VOTE411 Voter Guide

The two committees I would be most interested, and qualified on, would be the "Government Efficiency and Legislative Oversight Committee", as well as the "Regulations, Admin. Procedures, Artificial Intelligence and Cybersecurity Committee".

My current position as a Senior Software Engineer, and Technical lead, has given me plenty of experience to break down and review processes throughout the statehouse that would be deemed either beneficial, or useless. I have a large amount of experience planning and managing strategies for legacy systems, and systems or processes that need modernization. Breaking down where a system is inefficient, and engineering a new solution is my specialty.

Additionally, as a Sr. Software Engineer, I have the required experience and background needed to assist in properly regulating AI and Cybersecurity, as this is what I work with on a daily basis. Where colleagues may review this from a legal or judicial perspective, I would be providing understanding from the software perspective that actually makes sense for legislative action.

Income tax is always an issue, and there is no single solution. Even considering a percent flat tax rate doesn't provide a viable solution.

Breaking this down, and starting with property tax, one of the biggest things I see that we should be focusing on is a tax rate that is relative to two things: the impact of the property on infrastructure, and what the value of a property is. Residential property owners shouldn't be expecting to support the intense infrastructure usage of a shipping company at the port. Similarly, A small business doesn't flood the highway with trucks for shipping, and shouldn't pay 3x the tax rate that large businesses do.

Alternatively, you also have large medical institutions that have a massive impact on local infrastructure as well, while also providing a huge boon to locals with medical services and professionals. If we want to encourage doctors and medical professionals to continue to grow in SC, then we need to show that we recognize that benefit, should those institutions assist in providing it, and adjust tax rate of both the property of the medical institutions and income of medical professionals accordingly.

This same concept should be applied throughout SC and varying professions, and would balance out economically for locals, while showing that these companies, businesses, and high earning individuals care for the state that they reside in by contributing to through a tax system that benefits businesses and locals alike, simply at a much larger scale.

Everyone will always have their own opinion on how their own needs are met, the important part to know is that the government should not interfere with these day to day needs.

When considering legislation that affects personal freedoms, we need to ask if we are being restrictive, or if we are being supportive: "How does this legislation help the locals, and the people I represent?" If I cannot find an answer that satisfies that question, without doing harm to others, then it is not something I would consider supporting.

As a legislator, I would be pushing for polices that protects individuals, regardless of ethnicity, religion, or creed. Diverse views and people are the spice of life that brings communities together, and I think that fully needs to be embraced.

Vouchers are important in that it allows for students to get an education that they would otherwise not be provided. While this is needed, current school programs tend to abuse this system with lack of oversight.

Additionally, private educators are generally for-profit. The state itself has the availability to provide education at a reasonable cost, and we should NOT be using our tax dollars to fund some schools, and not others. Making SC a better state requires well educated individuals that can enter the workforce and provide back to the community.

In this regard, my goal would be to ensure that voucher programs are entirely unnecessary by providing an education system in SC that solves the problem of equality in education before it becomes an issue that requires vouchers in the first place.

We shouldn't need a voucher program to address inequality in education. I would strive to make sure that the schools are funded, and education across the state has the available resources to make sure our children grow up educated and prepared for the modern world.

Being brutally honest, and from a business perspective, natural gas is costly and limited resource. If we are to move to making energy rates affordable, we need a renewable source that can compete on that level.

Businesses that use data centers consume large amounts of energy and water, two resources that can't be afforded in today's hot climate. SC needs to support both regulation so that energy needs of one business doesn't outweigh the needs of locals, but also create programs that offer alternatives to those business so that it doesn't become a struggle to maintain.

As it stands, solar programs have been dropped by the current administration. Re-enabling solar programs for homeowners could assist in reducing energy costs, while also providing excess energy back to SC for usage where solar programs can't be implemented. Additionally, enabling alternative fuel sources and programs to engage businesses in these renewable energy benefits could have the same effect as well, and benefit both the company and South Carolina.