As a legislator, I have been elected to be your voice on a variety of legislative concerns. Some votes have the potential to affect every Georgian. Other votes may only affect a small segment of our population. But, each vote I take seriously. Obviously, no legislator can be an expert on every topic, and often we must not only rely upon our own research, but upon experts in their fields to give us factual foundations for our decisions. With that accomplished, I also seek to apply certain principles to legislation before voting. The Eight Point Test is a personal code I developed to help determine whether legislation will best serve the people of Georgia.

The Eight-Point Test Will it... Decrease the size of government? Decrease the tax burden? Protect and bless the people? Be constitutional? Empower the family? Give more personal freedom? Encourage responsibility? Promote morality?

TAX REFORM

Fiscal responsibility and less taxes are classic Republican goals. There is too much government waste. There is also, on occasion, government fraud. Tax reform will have to work hand-in-hand with ethics reform.

But, common sense solutions to budget concerns will go a long way toward saving taxpayers hard earned dollars. I would like to see the automatic spending of the supplemental budget stopped by requiring a 2/3 majority vote and restricting supplemental budget monies to high priority items. I would also like to end unfair tax collection practices on businesses. Currently the State collects estimated sales taxes prior to those dollars ever being the business owner's hands.

We must also find a way to fund education without continuing to burden property owners. I would support converting the school portion of property tax to a sales tax to be collected by the state and distributed back to counties based on FTE counts. Additionally, I would support the reduction of income tax to be replaced by a sales tax. Overall, l want to see a reduction in the tax burden and the simplification of our tax system.

EDUCATION

Educating children is a sacred trust. Parental authority should be respected. Children should be nurtured and provided with a safe, disciplined learning environment with a strong emphasis on the basics; reading, writing, math, science, and American history. Traditional classroom teaching works! We can take the best that technology has to offer to make learning more innovative without giving way to harmful fads and unproven teaching methods.

Parents must be extremely vigilant in watching legislation. There is a disturbing trend in education that is ever encroaching on parental rights. This ranges from lowering the age of children entering school to undermining moral values in the home with the teaching of tolerance of the homosexual lifestyle.

I do not believe government should have a monopoly on education. I support school choice, especially for students trapped in low performing schools. I believe government can properly encourage higher education by providing incentives to save for future educational needs. Public schools can be more open to home schoolers in various programs and accommodate religious liberty opportunities, such as Released Time.

Higher Educational Savings Accounts	Establishes a method of saving money for the payment of qualified higher education expenses.
Funding of Elective Courses	Provides that local boards of education are authorized to add elective courses for students in specified grades and provides state funding of such additional elective courses.
Protecting HOPE Scholarships	Insures that HOPE Scholarships are protected by establishing a standard (B) grade for all graduates of Georgia high schools. Also eliminates the fee charges should the HOPE reserves drop below the target level. These measures should insure HOPE scholarships last well into the future.
School Child Protection Act	Provides that each local board of education shall adopt policies that prohibit unruly behavior on school buses, shall require such prohibition to be included in student codes of conduct and allows for suspension of unruly students from school transportation. Most recently Senator Williams also supported the suspension of drivers' licenses for students who are unruly in school.

SOCIAL ISSUES

There are growing pressures in our society to call good evil and to call evil good. It is a sad commentary on our times that we now have to introduce legislation which would protect the Boy Scouts of America from being coerced to lower its moral standards to accept those promoting the homosexual lifestyle. It is an upside down world when the accusation of "discrimination" can be leveled against those who are rightly able to discern between morality and immorality. The "new tolerance" of today's society means the absence of moral standards.

Tolerance is not a virtue when it allows licentiousness to increase. Freedom is not a virtue when it takes the life of an unborn child. Free speech is not a virtue when it perverts the First Amendment to promote pornography and curtail religious expression. Those in government have a responsibility to defend the principles laid down by the Founding Fathers of our nation. Government has the role to protect the weakest among us and to be a guardian against that which would tear down the moral fabric of our society.

Children's Internet Protection Act	Provides for technology protection measures for school computers with Internet access; conditions funding for electronic technology in schools on adoption of Internet safety policies; provides for technology protection measures for public library computers with Internet access; conditions funding for electronic technology in public libraries on adoption of Internet safety policies.
Woman's Right to Know or Informed Consent	Requires that a woman give her informed consent prior to an abortion; requires that certain information be provided to or made available to a female prior to an abortion; requires a written acknowledgment of receipt of such information.
Defense of Marriage Act	A constitutional amendment establishing marriage as the union between a man and a women. This act will be voted on by the people of Georgia during 2004 general election.

TRANSPORTATION

Governor Perdue has been very aggressive in funding 15.5 billion dollars through bonds to address traffic congestion issues in the metro and economic development issues in rural Georgia.

I have passed several bills as chairman of Transportation to streamline the building of road and rail in Georgia. I am also a proponent of The Beltway and the Atlanta Streetcar projects that will provide connectivity inside the perimeter of Atlanta.

Public Private Initiative (SB 257)

Allows private companies to propose and finance new transportation infrastructure such as toll roads and HOV lanes. Currently the state cannot build these structures within a reasonable time due to lack of motor fuel tax revenue.

MEDICAID

Medicaid is an out of control line item in the budget. We are working on issues of utilization, eligibility, and provider fees in an attempt to get cost under control and provide the best health care to the truly needy of society. Presently we are looking at a managed care approach to better deal with Medicaid costs and services.

TORT REFORM

While everyone deserves their day in court, it is important that premiums are not driven so high by overzealous trial lawyers that business and medical communities are no longer willing to do business in Georgia. The result of ridiculously high insurance rates incurred to cover lawsuits has in turn caused consumer's fees to skyrocket. Without Tort Reform we are moving to a dangerous situation of high consumer costs with little availability of needed services. Each year doctors, hospitals and businesses are closing their doors in Georgia because they can't afford to stay open. Tort Reform is designed to protect the future interests of Georgians and insure their children have the medical and business opportunities they desire.

AGRICULTURE

Georgia has a rich agricultural history. Most Georgians have a rural heritage and many can still recall growing up on the family farm. Yet, this way of life is endangered in today's economic climate. Farmers have traditionally had difficulty making ends meet, but foreign imports, water shortages, and rising land costs are taking a higher toll. My own family has experienced the near loss of the family farm, and I, personally, had to make the choice to give up farming or face a financially bleak future. I identify with the plight of farmers and seek input from farmers whom I consider my Agricultural Advisory Team. If you are involved in farming and interested in this advisory team, please email tommie@tommiewilliams.com.

Water Conservation Incentives	Creates the Agricultural Water Conservation Incentive Program.
Agricultural Water Conservation Incentive Program	Allows the state to participate with farmers in the construction of private ponds, waterways, buffers and other measures that improve water quality. I am also working on water issues that will protect the farmer's ability to irrigate.

SECOND AMENDMENT

As with social issues, the liberal left is always on the attack against the Second Amendment. I am a firm defender of our U.S. Constitution and the Bill of Rights. Any upright American citizen has the right to keep and bear arms, and I will do all I can do ensure this freedom is protected.

Firearm Transport

Shall not forbid any person who is not among those enumerated as ineligible for a license under Code Section 16-11-129 from transporting a loaded firearm in any private passenger motor vehicle.