Meet Houston |
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Elected to the State House in 2018, Houston is in his third term in the General Assembly, representing portions of Barrow, Clarke, Jackson and Oconee counties. Professionally, Houston has spent his career helping grow small businesses in our area. Today, he works at Carter Engineering, where he's focused on expanding this successful small business. He previously worked at Cannon Financial Institute - another small business in our region - where he served clients across the country in the financial industry.
In the House, Houston has championed a number of important priorities for our community. In his six legislative Sessions, Houston has authored nearly 20 bills that have passed the legislature - including legislation targeting human trafficking and domestic violence and legislation to support substance abuse recovery. Houston was named "Champion of Recovery" by the Georgia Council on Substance Abuse for his work on this legislation. He's also fought for and passed multiple healthcare reforms to lower costs and increase access for Georgians - and passed a 10% pay cut for politicians. In 2021, Houston passed a bill to provide paid parental leave for teachers and state employees - legislation that Ivanka Trump helped champion - and passed important criminal justice reform. He also spearheaded a bill to prohibit local governments from defunding the police - and he led the fight to stop sanctuary policies from being rooted in our local governments. In 2022, Houston was elected by his colleagues to serve as Vice Chairman of the Majority Caucus. Houston serves on the Ways & Means, Public Health, Governmental Affairs, Insurance, and Appropriations committees - and is Vice Chairman of the Higher Education Appropriations subcommittee. As a third-generation Athenian and grandson of the late Judge Joseph Gaines, Houston has long been engaged in our community. He is a member of the Athens Rotary Club and previously served on the Envision Athens Steering Committee, Junior League of Athens Community Advisory Board, LEAD Athens Alumni Association Board of Directors and multiple K-12 and University of Georgia boards. Houston currently serves on the School of Public and International Affairs Alumni Board and the Northeast Georgia Boy Scouts Council Executive Board. He is a 2015 LEAD Athens graduate, and a graduate of the Zell Miller Foundation's Leadership Institute. A summa cum laude graduate of the University of Georgia, Houston served as student body president while at UGA and was named to its 2020 "40 Under 40" class. |
"Barrow, Clarke, Jackson & Oconee counties deserve someone who will fight for our district – and deliver results for our families. I'm working everyday to do just that and make a difference for our community."
Rep. Gaines In the News
On the Issues
JOB CREATION
Under Republican leadership at the State Capitol, Georgia has become the best state in the nation to start a business and create jobs. By eliminating burdensome regulations, streamlining government, and passing the largest income tax cut in state history – Georgia is making it easier for businesses to grow and bring new prosperity to communities across Barrow, Clarke, Jackson, and Oconee counties.
Houston is working to promote conservative business reforms that enable businesses large and small to be more efficient, more productive, and bring more opportunities to families in our district.
Houston is also working to make our region a hub for economic development by leveraging the world-class workforce emerging from our local technical colleges and universities. By partnering with local employers to hire from the pipeline of highly trained and highly skilled workers graduating from our schools, Houston is helping empower our entrepreneurs to become anchors for economic growth and job creation.
Houston Gaines is the pro-business legislator who is an ally to job creators and helping pass impactful conservative business reforms - making it easier for our small businesses to hire, attract developing industries, and boost economic development with locally-based incentives.
FISCAL RESPONSIBILITY
A bloated government with sweeping power is never the answer to the everyday problems our families face. Rather than relying on costly social programs, Houston believes that we should work hard to drive down the size of government and steer our community away from expensive, top-down bureaucratic rule.
Houston will fight tax increases and unfunded mandates that take money out of the pockets of hardworking families across our district. Instead, Houston is making government work for us by identifying inefficiencies, eliminating waste and duplication, and enhancing services through technological advances. Houston will also work to reduce government operations to core competencies by implementing a zero-based budgeting process throughout state government, so that our communities get a better government guided by outcomes and results.
Most importantly, Houston will build upon Governor Deal’s historic income tax cuts by working to reduce our state income tax to less than 5% - returning even more savings to taxpayers and reducing the burden of state-imposed taxes for families and businesses alike. More than anything, Houston’s goal is to shrink government, restore local control, and keep more money in the pockets of our hardworking families.
