It has been my deep privilege to serve as your state representative in the 2005-2006 General Assembly. Our state legislature exists for a biennium, meaning we have a two-year term to finish legislation that will improve our quality of life, as well as provide enough time to stop legislation that may have serious unintended consequences.

There were many bills and resolutions during this term that will have an impact on our district, and I am sending this letter to spell out some of the most important legislation.

The eminent domain law was strengthened to protect property owners’ rights. We passed a very strong bill to do something about illegal immigration, something that our federal government has yet to do. We also passed a sexual predator law and Georgia now has the strongest law in America to punish and put behind bars for a minimum of 25 years those who would sexually abuse our children.

We also took positive action to restore previous cuts to public education funding that were a result of the down economy. The rainy-day fund has been replenished and we cut as well as reduced many taxes. Governor Perdue and your General Assembly turned a $900 million deficit into a $1 billion surplus.

Hopefully, if you return me to the House for another term, this surplus could be used to eliminate the automobile tag tax as well as the state income tax.

Of course we addressed many other issues and I will be happy to discuss any of them with you if you are interested.

As your state representative, it is my entrusted responsibility to act on your behalf, a responsibility I daily remind myself of when making important decisions. Information is a critical component of making these decisions throughout the year. That is why I value your input, strive to make the best decisions, and I am always mindful that I represent our community’s needs and interests in the process.

If you have any questions or thoughts about any of the information presented, or about any other matter in which I may be of service, I hope you will contact me. I look forward to speaking with many of you in the coming weeks as I campaign for re-election to House District 72.

My e-mail address is dlakly@mindspring.com, and my phone numbers are 770-487-9884 home, 404-202-9811, cell.

You may also access my Web site http://www.mindspring.com/~dlakly/ for frequent updates during the campaign.

Thank you very much for your support and participation in our time-honored democratic process.

Dan Lakly
Peachtree City, Ga.