NEWNAN, Ga. – Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle said Monday lawmakers next session must come up with a version of the campus-carry bill acceptable to Gov. Nathan Deal.
Cagle said frustration at the governor for his veto of this year’s bill and the religious-liberty measure won’t stand in the way of passing Deal’s education-reform plans.
The comments from Cagle, who’s expected to run in two years to succeed the term-limited Deal, came in response to reporters covering a ceremony marking the launch of the country’s first German-style apprenticeship program in the Newnan-Coweta County School System.
“Politics is a process,” Cagle said when asked about anger over the vetoes spilling into consideration of the education reforms. “You don’t look in the rearview mirror. You look ahead through the windshield.”
On the campus-carry bill, he brushed aside news of a poll the Atlanta Journal Constitution published over the weekend showing a majority of Georgians surveyed agreed with the veto.
Legislators had strong feelings on the bill, Cagle said.
“At this point, I think it would be incumbent upon the legislature to come back in January and see if there is a path forward that meets the governor’s expectations and the legislature’s as well,” Cagle said.
He dismissed a suggestion that the poll results on the gun bill and the evenly divided support and opposition on the religious-freedom bill was evidence that the legislature leadership – which includes him – was spending time on
issues where the public either objects or has no clear mandate.
When asked for a reaction to the Obama administration’s directive last week that public schools allow transgender students to use the bathroom of their choice, Cagle said it was too early to say what the state’s response should be without more evaluation.
“We’re doing it in a deliberate way. I think that’s the right thing to do. I don’t think it’s time to overreact at this point, but certainly this will continue to be a topic,” he said.
