Biography: Brian Walton lives in Beavercreek with his wife (Brittany) and five children. He has a Bachelor’s degree in chemistry and pre-med, a Master’s degree in International Relations and Comparative Politics from Wright State University, and will complete his Juris Doctorate in May 2016 from the University of Dayton School of Law.
Brian Walton entered active duty with the United States Air Force on November 27, 2001 and was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant and assigned to Wright-Patterson AFB in 2002. In 2005, after leaving active duty, Mr. Walton accepted a position as an Intelligence Analyst with the FBI where he worked Counterterrorism and Counterintelligence cases. From 2009-2012 he spent over two years in Iraq and Afghanistan as a defense contract Intelligence Analyst working with a Special Operations Unit, helping to hunt the group now known as ISIS in Iraq and the Taliban/al-Qaeda in Afghanistan.
For the last eight years Mr. Walton has also owned a real estate investment firm whose primary purpose is to acquire, rehab and resell distressed single family homes. Over this time his firm has completed and sold more than 100 homes.
What is the biggest challenge facing the state, and what would you do to help resolve it?
“Medicare Expansion/Obamacare is hovering over the citizens of our state. Governor Kasich circumvented the entire Ohio Legislature and forced Obamacare on us all, effectively through an Executive Action, when he utilized the 7-member Controlling Board—and then having two of the members replaced the morning of the vote. In short, Governor Kasich has lied to everyone.
In just a few years, Ohio will be on the hook, paying costs associated with the expansion; however, we don’t even know to what extent we will be responsible. Based on current numbers, Ohio will either have raise taxes or drop Obamacare. The first option will further cripple small business and the middle class. The longer we wait to do the second option, the more people will be hurt. The longer we wait, the older people get, the more new medical conditions will be considered “pre-existing” when seeking new health coverage — in both situations, after Obamacare is dropped, it will be more expensive for individuals to find new health insurance.
I was raised to treat people with kindness, be fair, and most importantly be honest. The truth may not always be a comfortable one but it allows people to make decisions and plan accordingly.”
When it comes to the state’s budget, how would you change spending priorities for services?
“First and foremost, government at all levels has become too cumbersome, leading them to be wildly inefficient. As a state government, we need to evaluate all sectors, put processes in place to make them more efficient, figure out where our staffing levels really need to be, and then cut those unnecessary positions. The government’s role was never meant to be that of a job provider. This role lies with the private sector.
In order for the private sector to succeed the government needs to be lean and efficient, causing taxes to be lower for businesses and the middle class, which leads to more jobs and more disposable income for our citizens, which leads to more revenue for our lean and efficient government, which leads to more services the government can provide to those who actually need help. It really is a simple analysis of cause and effect.”
