Democratic Candidate Micheal Garza

Where I Stand On The Issues

An Economy Where All Georgians Can Thrive

Georgia fared better than most states during COVID-19 and boasts one of the lowest unemployment rates in the country. However, the economic success within our state is not enjoyed by all. Georgia ranks in the bottom half in wages and is almost dead last when it comes to the success of small businesses in the first year. A major reason is that we prioritize giving massive corporate tax breaks to attract out-of-state business, around $9 billion each year, as opposed to investing in helping Georgians get their small businesses off the ground. This is simply unsustainable if we want a thriving economy felt from the suburbs of metro Atlanta to our rural communities in the black belt.

We have to view small business ownership and success as the driving engine that powers our state economy, that sustains investment in our schools and communities, and that revitalizes areas long ignored. This means expanding affordable broadband so that rural families have the tools to further their work skills and education. This means expanding access to capital for young entrepreneurs to jumpstart new business ventures as well as ongoing no-cost counseling services to help business owners build a solid foundation or to stay afloat in times of hardship. This means looking first to state and local businesses where possible when opening up bidding processes to secure government contracts.

This doesn’t mean we stop trying to attract out-of-state corporations to our state. In fact, investing in our communities will make us an even more desired destination, because we will have the best environment in which to attract and keep talent. And we would much rather have companies doing business in this state who have a stake in its success as opposed to those simply looking for the best deal.

A Quality Public Education For Our Kids

Georgia has the sixth-largest public school system in the United States, but our public education system has been consistently underfunded for the last two decades. In that time, the state legislature has cut $10.2 billion in funding for our state’s children, equating to more than $6,000 for every student in the educational system right now. This discrepancy is felt most in districts in rural Georgia and communities with higher levels of poverty.

Our state constitution demands that we provide every Georgia student with a quality public education. I will support fully funding our educational system for every year that I represent our district. Rather than using federal dollars in ARPA toward balancing the next year’s budget, we should use these funds to close the gaps created by years of underfunding districts across the state. This includes fully funding the state’s sparsity and equalization grants and providing additional funding to districts with higher rates of poverty.

We must also provide our teachers with the best environment in which to teach our children. This includes hiring more counselors and removing administrative tasks where possible to give them more time to dedicate to students. And it means stopping anti-diversity bills which heap additional burdens on lesson planning and create an adversarial relationship between educators and parents where none should exist.

A Quality Public Education For Our Kids

Georgia has the sixth-largest public school system in the United States, but our public education system has been consistently underfunded for the last two decades. In that time, the state legislature has cut $10.2 billion in funding for our state’s children, equating to more than $6,000 for every student in the educational system right now. This discrepancy is felt most in districts in rural Georgia and communities with higher levels of poverty.

Our state constitution demands that we provide every Georgia student with a quality public education. I will support fully funding our educational system for every year that I represent our district. Rather than using federal dollars in ARPA toward balancing the next year’s budget, we should use these funds to close the gaps created by years of underfunding districts across the state. This includes fully funding the state’s sparsity and equalization grants and providing additional funding to districts with higher rates of poverty.

We must also provide our teachers with the best environment in which to teach our children. This includes hiring more counselors and removing administrative tasks where possible to give them more time to dedicate to students. And it means stopping anti-diversity bills which heap additional burdens on lesson planning and create an adversarial relationship between educators and parents where none should exist.

A Community Safe From Gun Violence and Crime

Every day, gun violence claims the lives of 100 people in this country. 2021 was one of the deadliest years in recent history. No community is immune as we watched one of our own in Cherokee County kill eight people throughout north and metro Atlanta after purchasing a firearm bought earlier that day. While some focus on issues in policing, the common thread in rising crime is the rise in unsecured guns in the state.

Rather than confronting this reality, the governor and many in his party would rather make the problem worse by instituting permitless carry, which would increase the number of guns that end up in the hands of those with dangerous criminal histories. This is a measure that puts police officers and citizens in danger, which is why it is universally opposed by law enforcement and 85% of Americans.

