Editor’s note: The AJC invited both Georgia attorney general candidates for the Nov. 3 election, Democratic Rep. Tanya Miller and Republican Sen. Brian Strickland, to write guest opinion columns about their vision for enforcing open-government laws and other issues related to the office. Find Miller’s essay at this link.
Growing up on a farm — one of the last row crop farms in Henry County — I saw my parents take on forces more powerful than them when the local government used eminent domain to take parts of our family’s cherished land. That experience planted the seed for a career in the law so that I could give voice to those who deserve a fighting chance.
That ethos has defined my career as a lawyer and as a state legislator, and with your support, it’s how I’ll carry out the duties of Georgia’s attorney general for the next four years.
I’m a husband and a father of two, and I put faith and family at the center of my life. This is my vow to you: When I’m the state’s chief law enforcement officer, I’ll protect your family just like I protect my own.
Legislative record focused on affordability and families
Credit: Georgia General Assembly
Credit: Georgia General Assembly
Voters should look to candidates’ records to predict future performance in office. At the Gold Dome, I’ve always represented diverse districts with common-sense leadership to improve quality of life for working families.
I worked on keeping Georgia affordable long before it became a political buzzword. I delivered the most groundbreaking mental healthcare legislation in the state’s history, requiring insurance companies to cover mental health issues just as they do physical health.
I chaired a study on childcare — a huge expense for many Georgia families — and enacted new tax credits for working families, resources for employers that want to provide childcare to their workforce and new investment in afterschool programs. I delivered on income tax rebates and rate cuts and fought to control spiraling property taxes, the latter an effort obstructed by the Democrats.
For teachers and other state employees, I led to extend paternity leave and to create a new period of paid leave for new mothers recovering from childbirth. Likewise, I sponsored legislation to go after companies that discriminate against pregnant women in the workplace. I pushed legislation to allow for sick leave offered by private employers to be used to care for other sick family members.
As a senator, I stood up for tenants abused by landlords, and as an attorney, filed suit on behalf homeowners victimized by unfair foreclosure processes.
I’ll take the same approach as your next attorney general: standing up for regular Georgians and their families.
As Senate Judiciary chairman, I worked with first lady Marty Kemp to crack down on human trafficking and with Gov. Brian Kemp on his goal to attack the street gangs at the heart of so much of our violent crime.
Going after gangs and protecting public’s access to records critical
As attorney general, I’ll build on the human trafficking and gang units established under incumbent Chris Carr to attack those scourges wherever they surface in Georgia. I also will hold to account any prosecutor throughout the state who fails to uphold the laws intended to protect us.
Criminal gangs not only terrorize neighborhoods but also engage in the organized retail crime that destabilizes our retailers and drives up costs for law-abiding citizens. These syndicates operate regionally, not locally, and I’ll take a statewide approach to connect the dots between crimes committed hundreds of miles apart.
Our state’s Open Records laws are an essential tool for a well-informed citizenry. Public records belong to all of us — not just politicians and bureaucrats. Exemptions meant to protect the integrity of police investigations or the early negotiations of economic development projects serve a public good, but I will prosecute officials who abuse those exemptions as all-encompassing loopholes for secrecy.
I will demand a responsive mediation process that prevents wasteful court costs, punishment of governments acting in bad faith and ongoing education of local officials to err on the side of public transparency.
It’s about having a fair process that people can trust, and I learned that as a child watching my parents’ battle against eminent domain. My dad ended up losing part of his farm and profession, but we encountered a court process where we were given a voice and had a chance against the power of government.
With the right leadership in office, we can stand up for regular Georgians without threatening our No. 1 business climate, which boosts opportunity and prosperity. There’s a reason approximately 129 people move to Georgia every day while blue states with activist attorneys general are losing population.
As a state legislator, I have a record of taking on real problems that impact our families instead of chasing headlines and putting political parties over people. I’ll do the same as your attorney general.
State Sen. Brian Strickland, R-McDonough, is the Republican nominee for Georgia attorney general.
Send letters to the editor of 250 words or fewer with your name, city or town and contact information to letters@ajc.com.
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