Committe Meetings, Conventions, and Constituents

My interim between session continues to be filled with committee meetings, conventions, and meetings with constituents. 

On March 2, I had breakfast with the Nashville Town Council to listen to their concerns about potential legislation that could impact the town. After, Senator Buck Newton and I traveled to Middlesex to meet with Mayor Lu Harvey Lewis and John Gessaman of the Gateway Partnership. Together, we discussed how to attract industrial tenants to the park. Last session, I authored and pushed through legislation enabling Nash County to partner with Century Link to expand broadband services to this area, making the park more attractive to potential business tenants. It’s vital that the state is as attractive as possible to business tenants that could provide economic stimulation and job opportunities. 

Economic Development through our state ports was also on my agenda last week at an Economic Development Oversight Committee meeting. As the waterfront gateway to our state, our state ports need improvement to funnel business activity throughout North Carolina. 

This week I will be attending GOP conventions in Halifax and Washington counties. I never tire of applauding the yeoman work our GOP-led General Assembly did last year to balance the state’s budget and to begin to turn the tide toward making North Carolina a more friendly state in which to conduct business. 

Finishing the Job

This week, I filed for re-election to seek a second term in office. After years of Democratic mismanagement, my colleagues and I have made significant strides in improving our state government.

We reigned in the budget and found a solution to fully fund the state retirement plan. Several bills favoring individuals over government have been passed including new annexation laws that give property owners a right to petition when their land is being annexed and legislation giving tax breaks to businesses.

We've got to continue getting our fiscal house in order. The state owes close to $2.7 billion to the federal government after borrowing the money to pay for unemployment benefits. Our regulatory system needs to be amended to encourage economic development by enticing businesses to relocate to the state and create jobs. We still have a lot of necessary improvement to make and I want to help finish the job I started last term.

Stimulating Economic Growth

On February 2, I attended an Economic Development and Global Engagement Oversight committee meeting where my colleagues and I were briefed on the status of North Carolina’s commerce. Janet Cowell, North Carolina state treasurer, as well as directors of the International Trade Division of the N.C. Department of Commerce, spoke with us about the importance of stimulating international business with our state. Over the last ten years, international investment and job creation in North Carolina brought more than $9 billion in investments and 40,000 jobs to our state. 

While we could certainly stand to gain more international business, we could also stimulate our state economy by overriding Governor Perdue’s veto of Bill 709, the Energy Jobs Act. The bill would allow North Carolina to drill its natural gas deposits, creating thousands of jobs and generating millions in revenue. The bill also sets aside the first $500 million in revenue to an emergency response fund to pay for any damages that could be caused by drilling. In the upcoming short session, we must make it our priority to continue to improve our economy, create jobs, and stimulate growth. 

Education, Taxes, and Vetoes

More Taxes?

On Tuesday, January 17, Governor Perdue announced her proposed budget for next year will include an increase in sales tax for education. Out of all the states in the Southeast, North Carolina encumbers its citizens with the highest combined tax rate. The problem isn’t that N.C. is not taking in enough revenue or that it’s not taking enough of taxpayers money. The problem is the size of the government. I am against any increase in taxes.
  

Education can always be improved and the legislature made significant strides last year in spite of severe budget challenges. We assisted teachers by ensuring that their medical bills are paid and their pensions are funded. Some of the most frequent complaints that I have heard from teachers concern unnecessary testing, specifically tests that only the state of North Carolina required students to take. In response, we abolished those tests allowing teachers time to teach students more relevant and useful material. The limit on charter schools has also been eliminated. Now parents will have more options to provide their children with a strong education.


Fewer Vetoes?
On Thursday, January 26, Governor Perdue announced that she would not be seeking a second term, demonstrating the disarray within the Democratic Party in North Carolina. As Democratic legislators assume party positions that are much farther left from the views of the voters, they isolate themselves from their constituents and the general public. The Governor consistently voted against common sense and the will of the people in vetoing legislation that was supported by the vast majority of North Carolinians. We won't miss her veto stamp. 


As a member of the Republican party, I have strived to align myself with my constituents’ views while maintaining my personal beliefs and my party’s established ideology.

Taxes. Taxes. Taxes.

As the new year begins, individuals and businesses are preparing the necessary information they need to file and pay their taxes.  Citizens and business of North Carolina are paying much more than if they resided in different states. North Carolina has the highest combined tax burden in the Southeast and is one of the ten worst states in the nation for combined tax burdens. With such a high amount of money businesses and individuals must pay every year in taxes, N.C. is less attractive to companies and individuals who plan to relocate. Although the repeal of the extra 1 cent sales tax offers small relief, as legislators, my colleagues and I must continue to slash unnecessary taxes  that burden the citizens of North Carolina and prevent businesses and people from moving here.  

Finding a Solution for High Energy Rates

On Tuesday, January 10, Senator Buck Newton and I met with our fellow members of the Joint Municipal Power Agency Relief Legislative Study Committee to continue gathering information and weighing potential solutions for the high electric rates faced by Rocky Mount residents and other cities in the N.C. Eastern Municipal Power Agency. The N.C. Eastern Municipal Power Agency provides wholesale power to Rocky Mount and other participating communities.

In the 1980s, Rocky Mount and 31 other towns and communities banned together to buy into power plants.  During the process, they accumulated billions of dollars of debt. Now residents of member communities, including Rocky Mount, are struggling to pay off the $2.1 billion debt. On average, a monthly power agency electric bill is 35% more than the average monthly bill of Progress Energy customers. The power agency's rates are higher to help pay off the debt. Citizens cannot continue to pay these exorbitant rates until 2026, the year the debt is scheduled to be paid off.

By hearing from economic development and energy experts and listening to the experiences of town managers from Greenville and Wake Forest who have managed to keep their electric rates competitive, the committee and I are exploring every possible solution to lowering the electric rates plaguing member communities. Whether it's restructuring and refinancing the debt or selling asetts, we are determined to relieve citizens of high energy costs. The committee will be meeting again in the upcoming month and creating a report to summarize our findings and possible solutions.

Overriding Vetoes

On Wednesday, January 4, the governor called a special session, which lasted well after midnight and into the next morning. We successfully vetoed the Dues Check Off Benefit, ending the state government’s ability to deduct NCAE membership dues directly from public school employees’ paychecks. The government should not be involved in collecting membership dues for a private organization, a sentiment that is also shared by nearly half of North Carolina voters according to a May 2011 Civitas Institute Poll.


We also worked hard to override the governor’s veto of the Racial Justice Act but in the end, referred the matter to committee. This law is being abused by death-row inmates and their attorneys. I expect we will bring up the veto override again this spring.


The Joint Legislative Economic Development and Global Engagement Oversight Committee met last week during which we discussed the current economic status of the state and how the state could continue to improve economically. My position is that the state should continue to reduce taxes on businesses and consumers while reducing government red tape. In other words, our state should become more business and job "friendly". 


We will continue to work to improve the business climate to encourage job growth in our state.  


Please feel free to contact me at anytime with your questions or input.