ATLANTA — After nearly two decades in the Georgia state legislature, Jon Burns now serves as the speaker of the House of Representatives, and plays a key role in state-wide lawmaking.
He sat down with 11Alive and shared his thoughts on some of the biggest issues across Georgia, from infrastructure to the state's abortion law to his legislative priorities.
Below is a transcript of some of the big topics. A full interview with Burns is available in the bottom of this story and on the 11Alive+ streaming app.
11Alive political reporter Zach Merchant: Mayor Dickens recently said [the recent water Atlanta water crisis] was a wakeup call to the state of some aging infrastructure in the city. Does the State House have any plans to address aging infrastructure around the state?
Jon Burns: Yes, but our challenge is not only aging infrastructure, it's the need for infrastructure because of developments that we have.
I'll focus back on Atlanta for a second. Mayor Dickens has done an absolutely fine, wonderful job of managing this city in his early tenure as mayor. In a way that he's handling it remarkably well. Certainly, I appreciate his leadership here, appreciate his friendship.
Infrastructure in cities and counties across our state and around this country certainly are a challenge. They've been in place for many years. With our good fortune of developing good jobs and being a wonderful place to live stresses that infrastructure, the General Assembly and the governor have -- we've invested billions of dollars on infrastructure across the state.
Merchant: In your view, what is the biggest challenge facing Georgia right now?
Burns: How do we handle all of our success? You know, the opportunity for ensuring we have a workforce that's in place to handle the challenges of the 21st century. To handle these great opportunities we have that we see in the number of jobs that we need in the private sector, that we need in the healthcare sector, educationally, and continuing to motivate our folks, our citizens to reach for a better lifestyle by improving themselves.
Merchant: The Heartbeat Bill is now in effect in Georgia. It bans abortions in most cases after about six weeks of pregnancy. Do you support Georgia's Heartbeat Bill?
Burns: I do. I support the right to life. And I believe we've struck a balance here that is, you know -- the heartbeat bill is not satisfactory for those who believe that life begins at the point of conception, we understand that. I understand that. But we also know there are other folks that think abortion could occur at any time during pregnancy, even up to the point of birth. And I certainly very vehemently disagree with that.
Merchant: What do you say to critics who argue that it's not the place of government to legislate how people access medical care?
Burns: Well I think it is a -- I'm not exactly sure what your intent is -- but I would say that healthcare is a part of government. And it's part of the function of government, because you and I pay taxes to the federal government and to the state government to ensure that those less fortunate than ourselves can have health care. And that we are providing, you know, providing some care for all Georgians, and we're doing just that. And I believe that is one of the functions -- and we also just finished a robust conversation on providing access to good quality healthcare in Georgia with our certificate of need revisions that haven't been addressed in years. And certainly in our educational opportunities to ensure trained health care professionals are available for Georgians no matter where they live.
All those things are not just a sole function of government. It's a partnership on the private side, with Mercer University, a private university that helps provide physicians. And certainly those are the type of things I believe there's a combination of effort to ensure that we get things done. It's a combination of private and public.
Merchant: When you look ahead, what is your biggest legislative priority moving forward?
Burns: Continuing with our health care initiatives. Also, embrace mental health. It's been a big priority for us over the years. Certainly we've continued that. Certainly public safety will continue to be front and center. Education. We've been great supporters of higher education and K-12, and we've added another layer in there as we look at making sure that pre-K is an important part and is well-funded and well-supported in our state, and we know that if you get started early, then you finish stronger. So education. Those things are very much important to us. And certainly another, I'll add this one. We're going to look to take a really close look this summer at energy. It's so important to the continued success of our state from an economic development, a quality of life perspective. It's one of the things that makes Georgia really attractive to the country.
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