VALDOSTA — Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams said the closure of the Atlanta Medical Center was a “devastating loss” that highlights the plight of Georgia’s current health care system.

“We got a governor who is proud of giving $1 billion to this company and $2 billion to that company. Well, I want to give Georgia $3.5 billion a year and expand Medicaid,” Abrams said. “Expansion of Medicaid is the single largest economic development investment in Georgia’s history. It will create 64,000 jobs. It will give health insurance to 500,000 people. It will provide mental health care and physical health care. It will save hospitals; it will save lives.”

Abrams shared these sentiments this week during her visits to Valdosta State University and the One Georgia Rally at John W. Saunders Memorial Park Amphitheater in Valdosta.

She said she is focusing her expansion strategy on addressing mental health, granting minimum wage workers access to health insurance that makes “too much for Medicaid and too little for the Affordable Care Act,” saving hospitals and reducing the pressure on law enforcement that has led to incidents such as Brianna Grier’s passing.

Grier is a Georgia woman who died this summer after falling from a moving patrol car after her arrest.

“You see, Brianna was a student at Fort Valley State University and had to drop out of college because she had schizophrenia. She had twin 3-year-olds, Mariah and Maria. and she was having a psychotic break,” Abrams said at the One Georgia Rally. “So her parents did what all of us are trained to do. They picked up the phone and called 911.

“You call 911 because there’s an emergency, and you need help. But in Hancock County, they don’t have a hospital. In Hancock County, where our refusal to expand Medicaid means that you have a high level of uninsured folks.

“When they picked up the phone, the only people who could be sent were the police. Brianna Grier, she was put in the back of a police car and she fell out of that police car. The concussion took her life six days later. The thing is, law enforcement knows they are not called to be mental health providers; they are called to protect us. But, in the state of Georgia, the number one provider of mental health support is not our hospitals, it is law enforcement.”

Another major issue Abrams plans on addressing as governor is financial aid for Georgia’s college students. Georgia is one of only two states that does not provide need-based aid, leading to three options: the HOPE scholarship, work studies and federal financial aid such as Pell grants and student loans.

Abrams criticized Gov. Brian Kemp’s refusal to utilize available state funds to make need-based aid a reality and his touted tax-break plan during the panel at VSU.

“On a federal level, its a graduated tax rate. The more you make, the more you pay. In Georgia, it’s flat; everybody pays the same percentage. That means when he says he’s going to give it back, if you are a low-income Georgian, you’re going to get $27. If you’re middle income, you’ll get $193. But if you are wealthy, you’re going to get an average of $10,000 … 50,000 people are going to get a sum total of $500 million from his tax approach,” she said.

“Everyone gets the same tax rate but not the same tax opportunity. So when you hear out of Brian Kemp’s mouth saying taxes … he’s not talking about you (students). You’re not the beneficiaries. … I want to make certain we invest that money in our young people and transportation and housing and education. It’s a difference of mission. My mission is not to make certain the wealthiest Georgians get even more; my mission is to make sure you all get to be the wealthiest Georgians. That should be our approach and that should be our promise,” she said.

Abrams mentioned her work with former Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal on creating two funds, the backstop and unrestricted reserves, for student financial aid in the wake of the HOPE scholarship’s near collapse in 2011.

She said while the backstop is working, there is $1 billion in the unrestricted reserves that can be used to serve students better by reducing their reliance on work-study programs and properly investing in their education.

“The problem is students are working so hard just to keep up, they’ll never get ahead. Just to be clear, there are two buckets of money: there’s the $1 billion I’m talking about, we get that from the lottery. The lottery is for HOPE. It pays for pre-K, technical college and technology. That’s where the billion is. On this side, the $5 or $6 billion is in the general fund; that’s just the money we have saved.

“We can do everything I’m talking about without ever having to raise taxes. Because we got money, this is not a resources issue. This is a morality issue,” she said.

Abrams mentioned other strategies she would put in place to improve the lives of Georgians, include:

– Allowing sports betting and casinos in the state, which can generate between $200-$350 million in revenue.

– Utilizing a disability coordinator for the state to oversee every division of government to ensure those with disabilities will have an advocate to get them proper services.

– Enforcing accountability measures for law enforcement.

“It is a false choice to tell us you can either support law enforcement or support accountability. That’s how they lie to us; that’s how they divide us. The best in law enforcement want to be held accountable because when somebody makes a mistake, it ruins trust for everybody,” she said.

“And when somebody’s in danger, I want us to be able to call for help. But when someone is only considered a danger because of what they look like, I need the person who can’t see their humanity see the end of their job.”

– Allocating additional funding to mental health services, especially for college students.

– Investing in lower and middle-class families by providing additional capital for affordable housing.

Valdosta’s Mayor Pro Tem Vivian Miller-Cody described Abrams as a “dynamic leader who has proven to us that she cares about everyone in the state of Georgia” in her introduction at the One Georgia Rally.

Miller-Cody also said while Mayor Scott James Matheson couldn’t make it, he supports her and fellow Valdosta City Council member Sandra Tooley supporting Abrams.

Valdosta State student leaders, Nyla Williams, congressional District 8 intern, and Jalen Smith, Student Government president, followed Miller-Cody’s remarks with their own remarks in backing Abrams.

Kathryn Grant, program coordinator for SAFE to Thrive, and Dennis Marks, former chair of the Lowndes County Democratic Party, then encouraged the audience to go out and vote during the election to ensure Abrams’ election into office.

Following Grant and Marks, Nicholas Hardin, owner of Big Nick’s, added his remarks about Abrams’ dedication to the community and supporting small businesses. He mentioned her passion for investing in the youth, which led to his son, Caleb, officially introducing Abrams.

Following all remarks, meet and greet attendees had the opportunity to meet and take a picture with Abrams.