In one week, early voting will begin to determine who will represent Fayette County in the Georgia House of Representatives.

Since announcing my candidacy, I have been working hard to introduce myself to the voters and to lay out my agenda for reforming the way the legislature does business.

Life here in Fayette County is good, but this is no time for complacency. We have big problems to solve, and I believe that what is needed is a return to conservative principles and a dose of common sense.

I have always found it amazing that when it comes to setting a budget, the government plays by a different set of rules than the rest of America.

When money is tight, working families have to tighten their belts and make tough choices in order to keep their fiscal house in order.

Somehow, this logic does not seem to apply when it is taxpayer dollars being spent. Regardless of cash flow, countless state agencies line up at the trough and take a bigger helping each year. Fortunately, Republicans in the General Assembly are attempting to move to what is called zero-based budgeting.

Under the current system, state agencies only have to justify whatever increases they seek each year. Zero-based budgeting, however, would return each agency’s budget to zero every fourth year, with the effect of requiring an agency to justify EVERY dollar in its budget.

Whereas current rules allow the bureaucracy to maintain a steady momentum of increased spending, this proposed reform would arrest runaway spending and shine the light of day on old programs that have long outlived their usefulness.

I am eager to support this effort. I am equally anxious to apply some common sense to the way that state transportation dollars are allocated.

Metro Atlanta is drowning in a sea of gridlock while palatial roads to nowhere are sprouting up across rural Georgia. This resulted from a requirement put on the books years ago by powerful rural legislators requiring funding to be split equally among congressional districts.

This is absurd. Transportation funding decisions should be based on need, not pure politics. Local decision making should prevail over General Assembly pork barreling. The state should make financial resources available to the regions where they are most needed, and city and county officials should be empowered to address local transportation problems with local solutions.

I am a firm believer that local control is the best recipe for good government, and nowhere is this more evident than with respect to our public schools. The parents, teachers, and administrators that have made our schools the best in the state will be counting on their representative to support their independence and to ensure that they have the resources necessary to maintain their current high standards.

As a product of those schools, and as a father of two young children about to enter them, I take this charge very seriously. I will fight to ensure decisions affecting our children are made in Fayette County, not in Atlanta.

Typically, threats to the sound principles of local control come from the state and federal levels. However, there is a move afoot within Fayette County that could undermine the ability of the County Commission to serve the entire county effectively.

I oppose a change to district voting because I believe that it would only serve to divide our county into factions. Presently, each member of our County Commission is accountable to every voter in the county, which ensures that decisions are made with the best interests of the entire county in mind, not just a political subdivision of the county. District voting would pit commissioners and their districts against one another.

Representative Dan Lakly worked tirelessly in the General Assembly to defeat efforts to implement district voting in Fayette County, and so would I.

These are but a few of the challenges our county will face in the coming years. There are others.

We still face a water crisis, a result of, among other things, poor planning and a reluctance to allow local leaders more of a say in state infrastructure policy.

Taxes are too high, and any comprehensive budget reform will by definition include a reduction of Georgians’ tax burden and a reexamination of the utility of many tax laws on the books.

I was born and raised in Fayette County, and this is where my wife and I have chosen to raise our children, Anna Lynne and Jacob. I guess you could say that I have selfish reasons for running for this office: I want to make sure my children have the same quality of life that I’ve always known in Fayette County for their future.

Matt Ramsey

Republican candidate, Ga. House 72

Peachtree City, Ga.