Kay Ivey, Alabama’s State Treasurer and a candidate for governor, met with Montevallo Rotary club members at the Parnell Library Jan. 14 at noon.

Ivey spoke about how her experience from serving two terms as state treasurer could be used for the benefit of Alabama citizens if she is elected governor in 2010.

Since being elected as the first Republican to hold the title of Alabama State Treasurer in 2002, Ivey has saved the state money by reducing government overhead spending and she hopes to continue to cut administrative costs if elected, she said.

“Look at my record, not my rhetoric,” she said.

One of her ideas to save money is to pay Alabama’s state bills electronically, which would save $450,000 annually.

When it comes to state college tuition and programs such as PACT, Ivey said, “I want to protect both the tax payer and the students.”

On Dec. 1, 2009, she proposed her five-part solution to make sure the 45,000 students with current PACT contracts would continue to receive all of their benefits, according to a press release.

In her speech Ivey also said she opposes the gambling industry and called it “an unstable foundation” for funding and one of the “poorest business models” for any financial project.

She said the main issues for this campaign will be “jobs, jobs, jobs” for Alabama’s citizens that are good quality and high-paying. Two of her other top concerns are improving Alabama’s educational system and reducing government cost.

Michael Anderson, a Rotary club member and an eye doctor in Montevallo for the past 28 years, said that Ivey’s approach to her campaign for governor sounded very straightforward and practical.

“She seems to address fiscal responsibility and used the term ‘action’ several times,” Anderson said.

Ivey repeated her motto throughout her speech, “The people’s treasury is the people’s business,” and stressed the importance of knowing where Alabama’s government money is going.

Ivey has made the state’s financial information available online at Treasury.alabama.gov. For more information about PACT, go to its official website, Treasury.state.al.us/PACT. To find out more about Kay Ivey’s campaign for governor, visit Kayivey.org.