EDUCATION
As someone who attended Georgia schools and received the HOPE scholarship to attend the state’s flagship university, Houston knows how a quality education can change lives and position students for a life of productivity and success. Houston will fight for a K-12 education system that empowers our students to succeed by keeping our state’s QBE formula fully funded and safeguarding the HOPE scholarship, HOPE grant, and HOPE pre-k programs.
But more than that, Houston will fight to liberate our teachers and administrators from the one-size-fits-all model of education – encouraging them to tailor curriculum for our students based on individual needs, challenges, and goals. Reducing bureaucratic barriers like excessive standardized testing will allow our teachers to focus on teaching and our children to concentrate on learning. By taking these measures, we will increase local control and improve 3rd grade reading proficiency, cut dropout levels, and boost graduation rates.
Houston also believes that students should be empowered to pursue the robust opportunities our state has to offer after graduation, whether they want to obtain a post-secondary degree or pursue technical training. Schools should enable our young people to meet local workforce needs by increasing technical training – so that more students are graduating high school with skill sets that enable them to find high-paying jobs in our community. This means improving the partnerships between local businesses, developing industries, and our technical colleges in the region to fill the specific gaps in our workforce here at home.
First and foremost, Houston will enable teachers to make real investments in our young people and bring the focus of Georgia education back to our students and back to the local level. By cutting the education bureaucracy, rewarding innovation and performance from teachers, and holding our local school systems accountable, we will push more dollars directly into the classroom where they have the greatest impact on our children and multiply throughout our community.
HEALTHCARE
If liberal Democrats have their say, the single-payer universal health care policies championed by Bernie Sanders will find a costly home here in Georgia. Houston will stand in strong opposition to the push for a government run single-payer health care system, which would devastate small businesses’ bottom lines and dramatically raise our taxes.
Instead, Houston will pursue market-based solutions to increase choice for our families and make quality, patient-centered care more affordable. By removing bureaucratic barriers standing in the way of common-sense health care reform, Houston will ensure that our community has a clear path to healthcare that is not obstructed by sky-high costs or sheer distance to care. And by prioritizing efficiency and maximizing productivity, Houston will ensure a high-performance, cost-effective healthcare future for every family in our community.
Houston will promote funding and support for our rural hospitals to make sure every family across the district has access to Georgia’s quality healthcare system, regardless of where they live. By working with the House Rural Development Council, Houston will also prioritize affordable care for emergency services. This includes combating the opioid crisis through increased access to life-saving treatment and recovery programs - and making a concentrated effort to address the underlying issues behind addiction. Houston will similarly partner with local healthcare providers and state agencies to improve access and treatment for those battling mental illness.
Finally, Houston is joining Republicans in the General Assembly to bolster work requirement programs as part of a conservative framework for government healthcare assistance through Medicaid in order to scale back entitlement abuse.
OUR GEORGIA VALUES
Born and raised in this community, Houston wants to protect the values that make Georgia the best place to live, work and raise a family in America. Protecting our values begins with safeguarding against federal overreach and pushing for smaller government with local control, so our local leaders can respond to the needs of our community without being encumbered by a top-down, bloated bureaucracy.
Houston is a defender of our 2nd Amendment rights in the General Assembly. He’s also a firm believer in the sanctity of life, and is committed to protecting those in society who are most vulnerable – whether that be at the beginning or end of their life.
Georgia’s active military personnel, veterans, public safety officials, and their families have served dutifully to our state – which is why Houston is committed to promoting the interests of the individuals who have long protected our own. In the General Assembly, Houston will work with veterans in the State House and our Georgia National Guard to cut taxes for our veterans, simplify housing transitions for military families, streamline the process to obtain education and professional licenses, and protect our military installations from federal cuts or relocation.
Finally, Houston is a champion for rural Georgia. As our State Representative, Houston will push to make the House Rural Development Council a standing committee to keep issues such as rural broadband internet access, rural education and healthcare, and workforce development a focus for leaders at the Capitol. Houston will place an emphasis on growing rural economies and supporting our leading industries like agriculture - to make sure those who provide the nourishment we require have the resources they need during good times and bad.
