Q&A with lieutenant governor candidate Butch Miller on transportation, education and more

May 19—MARIETTA — The MDJ sat down with state Sen. Butch Miller, R-Gainesville, candidate for lieutenant governor, to ask about his campaign and the issues of the day. In a wide-ranging interview, Miller, 65, spoke about taxes, education, transportation, elections and more.

Miller, who hails from northeast Georgia, graduated from what is now the University of North Georgia and has spent his career in auto sales. He is manager and co-owner of Milton Martin Honda in Gainesville.

In 2010, Miller was elected to the Georgia Senate representing District 49, and since 2018 has served as president pro tempore, presiding over the Senate in the lieutenant governor's absence.

Miller faces three candidates in the May 24 Republican primary — Burt Jones, Mack McGregor and Jeanne Seaver. As of the last fundraising deadline at the end of April, Jones had raised the most among Republican candidates, about $4 million, which includes $2 million that Jones loaned to his campaign. Miller came second, with about $3.6 million in contributions.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

MDJ: Why should people elect you as lieutenant governor over the other candidates?

Butch Miller: I have had a consistent success of delivering conservative accomplishments for a dozen years. That's it right there. Proof is in the pudding. ... Whether it's the Family Leave Act, or whether it's the Voter Safety Act, or whether it's protecting girls sports, or whether it's critical race theory in the schools, or whether it's delivering on elections integrity. When the lieutenant governor (Geoff Duncan) refused to call that bill, I was the individual who presided over and got the elections integrity bill across the finish line that made voting easier and cheating harder in Georgia.

Q: You've advocated eliminating the state income tax. What would you replace that $14 billion shortfall with?

A: Well, when I got into office in 2010, 1% of your income tax represented about $1.5 billion. When we talk about eliminating the income tax, we're talking about not just a wider, broader, lower tax, but also looking at spending and how we can reduce our expenses in the state of Georgia. So, I'm not interested in negotiating with myself about what we're going to do with it. But the fact of the matter is, three of the most successful states in this union — Florida, Tennessee and Texas — have all three eliminated the income tax. What states do we compete most with, for our economic development, for our jobs and for our investment? That'd be Tennessee, Florida and Texas. In addition, six other states have done it.

Q: The 2020 presidential election continues to be the theme of the day in GOP circles. Former President Trump and former Sen. David Perdue insist that it was stolen, despite no courts in Georgia finding evidence of widespread fraud. Do you believe the 2020 election was stolen and that Trump was the rightful winner?

A: I believe that there was fraud in the election. I believe that Senate Bill 202 corrected many weaknesses and vulnerabilities in our voting process. The pandemic exposed those, we corrected those. And I think that was a great first step. I think we've got a little bit more that we need to do. We've got some additional items that could improve our voter integrity. Voting matters, and citizenship is sacred in the United States of America, and in the state of Georgia, and we need to make sure we keep that foremost in our minds when we're talking about elections.

Q: Do you believe the Dominion voting system that we use is trustworthy? Or should it be replaced? And if so, what would you replace it with?

A: If you look at the records, the voting results when the Dominion machines were turned off, Donald Trump was ahead. The problem was in the absentee and the drop box ballots. In my mind, the drop box is the weakest link in the chain. If you think about the elections process as a chain, the drop box is the weakest link in the chain. I want to eliminate the drop boxes.

Q: So you're OK with the Dominion machines?

A: Yes.

Q: One of your colleagues, Sen. Lindsey Tippins, carried a bill this session that would have reformed the way accrediting companies accredit public schools. In the wake of this botched accreditation review of the Cobb County School District, should Georgia create a new oversight agency charged with regulating accreditation firms to ensure they're accountable to the taxpayer?

A: Accreditation firms need to be regulated just like anything else that we're using to quantify and to validate what we're doing in government, whether it's state government or local government. So I think that Lindsey Tippins is one of those individuals that probably has some of the deepest and most thorough knowledge of education policy, and he brings forth good legislation in that area.

