Miller said in the 2014 General Assembly he would back Governor Nathan Deal's initiative to eliminate Georgia's 'revolving door' for youthful offenders.
"I think that's critical for the well being of the young people in Georgia but also critical for the economic condition of Georgia in what we are spending out of our state budget to incarcerate non-violent first time offenders," Miller said. "We would be reducing the overall expense in having a rehabilitative approach to criminal offenders. We need them to be contributing members of society, not sitting in a prison cell someplace because they made a minor mistake in life."
The Gainesville car dealer turned state legislator also told Kiwanians a key to getting more business into Georgia is making the state's tax structure more competitive and a way to do that is to get rid of the state income tax. Miller said he is not opposed to eliminating the state income tax but the challenge is how to do it without losing a huge chunk of state revenue.
"The reason it becomes so difficult is that one percent of the Georgia state income tax represents $1.5-billion," Miller said. "Our tax is six percent and if you eliminated all of it you'd be talking about $9-billion. That's half of the budget. We can't cut the budget in half, we can reduce it, but we can't cut it in half."
Miller also said he would support venture capital, outside investment attracted to Georgia, and a focus on existing business and industry as well as new industry from outside the state.
Miller responded to several questions from his Kiwanis luncheon audience, among them, what to do about state transportation funding. Miller said an across the board tax for transportation would not pass and he would not support it, although he supported the T-SPLOST which failed to pass in North Georgia counties including Hall.
Miller said he had no answer to raising the funding needed for improving and expanding transportation, except that it is a serious need. He said a possible option is legislation calling for a T-SPLOST held by individual cities and counties to meet local transportation needs.
"That might be one of the options going forward," Miller speculated. "But we have to address transportation. We can't have economic development without good transportation, or transportation without economic development.They are hand in glove."
Miller has served as one of the governor's senate floor leaders and this year was named chairman of the Senate Majority Caucus.
State Senator Butch Miller (R) Gainesville Dist. 49 speaks to the Gainesville Kiwanis Club
http://accesswdun.com/article/2013/6/262917