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| Thursday, September 2, 2010 |
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Davis visits local Democrats
Published February 1, 2010
Democratic gubernatorial candidate Artur Davis told Jackson County Democrats the next governor of Alabama must be able to find common ground and unite the state.
“We have to feel we can overcome our differences, feel we can overcome our challenges and that is in the state of Alabama,” Davis said.
Davis, who is in his fourth term as U.S. representative for Alabama’s 7th Congressional District, told the some 50 people in attendance at the Democrat Club meeting Thursday night at the Western Sizzlin in Scottsboro that 11 percent of Alabamians—103,000 people—have lost their jobs since Jan. 1, 2009. He said many of those come from families and are responsible for other people.
“Most are shoulders for someone else and they’re being cut down at the knees,” Davis said.
Davis also address myriad aspects of education, saying there is no silver bullet to fixing the education system in the state. Davis said he supported lifting the ban on charter schools to make the state eligible for the $220 million in federal funding dollars available.
He discussed plans to improve the dropout rate in schools by raising the mandatory attendance age to 18. Davis also has a proposal that children who drop out of school will lose their driver’s license.
“There's no good reason to leave school early,” he said.
Davis also said he believes the state is obligated to the 48,000 contract holders in the Prepaid Affordable College Tuition program.
He said he would like to see budgets created from baselines of past budget cycles, instead of projected tax revenues and said gambling should be taxed at the national average, which is between 20 and 25 percent, rather than the 6 to 10 percent average of surrounding states.
Davis said Alabama voters should decide what constitutes illegal gambling. He said the state should not decided how many casinos there are, but that communities should have the opportunity to make those and other choices through home rule.
He told the group he also supports a rewrite of the 1901 Alabama Constitution, calling for a convention in 2012.
Davis also discussed his votes on the recent House healthcare reform bill and his thoughts on current legislation.
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