Price

said if reelected, he will seek the support of

county officials for the bill as well as key

legislators.

"The

Democrats have tried to keep control of this

measure and would only let the legislation for

Gwinnett, Cobb and Savannah pass this year,"

he said. "The overwhelming support the

measure received in Gwinnett means that they will

no longer be able to stop this measure. Fairness

to our local property taxpayers demands that the

legislature allow us to take this step as soon as

possible," he said.

Seabaugh earlier

announced an agenda for education, including

"promoting safe schools, attracting and

retaining quality teachers, focusing on academic

skills but providing a well-rounded education,

and eliminating bureaucracy."

Seabaugh said if

elected he will introduce legislation to

implement a "three strikes and you're

out" discipline policy.

To retain teachers,

he called for a 10 percent increase in teachers'

pay as proposed by state School Superintendent

Linda Schrenko.

"Governor

Barnes cut more than $189 million from the

education budget," Seabaugh said. "He

cut money from the classroom and has added

additional bureaucracy. After reviewing the

numbers, I believe there is money there to

support a teacher pay raise."

Seabaugh said he

also would work to restore funding for labs that

was cut in Barnes' plan, and will push for the

"Reading First" program. "We have

to ensure our children can read by the fourth

grade," Seabaugh said. "We need to

target those children who need special attention

and ensure they are not left behind."

He also called for

a return to academics-based testing rather than

performance-based testing.

"Barnes'

program rewards those who are good at taking

tests rather than mastering the material,"

Seabaugh said. "We need to ensure that our

children gain the knowledge necessary to

succeed."

Seabaugh's budget

plan is based upon restricting the growth of the

state budget combined with specific tax

eliminations and a pledge to vote against any tax

increases.

His

budget items include aggressive support for the

Tax and Expenditure Limitation Bill. "Just

look at the growth of the state's budget over the

past four years and then look at the items they

have spent money on. We don't have a revenue

problem, we have a greed problem," Seabaugh

said.

Under

the TEL bill, any revenue received over the

limited spending amount would be rebated back to

the taxpayers.

"The

more money we can keep out of Atlanta the

stronger our local communities will be,"

Seabaugh said.

Seabaugh

also called for diverting money unrestricted back

to the local communities.

Other

parts of Seabaugh's plan include elimination of

the state income tax through a $500 tax credit

for dependent children and exempting $20,000 of

interest and dividend income for retirees. He

also supports restitution to taxpayers for

erroneous tax assessments from the Department of

Revenue.

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