Q: One of the problems we ran into with Cognia is that they've refused to comply with Georgia's open records law, despite receiving tax dollars from public schools. When government agencies fall under the sunshine laws, and they violate those laws, would you be willing to hold them accountable, and how?

A: Absolutely, they need to be held accountable. And they need to be held accountable by judges and prosecutors and state government. So I think that any agency that receives support from the state of Georgia in terms of tax dollars or programs, certainly needs to be accountable.

Q: In a recent speech, Stacey Abrams blasted efforts by Republican legislators concerning transgender athletes. She said your TV ad on this issue "makes a mockery of children in their most vulnerable moments as they're trying to figure out who they are." What's your response to that?

A: My response is plain and simple: it's girls' sports. It's called girls' sports for a reason, it's for girls. This does not make a mockery of the child that is trying to figure out who he is, so to speak, or who she is. What this protects is the sports programs itself. This does not address any of those wider range issues that Stacey Abrams brings forth. Let me also say, by the way, anytime Stacey Abrams is against me, I'm doing something right.

Q: What can the state government do about rising inflation?

A: The state government has limited impact on rising inflation. But what we did most recently was to suspend the gas tax, which helped every single working class Georgian, and every single taxpayer in the state. People tell me that inflation's at 8%. Well, somebody tells you that inflation is at 8%, is not in business. Because the fuel has gone up, the commodities have gone up, the provisions have gone up, labor's out the roof. I would submit to you that inflation is far beyond 8%. And as long as we continue to give money without having work or value associated with it, then people will spend that money willy-nilly, and that creates inflation. And so we've got that to work on. We have an unemployment program in Georgia that was strapped. And then in addition to that, the federal government added on to that — we had people getting $600 a week in unemployment, and then we added on $300 a week in unemployment. So people getting $900 a week in unemployment, that will create inflation no matter what the circumstance is. Hard work is honorable. And hard work builds self-esteem, and builds character, and makes people value the world we live in. And I think that's important.

Q: What's your solution to the housing shortage seen nationwide, and here in Georgia, that has priced such public servants as teachers and police officers out of the market?

A: We've got to have a wide range of housing options. And whether it's affordable housing options, which I'm very much in favor of, or single-family home options, which I'm very much in favor of, families have to have options in Georgia. And when people buy homes, they're investing in the American dream. We want young families and older families to have that opportunity to own their own home. And part of our housing shortage is a result of not having the raw materials to build houses with. I mean, we've got labor shortages, we've got goods shortages, fuel prices have gone up. And so this is forcing the price of homes up and pricing some folks out of the market, pricing a lot of Georgians out of the market.

Q: If Stacey Abrams is elected governor, and you are elected lieutenant governor, would you be able to work with her?

A: Well, I wouldn't have any choice.

Q: How would you work with her?

A: We will have an opportunity to continue to pass conservative legislation, because there are still a few conservative Democrats in the legislature. And I think that we will have that opportunity to continue to move conservative legislation, conservative governance forward.

... The vast majority of the conservative legislation I have passed has been bipartisan. ... People consider compromise to be a dirty word. But compromise is a word in business, and a word in life, that we all have come to appreciate. You show me the man who won't compromise, I'll show you a man with a failing business and a miserable marriage. We've got to pass conservative legislation, and I'm the person that can do that, because I can work with a wide range of people, and have proven that over the years.

Q: What should the state do to improve transportation infrastructure and reduce congestion in metro Atlanta and elsewhere?

A: I have been criticized by my principal opponent for voting yes on House Bill 170. House Bill 170 is the bill that, if you're sitting in traffic, I don't care if you are in Marietta or Moultrie, it's going to help you. That's the infrastructure bill that helped us move Georgia transportation forward. And Georgia transportation is key. We cannot have economic development without transportation. They absolutely dovetail together. And we have got to make sure that we have good transportation throughout the state. That's why the inland ports are so important. We have two inland ports operating now, we need a third, a fourth, a fifth, a sixth, a seventh. That'll help us with transportation, getting 18-wheelers off the road and onto rails. But there's still plenty of opportunity for us to grow business in Georgia through transportation. You think about Georgia's history. The city of Atlanta came to being because it was what? It was at the intersection of the entire Southeast. Forty percent of the United States population lives within the service area of Savannah and Brunswick, Georgia. So transportation is going to continue to be a key for us. And whether it's rail, whether it's on the road, or whether it's air transportation, we've got to continue to work on transportation infrastructure.

