The Georgia Chamber of Commerce approves of the job a Republican lawmaker from Cumming did in the legislature this year.

District 27 state Sen. Jack Murphy was recently recognized on the chamber’s honor roll with an "A" rating, recognizing him as one of the legislators most supportive of the business community in 2011.

"I’m always honored that the Georgia chamber recognizes … my efforts down there to help them with their legislation," Murphy said. "I don’t 100 percent rubber-stamp everything the Georgia chamber does.

"But I certainly agree with a lot of it, as long as it agrees with good economics."

The chamber considered lawmakers who address issues like job creation and economic recovery. Legislators were scored to reflect their support for business community priorities.

"I’ve been a business person all my life," Murphy said. "I was the vice president of a huge company, which was highly regulated, but we employed a lot of people.

"And [it was] the same way with the smaller businesses I had … the less regulations we have on the businesses … the more money we could invest back into the company, which allows us to expand and allows for more employment opportunities."

Murphy said he believes he was selected for supporting various business-friendly bills, including one that allows local governments to hold a referendum on whether stores should be allowed to sell alcohol on Sundays.

A second business measure will allow health insurance companies to issue across state lines to Georgia residents.

Nearly 85 percent of the state’s businesses are small, which is why Murphy said he will continue to work toward doing "whatever we can do to ease the regulations on these small businesses."

"Especially during this economic time, these businesses are barely surviving, so let’s not go out there and put a lot of extra regulations on them," he said.

"Let’s just give them as many breaks as we can to let them create job opportunities for the citizens of Georgia."