Really happy to be able to talk to the Holland Sentinel about my goals and priorities for my first legislative session. Below are the questions and my answers. What do you think? Term limits also sent home Allegan County’s Rep. Bob Genetski, R-Saugatuck. Former nurse and self-described tea party activist Cindy Gamrat is founder of both the Huntington TEA Party and the Plainwell Patriots. She will take his place come January. What are your first priorities come January? My first priorities are to implement the policies I discussed with constituents on the campaign trail, centered around protecting our God-given rights to life and liberty. We need to responsibly shrink the size and scope of state government, properly prioritize spending, protect the lives of the unborn and vulnerable and have the tough arguments about the proper role of state government. We need to reduce unnecessary regulations and defend free enterprise so entrepreneurs and small businesses can succeed and compete in a true free market environment. How pivotal will the Michigan tea party be in the upcoming legislative session? The tea party should be viewed as a grassroots movement to pressure our elected officials to make decisions based on the best interests of the next generation, not their next election. As the movement has matured, we’ve seen tea party leaders like myself actually get elected to policy-making roles, and the communications and research apparatuses have reached a point where we can actually go head-to-head with the professional politickers in the Lansing establishment. What do you see as the biggest obstacle of the session to come? For decades, we’ve seen the path to election to state office require folks to play the inside game and endear themselves to lobbyists and the Lansing establishment as a means of being elected. Now, social media and new forms of messaging allow outsiders like myself and others in our caucus to be elected despite opposition from the usual kingmakers. I think that some lobbyists in the capitol will be surprised that some of the new representatives are not willing to continue the gravy train to which some have become accustomed. With Republicans divided and spanning the spectrum from tea party to centrist, how do they work together to effectively govern? We need to unite behind our defining principles as a party and follow the Constitution. Our constituents elected Republicans to large majorities because there is a burgeoning wariness of the growth of government, the expansion of crony capitalism and the erosion of our liberties. By following the Constitution, sticking to our platform, and ignoring the lobbyists that will lead us astray, we can effectively govern as a caucus and deliver the results that Michiganders expect and deserve. Bonus question: Have you been working with Speaker-elect Kevin Cotter? Are you confident leadership will align with your principles, including use of the Hastert rule? I do not want to share or speculate on internal deliberations of the caucus, but I have been enjoying getting to know my colleagues from across the state better, including those on the Democratic side of the aisle. We are all responsible to the constituents of our respective districts. ... Leadership will not always align with my principles; I take serious issue with the recent last-minute vote to put a nearly 17 percent sales tax increase on a special election ballot. I will always work with my colleagues from both parties to effectively govern in a fashion that allows their children and grandchildren to live and thrive in our great state, but I will also not shy away from a fight when I see legislative priorities straying from the best interests of the taxpayers of Allegan County.
Posted on: Tue, 30 Dec 2014 22:31:28 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015