Q: You championed a bill last session that would have expanded private school vouchers for students, which was rejected by your colleagues. Why do you think those vouchers are a good way to improve education?

A: In communities like mine, Hall County, we're very fortunate. We have three outstanding school systems. We have Hall County School System, Gainesville School System, and Buford City School System. All three are outstanding options. In addition to that, we have multiple private schools. There are cities and counties and communities in this state that do not have good options for children to learn. They're trapped in a school that is underperforming, that is not addressing the needs of the student, and not addressing the needs of the community. We've seen that in our Atlanta public school systems. We've seen it in other places, and children and parents need to have options in those cases.

Q: Do you believe that illegal immigrants should receive in-state tuition?

A: The situation with illegal immigrants is beyond unfortunate, it's shameful. But the fact of the matter is, we have to follow the law in the state of Georgia, we can't pick and choose which laws to follow. The law states that illegal immigrants do not receive in-state tuition, we have to follow that.

Q: Some people are questioning whether we need to be giving out huge incentive packages to attract big corporations. What's your view on that?

A: I am for economic development and investment. But, everybody's got to pay their freight. Nobody rides for free. If we're giving billions of dollars to attract businesses to Georgia, let's help expand businesses that exist in Georgia. Let's invest in infrastructure, let's invest in training for businesses that exist in Georgia. I mean, I'm not against these other companies coming to Georgia, but we've got plenty of businesses right here in Georgia that could expand. There's plenty of industries in Georgia that would love to have a billion-dollar tax credit. But to attract these companies to Georgia, where we are completely tapped out on our workforce at the moment, we have to continue to have growth and investment and quality jobs, but we've got to have it at a price that we can live with.

Q: What do you make of Trump endorsing Burt Jones over you? What kind of bump do you think that gave him, if any?

A: Well, I think that I had a good relationship with the former president. On two occasions, he invited me to the White House and I went. On a third occasion, he came to Atlanta and I had lunch with him, there was 50 people there, so it wasn't like it was a room of 5,000. My relationship was good. I think that his policies are good. I voted for him, voted for him every opportunity I had, actually. And I very much love his policies, and love the Republican and conservative stance he took on all of his legislation. And I would continue to support that kind of legislation. I think that in terms of the bump, I would say that Georgians can make their own decisions. I think that Georgians are informed enough and intelligent enough to make their own decision. I'm sure that they're pleased with that endorsement, but I'm not nervous about it at all.

... I have a resume of accomplishments in the legislature. I have been elected as president pro tem on three occasions. And that is a closed vote, a silent vote, nobody knows, a private vote. ... The same individual that ran against me as the president pro tem is running against me as lieutenant governor. And I won overwhelmingly among my colleagues, and no one knows us better than our colleagues.

A: Do you think Trump's going to run again? And would you vote for him again?

Q: I don't know if Donald Trump runs again, and I'm not sure how old he is. And he seems to be one of those individuals that ages very well. He seems to have a lot of stamina and a lot of energy. As do I. I'm the most energetic 65-year-old you'll meet.

Q: Would you vote for him if he was on the ticket?

A: Well, we don't know who else, that's a hypothetical, because we don't know who else will be on the ticket.

Q: If the High Court overturns Roe v. Wade, then presumably, the heartbeat bill will become law pretty quickly, banning abortion at six weeks in Georgia. Are you OK with that law? Would you go further to ban abortion altogether? Or would you be in favor of something less restrictive?

A: I certainly wouldn't be in favor of something less restrictive. I think that we have done the proper job to protect life in Georgia and I would continue to protect life. That's the key right there.

