Georgia has the sixth-largest public school system in the US, but our public education system has been consistently underfunded for the last two decades. In failing to fully fund our schools, the legislature has cut $10.2 billion in funding for our state’s children, including more than $600 million in Cobb County alone. This equates to more than $6,000 for every student currently in the educational system. This discrepancy is felt most in districts in rural Georgia and communities with higher levels of poverty. Yet, many lawmakers who passed new voucher legislation cited “failing schools” as the justification for the legislation, conveniently omitting their role in underfunding these schools.
Democratic Candidate Micheal Garza
My Priorities for District 46
Support Our Public Schools
Micheal’s Educational Priorities
Modernize Public School Funding
Updating our 40-year-old educational funding formula to meet the modern needs of our students and reduce tax burdens on local districts.
Promote Inclusive Classroom Environments
Stopping the yearly attacks from legislators against our most marginalized communities and instead valuing the diverse cultures and identities of our students so that every child feels they belong in our public schools and can thrive.
Prioritize Public Education
Repealing the expansion of vouchers and instead using those funds to recruit teachers, reduce class sizes, and invest in programs to improve educational outcomes for students throughout the state.
Restore Educator Autonomy Over Curriculum
Repealing the trio of censorship laws passed in 2022 and trusting our professional educators to create lesson plans that make sense for their individual classrooms.
Keep Our Communities Safe
Gun violence is the number one killer of our children as we have seen deaths of children by firearm almost double in Georgia in just the last five years alone. The majority of those deaths are preventable. I support common-sense measures to reduce gun violence while protecting the rights of responsible Georgia gun owners. These proven measures, seen in neighboring states like Florida, have 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 past time we came together to act to ensure the safety of our children and loved ones.
Micheal’s Gun Safety Priorities
Promote Safe Storage of Firearms
Supporting Rep. Au’s Pediatric Safe Gun Storage bill that requires that firearms be properly secured, especially around children. Bills like this create a culture of awareness for new gun owners that will reduce suicide rates among our youth and prevent unintentional shootings.
Restore Permits to Conceal Carry in Public
Repealing the permitless carry legislation passed in 2022 and creating a permit process that requires that a person pass a background check and complete firearm safety training before carrying a concealed gun in public. This strikes a balance between responsible gun ownership and benefiting public safety which is why a large majority of law enforcement organizations support a healthy permit process.
Implement Extreme Risk or "Red Flag" Laws
Sponsoring legislation that allows immediate family members and law enforcement to petition a court for the temporary removal of firearms from dangerous situations where a court finds that a person poses a serious risk of injuring themselves or others with a firearm. 32% of mass shooters, like the Parkland shooter, exhibited dangerous warning signs before the shooting. These laws allow people in crisis the chance to get the help they need while protecting the public.
Require Background Checks on Every Firearm Sale
Closing loopholes to prevent people with dangerous histories from circumventing the background check system by purchasing their firearms online or at gun shows. Each year, there are over one million ads online offering firearms for sale that would not legally require a background check under current laws. Those sales should require going through a federally licensed firearms dealer to complete a background check on the purchaser prior to the transfer.
Restore Women's Health Choices
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.
Micheal’s Women's Health Priorities
Codify Roe Protections Into Our Constitution
Repealing the six-week ban on abortions and putting a measure on the ballot for voters to enshrine Roe protections on abortion access into our state constitution.
Reduce Maternal and Infant Mortality
Taking measures to improve our state’s horrible maternal mortality rates like implicit bias training, expanding Medicaid, and supporting the role doulas and midwives have in better outcomes, especially in Black communities.
Increase Maternity Care Access Throughout Georgia
Creating an environment in which medical professionals want to practice in our state, especially in rural areas. Over half the counties in our state do not have an OBGYN which limits maternal care to those with limited mobility.
Expand Healthcare Options
Healthier Georgians create healthier schools, healthier workplaces, and healthier communities. 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 health insurance to over 150,000 uninsured Georgia women, and cover an additional 32,000 uninsured veterans in the state.
Micheal’s Healthcare Priorities
End Kemp's Pathways Program & Expand Medicaid
Expanding Medicaid and acknowledging that Governor Kemp’s alternative Pathways plan has not helped improve the coverage gap at all covering only 4,000 Georgians in its first year. By contrast, North Carolina had signed up over 100,000 residents within the first month when it expanded Medicaid. This has strong bipartisan support, even from GOP legislators.