PUBLIC SAFETY
Houston firmly believes in protecting and giving back to the law enforcement officers who have selflessly accepted the call to serve our community. Houston is proud to have been endorsed by the sheriffs of Barrow, Jackson, and Oconee counties, and is committed to ensuring they have an ally in the General Assembly who will fight for the resources they need to keep us safe.
Houston is strongly opposed to open borders, and supports conservative leaders who are committed to defunding sanctuary cities and deporting violent criminal illegal aliens.
Houston also knows our public safety concerns are not limited to the problems at the border. We need more resources for school safety, more robust training for mental health crises, and a better working partnership between our community, schools, and local law enforcement. Most especially, we need better pay and benefits for the law enforcement officers who are at the front lines of protecting our communities and keeping our families safe.
As the grandson of a superior court judge, Houston is also a believer in criminal justice reforms that have prioritized jailing violent offenders while providing community and professional support to rehabilitation facilities and juvenile centers that partner with our technical colleges to train inmates. Houston will continue to support punishing society’s worst criminals while providing a path for rehabilitated inmates to find a job and become contributing members of society after serving their time.
Under Republican leadership at the State Capitol, Georgia has become the best state in the nation to start a business and create jobs. By eliminating burdensome regulations, streamlining government, and passing the largest income tax cut in state history – Georgia is making it easier for businesses to grow and bring new prosperity to communities across Barrow, Clarke, Jackson, and Oconee counties.
Houston is working to promote conservative business reforms that enable businesses large and small to be more efficient, more productive, and bring more opportunities to families in our district.
Houston is also working to make our region a hub for economic development by leveraging the world-class workforce emerging from our local technical colleges and universities. By partnering with local employers to hire from the pipeline of highly trained and highly skilled workers graduating from our schools, Houston is helping empower our entrepreneurs to become anchors for economic growth and job creation.
Houston Gaines is the pro-business legislator who is an ally to job creators and helping pass impactful conservative business reforms - making it easier for our small businesses to hire, attract developing industries, and boost economic development with locally-based incentives.
FISCAL RESPONSIBILITY
A bloated government with sweeping power is never the answer to the everyday problems our families face. Rather than relying on costly social programs, Houston believes that we should work hard to drive down the size of government and steer our community away from expensive, top-down bureaucratic rule.
Houston will fight tax increases and unfunded mandates that take money out of the pockets of hardworking families across our district. Instead, Houston is making government work for us by identifying inefficiencies, eliminating waste and duplication, and enhancing services through technological advances. Houston will also work to reduce government operations to core competencies by implementing a zero-based budgeting process throughout state government, so that our communities get a better government guided by outcomes and results.
Most importantly, Houston will build upon Governor Deal’s historic income tax cuts by working to reduce our state income tax to less than 5% - returning even more savings to taxpayers and reducing the burden of state-imposed taxes for families and businesses alike. More than anything, Houston’s goal is to shrink government, restore local control, and keep more money in the pockets of our hardworking families.
EDUCATION
As someone who attended Georgia schools and received the HOPE scholarship to attend the state’s flagship university, Houston knows how a quality education can change lives and position students for a life of productivity and success. Houston will fight for a K-12 education system that empowers our students to succeed by keeping our state’s QBE formula fully funded and safeguarding the HOPE scholarship, HOPE grant, and HOPE pre-k programs.
But more than that, Houston will fight to liberate our teachers and administrators from the one-size-fits-all model of education – encouraging them to tailor curriculum for our students based on individual needs, challenges, and goals. Reducing bureaucratic barriers like excessive standardized testing will allow our teachers to focus on teaching and our children to concentrate on learning. By taking these measures, we will increase local control and improve 3rd grade reading proficiency, cut dropout levels, and boost graduation rates.
Houston also believes that students should be empowered to pursue the robust opportunities our state has to offer after graduation, whether they want to obtain a post-secondary degree or pursue technical training. Schools should enable our young people to meet local workforce needs by increasing technical training – so that more students are graduating high school with skill sets that enable them to find high-paying jobs in our community. This means improving the partnerships between local businesses, developing industries, and our technical colleges in the region to fill the specific gaps in our workforce here at home.