Q: You've called for ballot drop boxes to be completely eliminated. But SB 202 requires that boxes be located in the polling centers and only accessible during voting hours. So why do they need to be done away with entirely, since we've put some restrictions on them?

A: We saw such an abuse of the drop boxes in 2020. And the drop boxes are to be stationed inside and are to be monitored. But there are 159 counties and countless number of precincts out there that we're giving that responsibility to. ... I'm going to go there (the polls) to drop it (the ballot) off anyway. The polls are open, why don't I just vote while I'm there? Because the drop boxes are only open during business hours, during voting hours. So it really makes it much simpler, much cleaner, much more effective to vote rather than use the drop box.

Q: So if they're already at the location, then it's just redundant?

A: Yeah, it's just redundant.

Q: What have we not asked you that you would like to say?

A: You haven't asked about my passion for the job, about my passion for life. My wife Teresa and I, we will have been married 40 years this upcoming December. In 1987, we had our first child, Coleman. He was born profoundly disabled. He had no purposeful movement. He was like having a newborn for 14 years. If a child's gotta go, he went the way a child should go, in our home, in his loving mother's arms. And it happened on Christmas night.

Having Cole changed my life, changed my perspective about what was important in life. We went all over the United States, we went to Stanford, Johns Hopkins, Emory, Scottish Rite, Children's, trying to find out what caused that. We could not find out. They basically said, it's one in a gazillion, have more children, and it won't happen again. We had child number two, Carey, in 1990. Typical child, we were so thrilled. ... We had Charlie in 1993.

Charlie has the same affliction as his eldest brother, but not as severe. They just didn't have the science in 1987 to determine that I had a mitochondrial disorder.

... Charlie was not as severe as Cole. We did everything we could do to give Cole the quality of life that he deserved. ... Charlie graduated from high school with a standard diploma, got the math award in the 10th grade, became the manager of the football team, learned to drive his own car.

Two weeks after high school graduation, Charlie moved out of our home never to return. And, in fact, both of our sons moved out of our house two weeks after high school graduation, and never came home. ... We raised them to succeed. We did the hard work that we needed to do to give Charlie and Cole, and Carey too, the opportunity to succeed. And you know, we could have easily thrown in the towel and, and said, OK, woe is us, woe is me, and had a pity party, but we didn't. So we did the hard work in our personal life.

In my business life, I took over a fledgling little Honda dealership in 1993. We sold 16 cars the first month we were in business, and we lost $60,000. ... I didn't know what I was gonna do. And I had no idea how bad the business was when I came there. My partner and I went to the bank, and we borrowed $3,600. And we gave everybody a $100 bonus for Christmas. I went to work there on December 3, we gave him a $100 bonus for Christmas, knowing that I was going to have to lay off a considerable number of these people. On January 1, I had to lay off, I was forced to lay off, 16 of the 36. I went to the dealership in the morning and cleaned the bathrooms and cleaned the windows and got the place ready for work that day, went back home, helped my wife get our kids ready for school, came back and sold cars, or washed cars, and every now and then I changed oil and rotated tires. That's what I had to do to make it work. That's what I did.

... I have delivered on conservative policies and conservative governance for a dozen years. Whether you're talking about school choice that I voted for, Mr. Jones voted against. We talk about special needs scholarships for disabled children. I voted for, Mr. Jones voted against. How do you vote against scholarships for disabled kids? I mean, I don't get that. I voted for increasing vehicular homicide sentencing, he voted against it. I voted for making gang ring thefts a felony ... he voted against it. I voted for making COVID liability immunity, a process in Georgia that kept our schools, our churches and our businesses open. If we had not passed that bill, every restaurant, every business in Georgia would have been subjected to frivolous lawsuits claiming they were exposed to COVID. I voted for it, my opponent voted against it. Those are the kinds of things that make me best qualified to be the lieutenant governor and to lead the state Senate, and to contribute to the continued success of this state. I've got a passion for what I'm doing, I love it. I love helping people, I get the biggest kick out of it. And I've got a work ethic for it. And I've got a desire. And that's why I'm running. That's why I think I'm the best person.