Kay Ivey, the Republican candidate for lieutenant governor, came to Tuscaloosa on Wednesday with a message of self-control for the state of Alabama.

She and other candidates came to Tuscaloosa to meet with the probate judges of Alabama, she said. She sat for an interview with The Crimson White staff Sept. 15.

Ivey is running against Democrat and current lieutenant governor Jim Folsom, Jr. The general election is Nov. 2.

Ivey began her bid for the office of governor during her last term as state treasurer in 2009, but soon shifted in early 2010 in order to run for the office of lieutenant governor. She said her goals for the office are to protect families and small businesses from increasing taxes, and to create “high paying, quality, stable, 21st century jobs” out of new and existing industries. Ivey also plans to “corral irresponsible government spending.”

Ivey said job creation should be tailored to each community’s individual resources and size.

“My home in Wilcox County will never be the home of a Hyundai,” Ivey said. She said her community would be better suited for small to medium-sized industries, and this sort of analytical thinking is crucial for the mutual success of both communities and industries.

Of government spending, Ivey said the state budget was struggling because of spending practices.

“As your state treasurer, I can look you in the eye and tell you revenue is not the issue,” Ivey said. “It’s lack of spending priorities.

“They say, ‘Well let’s just raise taxes,’ but when you raise taxes, you discourage entrepreneurship.”

Ivey said, in her time as state treasurer, her office cut significant amounts of unnecessary spending, including $5 million in “administrative overhead.”

“There’s been a 29 percent reduction in staff and a 35 percent reduction in [office] budget,” Ivey said. “That’s on top of proration, and that’s important.”

Ivey said every office in the state has faced budget cuts due to proration, and her budget cuts were significant because she enforced them on top of the proration.

Proration is a state-mandated budget cut in response to a loss of revenue.

Ivey said if she were elected, budget cuts would be large and rapid but not unnecessary.

“It can be done and it doesn’t have to be done with a meat cleaver,” Ivey said.

An emphasis on internal audits would be necessary to the process, Ivey said. Internal audits are assessments of budgets initiated and carried out by the organization itself, without outside influence.

“They’re going to police themselves; they’re going to modify their behavior,” Ivey said.

When asked if she would broaden the powers of the office of lieutenant governor – powers that were limited following the 1998 election of Steve Windom – Ivey said she does not plan to do such things.

“But this is going to be a full-time job,” Ivey said. “There’s a lot of work to be done.”

Ivey said one of the main goals of her new office would be increased transparency, particularly toward the way committee meetings are managed.

Ivey described the current system as one where “Joe Bubba is on Committee A and Committee B, and they’ve scheduled both meetings at the same time.”

She also said she would require meetings to be announced several days ahead of time to allow people to make plans and attend all their meetings.

When asked about the PACT Plan, Ivey said Lieutenant Governor Folsom pushed through legislation in 2009 requiring the state of Alabama to comply with their commitment to students. The plan would also have fresh funding by no later than 2015, Ivey said.

“It’s been almost impossible to manage,” Ivey said. “But not one student has done without. “The PACT Program continues.”

Ivey said tuition increases are a serious issue requiring cooperation between the state, universities and communities.

“There’s got to be a partnership,” Ivey said. “Tuition has got to be addressed and curtailed in some fashion so that students don’t go heavily into debt upon graduation.”

The per-student debt average for 2010 was $24,651, according to finaid.org. One quarter of students borrowed more than $30,000 for a four-year degree.

When asked about loosening gambling restrictions to raise revenue for the state, Ivey said she did not see gambling as a solution.

“Gambling or gaming or whatever else is not a good business model,” Ivey said.

“Unstable ventures, at best, can’t produce a steady source of income to a family based on who’s going to pull a lever or flash the cards,” Ivey said.

Ivey said that, at the end of the day, her generation must bear the burden of fixing the economy for the rising generation.

“My generation has to make some cuts it’s never had to make before,” Ivey said. “Y’all’s generation can be more prosperous.”