ATLANTA — Facing renewed pressure over his business dealings as he runs for Georgia governor, Republican Rick Jackson pledged to end his healthcare contracting with the state by Dec. 31 if he wins the election against Democrat Keisha Lance Bottoms.
Appearing at an Atlanta barbershop with a handful of supporters Thursday, Jackson also pledged to cut taxes and the state budget during an event billed as a partial reveal of his affordability agenda.
If elected, he said he would eliminate state taxes on the electricity and natural gas delivered to residences. He said he would gradually cut the state income tax in half and also eliminate the state income tax on tips, building on the limited exemption passed into law by the General Assembly this year. He said he would sign onto a federal tax credit program that reimburses taxpayers for donations toward private school scholarships as Gov. Brian Kemp did earlier this year. And he said that sudden spikes in gasoline prices caused by international conflicts, natural disasters or other emergencies would trigger eliminations of the state motor fuel tax for at least 60 days.
“Government should not collect a windfall when families are being hit [by an] emergency,” said Jackson, speaking at a lectern at Tommy’s Barbershop in Atlanta.
“Earn More. Pay Less,” said a sign affixed to the lectern.
Jackson said he knew about economic distress, having been raised by an alcoholic mother who waited tables for a living. He said he had never met his father and had been on welfare at one point, according to a live video of the event provided through a partnership with C-SPAN.
Jackson pledged to freeze the rising home valuations that are driving up property tax bills.
Property taxes fund local governments and schools rather than the state, but Jackson also said he would cut billions from the state budget, as well.
“There’s not a business in the world that I can’t cut 10% out of,” he said. “You can find waste everywhere.”
He said he would balance the cuts with increased revenue from economic growth and by updating software at state agencies to reduce waste.
“If I can’t do it, it can’t be done, but I’m going to get it done,” said Jackson, who founded and runs Jackson Healthcare, a staffing and workforce company based in Alpharetta.
Jackson has grown his business into a financial juggernaut that allowed him to pour more than $100 million of his own money into his campaign.
Some of that wealth came from doing business with the state.
The Bottoms campaign pointed to reporting Tuesday by 11Alive that said a subsidiary of Jackson’s company had renewed a multimillion-dollar contract to provide health services to a state agency. The contract signed by Jackson expires next summer, 11Alive reported, six months into the term of the next governor.
“Rick Jackson promised to unwind his state contracts at the same time he was cutting a secret new deal to make millions of dollars off of taxpayers into 2027,” the Bottoms campaign said in a statement the next day.
On Thursday, Jackson said that legally there was nothing stopping him from holding a contract with a state agency as long as he did not work for that agency. But he said any outstanding contracts could and would be canceled should he win the election. He said he wanted to avoid the appearance of a conflict of interest.