On the record: With Georgia House Rules Committee Chairman Bill Hembree

Q: How will you balance the budget?

A: What we’re trying to do is look at every aspect of state government and determine where we can make cuts. I for one am an advocate of the furloughs. ... If we can save jobs by having these furlough days, I think that’s the right message. Because that puts a paycheck in the pocket of a Georgia family, without laying them off.

Q: Can you cut your way to balance?

A: I think we can find spending cuts that would solve the problem. No tax cuts. I don’t think raising taxes is an option. And I believe that most members would feel the same way.

Q: Some say furloughs won’t be enough.

A: I disagree. ... We need to plan for that day when Georgia’s economy is on the rebound. What we need to do as a government is lay out a foundation so that we’re not eliminating the services that our citizens need but at the same time we’re trying to look at what’s best. ... I believe that maybe by the end of next year we’ll see an economic upswing and revenues will increase. ... I think more people will move here. You’ll have more opportunities for business. I think the economic recovery may be next year but I do believe it’s going to come, so why would you want to have government reduced to the size of nothing when you can have it ready for an economic rebound?

Q: What if furloughs are not enough?

A: One idea is to reduce salaries as an option across the board. At least you maintain a job. You do reduce the salary but you maintain a job. So if we can encourage our department heads to do that ... if I were a department head, if I were chancellor of the university system of Georgia, I would ask all employees of the university system who make more than 50,000 dollars a year to take a 10 percent cut.

Q: Wouldn’t that harm staff retention?

A: I don’t buy the fact that somebody could go to another state and get a better deal. Because we’re all suffering in a difficult economic situation whether you are in California or Florida or Texas or Georgia. So I don’t think we’re going to lose valuable employees because we’re asking them to cut their salaries.

Q: Should the university system raise tuition?

A: Raising tuition is equivalent to raising taxes. Because you are asking Georgians to pay more when they’re facing economic difficulty in their own households. They are trying to send their kids to college or themselves going to college ... so I encourage our university system to do what it can to cut cost first.

Q: How should individual colleges deal with their budgets?

A: I think there was a big emphasis in recent years in expanding and growing campuses. But I hope the university system understands that it’s a different marketplace. I mean, look at the competition with the University of Phoenix and DeVry and all the other private higher education institutions and what they’re doing. So I think this should be an opportunity for our university system to do a better job at getting its message out to the people in Georgia.

Q: Should local school systems be given more flexibility?

A: As a parent, I would prefer to have longer summers and less breaks during the course of the school year. I think we start back entirely too early. With the mandate of achieving 180 days. So I think that having longer summers is a good idea. I don’t particularly like the four-day school week. I think that’s a burden on families. But having a longer summer would enable me as a parent to kind of plan for the summer and the breaks.

Q: What about raising the cigarette tax?

A: If you impose a tax on something that’s addictive, there are going to be people who can never stop smoking. So we’re punishing them because of that addiction? I don’t think it’s the right solution. ... There’s got to be something we can do as far as cutting spending and reducing the size of government without having to target a specific group of people just because they have some addiction to something that is a common thing like a cigarette.

Q: What are your other goals this session?

A: The proud moment of being chairman of the Rules Committee is we finished 20 days of the 40-day cycle right, so we’re halfway through. We’ve only passed 39 bills. It is going to be my goal to limit the number of bills that come through.

Q: What about banning texting while driving?

A: I think that’s a good idea. That may be one that we’ll let go through.

State Rep. Bill Hembree (R-Douglasville) is chairman of the House Rules Committee. He spoke to the AJC March 1.

On the record: A weekly event where reporters and editors talk to leaders about key issues for Georgians. Excerpts from the conversation also can be heard on News/Talk 750 WSB.