll roads. We do not need to tax citizens on already built existing roads they have paid for, but we do need to start the initiative of regional pathways.
• Fighting to divert truck traffic and limit trucks during rush hour.

As Republicans, we want a government that is efficient, customer-friendly and performance-based. We believe that we should focus on the interests of the governed, not the government. During the 2008 General Assembly session, the Senate presented its principles of budgeting to guide the Senate Appropriations Committee in developing the FY 08 and FY 09 appropriations bills and future appropriations bills. It passed the committee unanimously, and we agreed to:

• Adhere to sound long term fiscal policy that will leave the State with a strong financial foundation for future generations.
• Limit budget growth based on current economic climate and key growth percentages.
• Establish policy priorities through program budgeting.
• Conduct climate evaluations and zero base budget analysis of programs to ensure these programs are efficiently and effectively meeting state needs and objectives.
• Refelct all revenue sources to create transparency and show the full funding needs of a program.
• Fund a full year fiscal plan to allow all major policy priorities to compete against one another during consideration for the general budget.
• Limit mid year adjustments to critical, constitutional, or emergency priorities.
• Evaluate local projects/bond projects for state wide application, regional impact, inclusion on agency priority lists, and importance to Senate district.

During the 2009 session, I will support:

• Freeze property reassessments to prevent backdoor tax increases at the local level.
• Pass the taxpayer Protection Act that limits growth in future state spending. Any revenue that exceeds inflation and population growth must be used to cut taxes, reduce debt, or placed in a rainy day fund.
• Look at every service and agency ad see what can be done for less money or better quality by the private sector. Privitazation should be considered in examing old programs and before any requests for proposals are written.
• Cut a tax. Any tax. By any amount. This includes the car tag tax and eliminates the state's quarter mill property tax. I supported this in the 2008 session and will continue to do so.
• The FairTax proposed by Congressman John Linder. I have supported the FairTax for years (even though it is a federal issue) and will continue to support it.

Georgia is one of the fastest growing states in the nation, and unfortunately our health care system has faced increased demands with more georgians needing access and also being able to afford medical care both physically and psychologically. In 2006, 1.6 million Georgians (nearly one out of every five) were without health insurance coverage. Twenty percent of those uninsured citizens were children. We have acted aggressively to combat an over-burdened system with little federal legislation or assistance. Since 2003, we have a record of:

• Ending frivolous lawsuits with major TORT reform.
• Improved transparency of health costs and quality,
• Saved Peach Care for Kids. Peach Care is funded at $341 million for the FY 09 budget.
• Reduced the demands on healthcare infrastructure for illegal immigrants.
• Analyzed and created the state-wide TRAUMA commission by funding $60 million.
• Reformed the outdated, regulatory CERTIFICATE of NEED program.
• Given tax breaks for the self-employed and offered consumers the option of low cost health insurance.
• Expanded the use of health savings accounts on the state level. Georgia is currently 40th in the nation in the number of physicians per capita - we have aggressively begun expansion of our medical education programs, especially promoting family medical practices and adding additional residency slots across the state.
• Improved Meals on Wheels by $1 million to replace federal funds that were cut.

In the next term, I will continue pursuing:

• Implementation of a state-wide trauma system. Georgian's are at a 20% greater risk for fatality than any other state in the nation because of our lack of emergency networking.
• Continue examining ways to fund a high risk insurance pool that helps small business people provide for affordable insurance to their employees.
• Looking at options for the elderly between personal care homes and nursing homes with community care service programs, keeping the elderly in their homes instead of institutions. The 09 budget includes $4.1 million for the prevention of eldely abuse and neglect.

Since 2000, Georgia has grown by more than 1.3 million new citizens. As Georgia's population has increased, the state's school systems have had to accomodate that growth at all levels, from pre-kindergarten programs through its colleges and universities.

Funding for education was a high priority in both the FY 08 ammended budget and the FY 09 budget.

