McCoy said he would attach a high priority to funding for K-12 schools and higher education.
"I would love to be able to get to the point where we could eliminate the personal and corporate income tax," he said during an interview in Lincoln.
But, he said, he is convinced that needs to be accomplished while still protecting sales tax exemptions for agriculture and manufacturing that help keep Nebraska businesses and agriculture competitive.
McCoy was the legislative sponsor of Gov. Dave Heineman's 2013 tax package that would have wiped out those exemptions to help accomplish elimination of the income tax.
Heineman subsequently accepted the Legislature's decision to submit Nebraska's tax system to a thorough "tax modernization" study this year.
McCoy said he brings a unique urban-rural perspective to the governor's race, combining his experience as a small business owner in a family home improvement company in Omaha with the experience of growing up on a cattle ranch in western Nebraska.
"I understand the value and synergy of the rural and urban areas of the state," he said.
In addition, McCoy pointed to five years dealing with state issues in the Legislature, where he has been closely identified with Heineman and the governor's priorities and policies.
"Philosophically, we are very similiar," McCoy said. "I didn't always agree with him, but I think he has set the standard on how to be a good governor in many ways.
"People are not looking for the next governor to be just like Dave Heineman, but to continue that kind of vision and work ethic and those conservative principles."
McCoy said he would be a governor with strong pro-life convictions who "understands the value of tax dollars" and is committed to make government more transparent and accountable to the people.
As the father of four young children who range in age from 3 to 10, McCoy said, he also understands parental and family responsibility. McCoy, 32, and his wife, Shauna, have been married for more than 11 years.
The family embarked on a four-day campaign tour Tuesday in his white pickup truck with a ladder rack on top. McCoy was clad in open shirt and jeans without what has become his signature bow tie when he is in the Legislature.
He enters what is now a five-candidate Republican contest that features legislative colleagues, Sens. Charlie Janssen of Fremont and Tom Carlson of Holdrege, along with two candidates already armed with statewide name recognition.
Read More : http://journalstar.com/news/state-and-regional/govt-and-politics/beau-mccoy-enters-governor-race/article_16f63f28-902c-58b4-b30a-05abc391d0fa.html
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