Brian's Platform
SUPporting law enforcement
As I watch various cities across our country, along with their mayors and city council members, vote to limit or remove funding for their police, I also watch the violence sharply increase. I am a retired police officer and a father of a police officer and I worry about what direction our country is headed.
Once we remove this line of defense, who will we, the citizens, depend on when we need protection? I have watched and read news articles where criminal elements have taken advantage of the absence of police committing crimes hurting only those who are trying to provide for their families and provide a service to patrons. I support our police and I will fight to make sure those who we call on to protect us and our way of life is protected. If we insist on removing them completely or tying their hands where they cannot enforce the laws of our land, we will surely lose control of our communities.
For example, if we don’t have rules for our children, they will take advantage of their parents and act out. The criminal element is no different. It starts local and we as citizens need to make sure those we elect and put in office have our best issue at hand. Make sure that we as Americans don’t sacrifice our freedoms, protected and our rights not to be infringed on.
Taxes & Spending
I believe that government works best when it stays out of the lives of its citizens, and that includes taxing. You know how to spend your money better than the government. I will fight to cut wasteful spending and I will never vote for a tax increase.
Education
I will stand with our educators and with the hard-working taxpayers of our great state. As the husband of an educator, I see everyday how tirelessly they work for our students.
We must expand school choice to ensure all students have access to a high quality education. I believe that if we cut unnecessary spending we can increase teacher pay and put more money in the classroom.
Infrastructure
Infrastructure is a big concern for all of us. I will work with the local governments and their elected officials getting the infrastructure repairs and replacement that are needed. Local officials know better what roads and streets need repaired and what ones are the biggest concerns for the citizens in the area. I will work with the legislation in Columbia giving the money back to the counties which were collected through the gas tax and allow them to decide what repairs are needed and what ones are more of a concern. This would remove the state bureaucracy from the local road repairs and allow the counties to work faster.
If we as government officials could remove some of the levels of government the counties can repair the roads in a more efficient way and with less cost. This would improve the working relationship between the state and local governments and allow the D.O.T. to focus more on major projects and repairs throughout the state.