• Education, including pre-k, k-12, and higher education, comprises over 56% of the state's $21.16 billion budget.
• The General Assembly appropriated over $11.8 billion for all education agencies in FY 09.

What we have accomplished:

• Charter School Systems
  -Warren County - May 2008
  -City of Marietta - June 2008
  -City of Decatur - June 2008
  -City of Gainesville - June 2008
• Charter schools maximize the potential for educational excellence and offer the truest form of local control and flexibilty.
• Created the Georgia Virtual High School.
• Career Academies.
• Require that at least 65% of all tax dollars be spent in the classroom and not on the bureaucracy.
• Georgia Special Needs Scholarships.
• Saved the HOPE Scholarship and kept it from being raided.
• Reduced class sizes.
• Graduation coaches.
• Austerity cut reductions restored by $50 million.

Where we are going in the 2009 session:

• Examine CRCT program and evaluate its effectiveness.
• Evaluate school vouchers for failing systems.
• Improving and expanding education schools by advancing career academies.
• Examine capitol funding and target school systems with growth needs.

My main assignment at the Georgia State Capitol is serving on the Appropriations Committee as Sub-Committee Chairman responsible for writing the fiscal year budgets of the Department of Human Resources (DHR), Department of Labor (DOL), and the Department of Veterans Services. It is a monumental task every year that takes about nine months to formulate.

DHR is composed of 36 seperate agencies providing services to adults and children in need across the state. Some of these services include child welfare and foster care, welfare-to-work assistance programs such as child support services and child care assistance, aging services, mental health services, and substance abuse treatment.

The support for needy families is administered with the federal government through a program called Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF). This program has successfully decreased by 87.5% since FY 04. In FY 2007, there were 41,567 recipients. The concept of a "help up" instead of a "hand out" is working in Georgia. Since FY 04, 5,570 of the households that received TANF have achieved sustained employment and no longer receive TANF funds. Only 11% of families leaving TANF have returned after a year of ending TANF.

Since February of 2008, I have served on the Re-organization of DHR Executive Committee, appointed by the Lt. Governor, Casey Cagle. Our task is to examine the function of the Department of Human Resources and to develop plans for improved functioning, efficiency, consumer satisfaction, and to examine cost/benefit analysis. It has been a slow process due to the enormous scope of services offered by DHR that is also intertwined with the Department of Community Health.

What will be new in 2009?

• As our Georgia economy struggles in late 2008, it is imperative that we continue with our philosophy that less government is better government and keep our welfare roles low.
• Continue welfare-to-work programs.
• Stregthen public health initiatives.
• Continue childcare programs so parents can go to work.
• Continue funding for improved elderly programs allowing them to stay in their homes.
• Continue funding Family Violence Shelters.
• Examine and fund programs to stop child trafficking and child prostitution.
• Implementation of the reorganization of Department of Human Resources and Department of Community Health.
• Reorganization of Mental Health.

*Information and data shared by Gwinnett County, Senate Budget and Evaluation Office, Senate Research Office, Senate Legislative Council, Office of Secretary of the Senate, U.S. Census Bureau, and Office of the President Pro Tem*

When Governor Sonny Perdue became the first Republican Governor in Georgia in 130 years, ethics reform was initiated bringing Georgia from one of the worst states in the nation for ethics towards the top of the list. In 2007 and 2008, proposed revisions passed the Senate but stalled in the House. Campaign finance disclosure and government transparency will remain a priority in 2009.

Click here to watch Senator Unterman in action on local ethics reform in 2006.

I helped passed legislation this year enabling Georgia consumers to "freeze" their credit which stops criminals from being able to access your credit history. In fact, Georgia ranked #7 in the nation for number of identity theft cases in 2006. And I fought to keep the cost of protection affordable: $3 per credit agency, and FREE for senior citizens. Now, with a one-time authorization, Georgians can tell the credit rating agencies to lock their details from prying eyes. Beginning August 1, Georgians can take advantage of this new protection.

Click here for instructions on how to freeze your credit.