A proposal made by Gov. Sonny Perdue to appoint — rather than elect — four statewide constitutional officers has some "pretty high hurdles to overcome," said Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle on Friday.

Perdue’s plan would allow future governors to appoint the state schools superintendent, labor commissioner, agriculture commissioner and insurance commissioner — all currently elected positions. The change would take place in 2014, after Perdue leaves office.

The proposal has yet to get a promise of support from two of Hall County’s other hometown legislators.

While details of the plan were still vague to state Sen. Lee Hawkins, R-Gainesville, Friday, he said he preferred state residents to have a choice in those decisions.

"I feel like anytime the people of Georgia could have their voice heard, that’s the way it should be," Hawkins said.

State Rep. Doug Collins, R-Gainesville, said he’s also undecided whether he or other legislators would want to give future governors that much power.

"I would have some concern about that," Collins said. "I would want to see more of the proposal, the possible cost savings, which I’m not sure there would be cost savings, but that’s just giving a great deal of power to an elected official in a lot of areas. ... You’re going to get the governor’s imprint on far more than you have now."

Collins said he’s heard talk of appointed state school superintendents, labor and insurance commissioners, but was surprised Perdue would call for an appointed agriculture commissioner.

"Agriculture, that’s the main generating source of revenue or income in the state as far as our production. ... That position has always been a very pivotal figure in our agricultural economy," Collins said.

Research from Perdue’s office found that Georgia is one of only five states that elect a labor commissioner and one of only nine states in which voters select an agriculture commissioner. Twelve other states elect an insurance
commissioner. Fourteen vote for state school superintendent.

Perdue’s proposal would require a constitutional amendment, which means that should it receive the needed supermajority in the state legislature, it would then need to be approved by voters. The plan must also pass muster with the U.S. Department of Justice under the Voting Rights Act, according to the state Attorney General Thurbert Baker’s office.

A spokesman for Baker said Perdue did not seek their counsel on the proposal.

Critics from both parties said Perdue’s plan was unlikely to win the needed two-thirds vote in the legislature and would consolidate too much power with the state’s chief executive.

"I have serious reservations about taking power away from the people like this," state Sen. Tim Golden, D-Valdosta, said.

Georgia’s longtime state Agriculture Commissioner Tommy Irvin said Friday that the proposal was a "terrible idea."

"You would not have an independent agriculture commissioner, as I’ve been," said the Democrat, who was first elected in 1969. "Let the people vote."

State Schools Superintendent Kathy Cox said the plan would "lessen the voice that parents and educators have."

"I am not convinced that less democracy is better," she said.

Gainesville School Superintendent Merrianne Dyer said she did not have a lot of background on the benefits and pitfalls of an elected superintendent, but she said if voters elect the governor, then they have an indirect role in the selection of a school superintendent.

"I know that appointing someone that’s in a managerial position like a school superintendent, it has been said that’s much more beneficial rather than someone running for the post," Dyer said.

Cox is one of several Republicans who were skeptical.

House Majority Whip Ed Lindsey called it "very doubtful" that voters would give up their right to have a say.

"Traditionally the voters, once they have been given the right to vote on something, they are reluctant to take that right back from themselves," the Atlanta Republican said.

State Rep. Jill Chambers, R-Atlanta, called the chances of the legislature giving more power to the governor "slim."

House Minority Leader DuBose Porter questioned Perdue’s timing, saying lawmakers are already more than one-fourth of the way through their legislative session and Perdue has less than one year left in his final term.

"Why now?" Porter asked. "Possibly this is something that should be looked at, but there are so many other things — jobs, transportation — that reorganizing state government in this way is not a high priority."

Collins also questioned the bill’s timing.

Still, the plan has supporters.

"It’s like the president picking his cabinet. The governor should have the same privilege," state Sen. Jeff Mullis, R-Chickamauga, said. "It might help (the governor) to control the budget better."

Several legislators noted that with schools such a high priority it made sense to have the schools superintendent and the governor reading off the same playbook.

Times reporter Amanda Woodruff and the Associated Press contributed to this report.