Cutting Taxes

• Consistently fought to cut taxes and has never voted for a property or income tax increase for Georgians.
• Sponsored legislation to cut senior citizens' taxes by increasing the Homestead Exemption for seniors from $15,000 to $25,000, providing much-needed property tax relief.
• Worked to implement a tax freeze for all Fulton County residents.

Education

• Sponsor of "Georgia's Promise" an initiative to ensure that all Georgians in the top 10% of their high school class can attend any public university in Georgia.
• Sponsor of nationally acclaimed legislation allowing the Georgia Board of Education to add an elective academic course on the Bible's influence on literature, art, music and culture.
• Powerful advocate for increased funding for all of Fulton County schools, particularly in underfunded areas of South Fulton County.
• Unyielding supporter of the HOPE Scholarship and reduction of class sizes, particularly in primary education.

Social Justice

• Led the effort in the 2003 Georgia State Senate to eliminate the possibility of restoring the Confederate Battle emblem to the Georgia State Flag.
• Worked to pass the Georgia Predatory Lending Act, which protects our citizens from deceptively marketed high-interest loans.
• Served as the House sponsor for the Georgia Hate Crimes Bill, to increase punishment for criminals motivated by bias or prejudice.
• Resisted service cuts to MARTA that impact those least able to afford them. Helped provide state funding to buy new buses and improve service and accountability.
• Aggressively opposed tying HOPE scholarships to SAT scores.

Health Care

• Fought against cuts to Medicare, Medicaid, and PeachCare, helping to ensure every Georgian has a right to quality health care.
• Helped pass legislation to require coverage for breast cancer screening and help fund treatment for low-income women.
• Worked to pass legislation providing for a referendum on a smoking ban for the city of Douglasville.
• Co-authored the "Smoke Free Air Act" to ban smoking in indoor spaces in order to prevent cancer-related illness from second-hand smoke.

Water & Sewer Issues

• Co-authored and passed legislation providing for a sales tax referendum that, if passed, will substantially reduce future water bills for South Fulton residents.
• Supported $500 million of low-cost state loans to further reduce the cost of court-ordered repairs.
• Supported creating the South Fulton Regional Water and Sewer Authority study committee to address the water and infrastructure needs of our citizens in South Fulton County.

Neighborhood & Environmental Protection

• Co-authored legislation to expand and protect green space in South Fulton through the transfer of developmental rights.
• Co-authored and passed legislation creating local code enforcement boards to assist citizens in maintaining clean and safe neighborhoods, which enhance residents' property values.
• Led and participated in a Clean Community Initiative, which provided for a community clean-up involving more than seven hundred (700) volunteers in South Fulton and Douglas counties.
• Passed legislation to help clean up abandoned properties and force absentee landlords to take responsibility.

Public Safety

• Authored and passed legislation which will help put 100 new police and firefighters on the street without raising taxes by consolidating local courts, saving taxpayers $7 millon a year.
• Increased penalties against people who take guns to schools and against people who sell guns to our young people.
• Attacked prostitution by supporting legislation to increase the penalties for pimping.