Clay Tippins is a former Navy SEAL and tech company executive.
In the lead up to the May 22 primary elections, “Morning Edition” will feature conversations with the major party candidates for governor of Georgia. Republican Clay Tippins joined Denis O’Hayer on April 9.
Tippins is a former Navy SEAL and tech company executive.
Listen to the broadcast interview above or the full-length below.
Get more information about Georgia’s candidates for governor >>
On whether government can be run like a business.
I don’t think any two organizations are exactly the same. What I do believe though is business skills when applied to government can get some better results. Understanding how to use data to identify positive outliers, copy those, expand those; identify places that are broken, diagnose those, and fix them: those are the types of muscle memory movements that a person with a business background typically can bring to a situation including government
On whether he’d fully fund the Quality Basic Education funding formula
If you’re asking would I decrease funding for education: no, the opposite. I would increase funding for education. Having said that, I believe that there’s an opportunity to do so by shrinking the size of the state budget. I think we could shrink the state budget by roughly $2 billion to $3 billion, 10 to 15 percent.
On where he’d cut to shrink the state budget
We’ll have roughly one out of four or one out of five of our state employees hit voluntary retirement. So if we were to consolidate some of those roles and not replace roles that are proving to have lesser impact,that could be hundreds of millions of dollars a year.
On overhauling Georgia’s teacher pension system
What we don’t get to do is retroactively change a deal that we’ve made with the people who are working hard every day to get our children ready for their future and the future of this state. What we need to look at doing is basically having a 21st century education system where we can basically educate our children better relative to the dollar spent. That’s what we have to change and attack.
On whether he’d use Georgia’s recently-passed school turnaround plan to improve school performance
I’d have to go back and read the details of the state turnaround plan before I could comment on that.
On whether he’d decline to expand Medicaid and whether failing to do so leaves federal money on the table
I would decline expand Medicaid. If they come from the federal government, those are Georgia citizens dollars. It’s a false thing that we get this free money from the federal government that will create these magical results. It doesn’t. What you see in other states is just a crack dealer model. They take the free money from the federal government and don’t see appreciable improvements in health care, and then eventually those monies are taken away, or they trail off, or they run out.
On whether Georgia taxpayers shoulder the costs of not expanding Medicaid
What I think we have to do is lead our way to better health for our citizens at a cheaper price point to our state. It has to use things like telemedicine, mobile technology, unused capacity in the system to diagnose someone for example with type 2 diabetes before they end up in emergency room with spiking numbers and at risk of losing a limb. That’s what we have to get to.
On expanding access to medical marijuana
I’m going to expand that list of conditions to people that need it as long as it’s real and is responsible. There are states that use medical marijuana as a pre-planned glide path recreational marijuana. That’s not going to happen in our state. We’re not going to let this become some open ended loophole to become that.
On whether the state should sue drug manufacturers for their role in the opioid crisis
I don’t provide comment or promises on things I don’t understand the details of. Without understanding what those suits look like, I can’t possibly [comment]. But what I think we can do is completely within the governor’s control. If we knew the doctors in Georgia that are in the top 20 percent in terms of pills they’re prescribing, and we sent them a letter that said please help me understand why you prescribe so many more pills, I think a remarkable thing would happen. The prescription rates would immediately go down.
On his decision not to pledge to sign “religious liberty” legislation
I’m not going to take pledges on undrafted legislation. Here’s what the governor of Georgia can absolutely do today: appoint conservative judges judges that believe that freedoms come from our maker, not necessarily things that are played with by man; oppose and veto laws to allow people of faith to be sued for their beliefs.
On which efforts of Gov. Nathan Deal’s he’d continue and end
Criminal justice reform: unprecedented. We’ve become a model for the nation. He’s done a fantastic job creating opportunities and jobs for Georgians. And with my business background I’m the candidate who is the most capable of continuing that tremendous legacy. There’s some opportunities exist in the next four years Gov. Deal doesn’t have. Gov. Deal didn’t have 15,000 Baby Boomers become voluntarily retirement eligible on his watch. The next governor will.