I support common-sense initiatives proven to reduce gun violence in our communities while protecting the rights of responsible Georgia gun owners. These include universal background checks on every purchase and transfer of firearms, awareness programs around safe gun storage especially around children, extreme risk laws to prevent someone in crisis or people with dangerous histories from accessing firearms, and sensible waiting periods on new gun purchases.

These measures exist in other states, including neighboring Florida, and each has shown to have a quantifiable impact on reducing gun violence in those states. Plus, each measure has bipartisan support, including strong support among gun owners. It is time we came together to act to ensure the safety of our children and loved ones.

A Fair, Secure, and Trusted Election System

In the 2020 election, Georgia had the highest turnout of any election in our history with almost 5 million Georgians casting ballots in the presidential election. Rather than take steps to build on that success, the state legislature curbed the use of many voting methods responsible for driving that turnout. Since S.B. 202, our state has been the flashpoint of a nationwide struggle for voting rights. At the core of this struggle is a viewpoint espoused by the Georgia House majority that our elections are less secure when more people vote. This is misguided and dangerous to our Republic.

We can and must do better. We must come together and have Georgia lead the way when it comes to voting reforms. Our political process works best when everyone participates. When everyone’s voice can be heard. And when elected officials are powerless to game the system.

I support measures to make it easier to vote and harder for politicians to cheat by taking steps to remove partisan state-level officials from the processes that govern elections. This includes repealing S.B. 202, which gives the state legislature vast new powers to fill election boards and removes the flexibility of election boards to offer more voting options in their counties. We should also put a Constitutional amendment on the ballot that creates an independent commission that administers elections with a mission of ensuring that Georgians from all walks of life can easily and securely vote in our elections and that maps are drawn to make districts fair and competitive.

In virtually every state where this has been on the ballot, voters have overwhelmingly supported these commissions, including in 14 states that voted for Trump in 2016. I have no doubt Georgians will too.

A Fair, Secure, and Trusted Election System

In the 2020 election, Georgia had the highest turnout of any election in our history with almost 5 million Georgians casting ballots in the presidential election. Rather than take steps to build on that success, the state legislature curbed the use of many voting methods responsible for driving that turnout. Since S.B. 202, our state has been the flashpoint of a nationwide struggle for voting rights. At the core of this struggle is a viewpoint espoused by the Georgia House majority that our elections are less secure when more people vote. This is misguided and dangerous to our Republic.

We can and must do better. We must come together and have Georgia lead the way when it comes to voting reforms. Our political process works best when everyone participates. When everyone’s voice can be heard. And when elected officials are powerless to game the system.

I support measures to make it easier to vote and harder for politicians to cheat by taking steps to remove partisan state-level officials from the processes that govern elections. This includes repealing S.B. 202, which gives the state legislature vast new powers to fill election boards and removes the flexibility of election boards to offer more voting options in their counties. We should also put a Constitutional amendment on the ballot that creates an independent commission that administers elections with a mission of ensuring that Georgians from all walks of life can easily and securely vote in our elections and that maps are drawn to make districts fair and competitive.

In virtually every state where this has been on the ballot, voters have overwhelmingly supported these commissions, including in 14 states that voted for Trump in 2016. I have no doubt Georgians will too.

A Healthcare System Accessible By All

Healthier Georgians create healthier schools, healthier workplaces, and healthier communities. We have learned in COVID-19 that, while we enjoy individual freedoms, ultimately, we are all connected in some way to each other. And no matter what walk of life we come from, every single one of us will need access to our healthcare systems at some point in our lives. Yet 1.4 million Georgians do not have health insurance, and it is expected that over 25% of rural Georgians will be uninsured by 2026. This ranks us near the bottom, just ahead of Texas and Oklahoma.

