TIFTON — Lieutenant Governor Casey Cagle made a campaign stop in Tifton April 26 during his second “Cagle Country Bus Tour.”

Along with his wife Nita, Cagle is touring over 40 communities from April 23 through May 4.  

Cagle spoke to supporters about his plan to create 500,000 jobs through the private sector, roll back regulations and cut taxes to facilitate greater economic prosperity for the state.

“I’ve had the good fortune as lieutenant governor to see the governorship up close and personal,” he said. “I know how to navigate through difficult public policy issues and economic development issues.”

Cagle touted his experience as a businessman and record as lieutenant governor in his stump speech.

“We’ve got to make sure that economic prosperity is felt everywhere,” he said. “There are too many communities, particularly in rural Georgia, that are losing population. I’m going to be a governor that’s going to focus on bringing the kind of jobs that are necessary to rural Georgia but also helping existing companies expand.”

Cagle said that the best way to do that is to focus on workforce development.

“We’ve got to make sure we have education aligned with industry needs,” he said. He spoke about his vision for an educational system that is multi-leveled and supports all job types, with the College and Career Academy model he supported as lieutenant governor as an example.

“Every single job is adding value to a person’s life, to society as a whole and to industry growth,” he said.

He also said he wanted to expand the success of the agricultural industry in Georgia, expand rural broadband and focus on infrastructure.

When asked how he planned to fund these projects while still cutting taxes, Cagle said that his plan was to incentivize the private sector to expand rural broadband, such as giving tax exemptions to fiber optic cable installation.

He said that the state is doing well financially, but that he wants to implement “zero-based” and program-based budgeting, which means that the budget starts over from scratch every fiscal year and each agency defines where resources are going to be spent within their programs.

“I think we can gain about 10 percent efficiency through that process which will allow us to invest and return more of that back to the taxpayer,” he said.

Declining access to healthcare in rural areas is something that can be halted and reversed if jobs are brought back to those areas, according to Cagle.

“We have to help our hospitals be financially sustainable going forward,” he said. “Part of that is having more people at work that have insurance that can actually pay.”

He also said that poverty is an underlying issue that needs to be addressed through bringing workforce training and good jobs to rural areas.

“I’m not running against anyone for governor,” Cagle said. “I’m not running for a job and I’m not running for a title. I don’t need one. I am running to make a difference.”