BRADENTON, Fla. — Though inaugural festivities were curtailed by a major winter storm blowing through the Deep South, Nathan Deal was sworn in Monday as the 82nd governor of triple-A rated Georgia.
In a 20-minute speech to a joint session of the General Assembly, Deal, a Republican, focused on the “core responsibilities” of state government, which he defined as crime, education, health care, transportation, water, and resisting federal mandates.
“In times such as these with more than one out of 10 citizens out of work we must justify every cent that government extracts” and concentrate on core services, he said.
The greatest challenge government faces is the creation of jobs, Deal said, without offering specifics. He did not address measures to solve a budget shortfall that could be as high as $2 billion.
“State government should not be expected to provide for us what we can provide for ourselves,” Deal said. “I call on all Georgians to assume responsibilities for themselves and their families.”
Deal said government would do its part to provide health care to the most vulnerable citizens, “but government cannot make or keep us healthy.”
Volunteer groups and organizations should “expand their efforts to serve people in need,” he added.
Saying that Georgia’s transportation needs are diverse, Deal pledged to support programs that eliminate congestion, particularly in the greater Atlanta area, and improvements at the Port of Savannah in anticipation of the widening of the Panama Canal.
Deal said he would continue to pursue negotiations with Alabama and Florida to resolve the long-standing dispute over water resources and develop regional reservoirs.
In previous speeches, he said Georgia may issue bonds to finance new reservoirs.
“Let us refocus state government and its core responsibilities and relieve our taxpayers of the burden of unnecessary programs. Let us restore confidence in government that is limited and efficient,” he concluded.
Though snow and ice blanketed the region and forced thousands of flights to be cancelled, the Legislature opened its regular three-month session Monday, re-electing Sen. Tommie Williams, R-Lyons, as Senate president pro tem and David Ralton, R-Blue Ridge, as speaker.
The inclement weather prompted the Georgia Department of Transportation to extend to Thursday its deadline for firms to submit proposals to be master developer of a multi-modal passenger terminal in downtown Atlanta. Those proposals were supposed to be due Monday.
Deal and outgoing Gov. Sonny Perdue were among 32 governors and governor-elects who sent a letter on Friday to President Obama and other top federal leaders complaining about “excessive constraints” placed on them by health care-related federal mandates that would cost billions to implement.
They asked for “flexibility and relief” from requirements in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act and the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.