First and foremost, Houston will enable teachers to make real investments in our young people and bring the focus of Georgia education back to our students and back to the local level. By cutting the education bureaucracy, rewarding innovation and performance from teachers, and holding our local school systems accountable, we will push more dollars directly into the classroom where they have the greatest impact on our children and multiply throughout our community.
HEALTHCARE
If liberal Democrats have their say, the single-payer universal health care policies championed by Bernie Sanders will find a costly home here in Georgia. Houston will stand in strong opposition to the push for a government run single-payer health care system, which would devastate small businesses’ bottom lines and dramatically raise our taxes.
Instead, Houston will pursue market-based solutions to increase choice for our families and make quality, patient-centered care more affordable. By removing bureaucratic barriers standing in the way of common-sense health care reform, Houston will ensure that our community has a clear path to healthcare that is not obstructed by sky-high costs or sheer distance to care. And by prioritizing efficiency and maximizing productivity, Houston will ensure a high-performance, cost-effective healthcare future for every family in our community.
Houston will promote funding and support for our rural hospitals to make sure every family across the district has access to Georgia’s quality healthcare system, regardless of where they live. By working with the House Rural Development Council, Houston will also prioritize affordable care for emergency services. This includes combating the opioid crisis through increased access to life-saving treatment and recovery programs - and making a concentrated effort to address the underlying issues behind addiction. Houston will similarly partner with local healthcare providers and state agencies to improve access and treatment for those battling mental illness.
Finally, Houston is joining Republicans in the General Assembly to bolster work requirement programs as part of a conservative framework for government healthcare assistance through Medicaid in order to scale back entitlement abuse.
OUR GEORGIA VALUES
Born and raised in this community, Houston wants to protect the values that make Georgia the best place to live, work and raise a family in America. Protecting our values begins with safeguarding against federal overreach and pushing for smaller government with local control, so our local leaders can respond to the needs of our community without being encumbered by a top-down, bloated bureaucracy.
Houston is a defender of our 2nd Amendment rights in the General Assembly. He’s also a firm believer in the sanctity of life, and is committed to protecting those in society who are most vulnerable – whether that be at the beginning or end of their life.
Georgia’s active military personnel, veterans, public safety officials, and their families have served dutifully to our state – which is why Houston is committed to promoting the interests of the individuals who have long protected our own. In the General Assembly, Houston will work with veterans in the State House and our Georgia National Guard to cut taxes for our veterans, simplify housing transitions for military families, streamline the process to obtain education and professional licenses, and protect our military installations from federal cuts or relocation.
Finally, Houston is a champion for rural Georgia. As our State Representative, Houston will push to make the House Rural Development Council a standing committee to keep issues such as rural broadband internet access, rural education and healthcare, and workforce development a focus for leaders at the Capitol. Houston will place an emphasis on growing rural economies and supporting our leading industries like agriculture - to make sure those who provide the nourishment we require have the resources they need during good times and bad.
PUBLIC SAFETY
Houston firmly believes in protecting and giving back to the law enforcement officers who have selflessly accepted the call to serve our community. Houston is proud to have been endorsed by the sheriffs of Barrow, Jackson, and Oconee counties, and is committed to ensuring they have an ally in the General Assembly who will fight for the resources they need to keep us safe.
Houston is strongly opposed to open borders, and supports conservative leaders who are committed to defunding sanctuary cities and deporting violent criminal illegal aliens.
Houston also knows our public safety concerns are not limited to the problems at the border. We need more resources for school safety, more robust training for mental health crises, and a better working partnership between our community, schools, and local law enforcement. Most especially, we need better pay and benefits for the law enforcement officers who are at the front lines of protecting our communities and keeping our families safe.
As the grandson of a superior court judge, Houston is also a believer in criminal justice reforms that have prioritized jailing violent offenders while providing community and professional support to rehabilitation facilities and juvenile centers that partner with our technical colleges to train inmates. Houston will continue to support punishing society’s worst criminals while providing a path for rehabilitated inmates to find a job and become contributing members of society after serving their time.
"Together, we are making progress and will continue fighting to move our district forward. I ask for your continued support."