The simplest and most affordable way to close this gap is to opt in to the Medicaid expansion that would extend coverage to over half a million Georgians. This covers more Georgians and does so at a cheaper cost than the waiver plan offered by Governor Kemp. Not only would this help keep more rural hospital systems afloat, but it would strengthen and expand behavioral health treatment to those with mental illness or substance abuse disorders, extend health insurance to over 150,000 uninsured Georgia women, and cover an additional 32,000 uninsured veterans in the state.

This is not a partisan issue. Fifteen states won by Trump in 2020 have adopted the Medicaid expansion funds offered with the ACA. Georgia has missed out on $21 billion dollars in funding already. Our citizens cannot afford to wait any longer.

A Respect For Women's Healthcare Choices

Since the Supreme Court decided in Roe v. Wade that the right to an abortion is protected by the Constitution, abortion rates have fallen dramatically in this country. This decline is not through draconian measures like “heartbeat” bills or provider restrictions but through education, expanded access to contraceptives, and greater economic freedom for women. Unfortunately, the GA legislature believes that politicians in Atlanta know better than women and their doctors how best to handle the tough choices that can come with pregnancy.

For many people, the news of pregnancy is one of joy and hope even when it comes as a surprise. But the journey also comes with its risks. Exponentially more pregnancies end in miscarriages than abortions, as many as 1 in 8 known pregnancies and 1 in 3 unknown pregnancies. Women can also experience health challenges such as high blood pressure, gestational diabetes, preeclampsia, infection, and more. During each ultrasound or checkup, expectant families have hope for the best while understanding that at any point they can receive news that requires tough choices. It is my firm and unwavering belief that those choices are best made between a woman and her doctor.

As your representative, I will be an advocate for protecting the rights of women and people with uteruses to make their own reproductive healthcare decisions, reducing barriers to birth control, protecting women from pregnancy discrimination, and building on the recent initiative to provide paid parental leave to state employees.

A Respect For Women's Healthcare Choices

Since the Supreme Court decided in Roe v. Wade that the right to an abortion is protected by the Constitution, abortion rates have fallen dramatically in this country. This decline is not through draconian measures like “heartbeat” bills or provider restrictions but through education, expanded access to contraceptives, and greater economic freedom for women. Unfortunately, the GA legislature believes that politicians in Atlanta know better than women and their doctors how best to handle the tough choices that can come with pregnancy.

For many people, the news of pregnancy is one of joy and hope even when it comes as a surprise. But the journey also comes with its risks. Exponentially more pregnancies end in miscarriages than abortions, as many as 1 in 8 known pregnancies and 1 in 3 unknown pregnancies. Women can also experience health challenges such as high blood pressure, gestational diabetes, preeclampsia, infection, and more. During each ultrasound or checkup, expectant families have hope for the best while understanding that at any point they can receive news that requires tough choices. It is my firm and unwavering belief that those choices are best made between a woman and her doctor.

As your representative, I will be an advocate for protecting the rights of women and people with uteruses to make their own reproductive healthcare decisions, reducing barriers to birth control, protecting women from pregnancy discrimination, and building on the recent initiative to provide paid parental leave to state employees.

A System That Treats All Georgians Fairly

The killings of Ahmaud Arbery and George Floyd brought the issue of racial injustice to the forefront last summer, culminating in protests across the country, calls to “defund” the police, and a backlash that saw states pass laws to enact penalties for protesters and for banning the teaching of certain subjects in school. Rather than bring people together to discuss solutions to long avoided topics, our politicians have used these subjects to divide us even further.

It is disappointing that our dialogue on race has been politicized to be a right or left issue. It is not right or left to believe that people should be treated fairly regardless of race. It is not right or left to believe that we should strive for equitable outcomes across racial lines. It is not right or left to believe that the first step in moving forward on fixing these issues is to come together across party and racial lines and acknowledge that racial disparities do exist in this country and this state.

We can address the differences in outcomes across all areas of our way of life by tackling them head-on. First, we must ensure that any new piece of legislation we pass as a body does not widen racial disparities. We must also work with stakeholders across every sector of the state to address existing disparities in policing, healthcare, employment, housing, education, etc. This is the right thing to do, and these actions are long overdue.