Coming into this session, I joined with other members in the House to support four major priorities for our state and the people I represent.
Those priorities were: getting North Carolinians and small businesses back to work; protecting our future by ensuring our children receive a quality education; making sure our state government lives within its means; and demanding a responsible government. We announced these priorities on the first day of session and during a short, efficient session — the shortest since 1996 — we made progress in all of these areas.
The following information highlights the results of our work.
Thank you as always for your interest in state government. If you have any questions about this information or anything else that I can help with, please contact me. I am always glad to be of service.
Priority # 1 — Jobs: getting North Carolinians and small businesses back to work
Our number one priority this session was to get North Carolinians back to work and support our small businesses, which is essential to help our economic recovery. We agreed to: recruit jobs into the state and protect the ones we have; build a workforce to fit the needs of the 21st Century; invest in existing job development funds for new and expanding businesses and assist small businesses in creating jobs. We did this in our budget (SB 897) with the following appropriations.
These bills also help support small business by offering targeted tax relief.
Priority #2 — Protecting our future by ensuring our children receive a quality education
This economic downturn won’t last. We are preparing for a strong recovery by continuing to invest in our education system. In this past session, we made protecting our teachers a top priority and continue to protect class size. We also focused on keeping our students on track to graduate and supporting our community colleges and university system. In our budget we set aside:
There was also significant legislation passed to reform low-performing schools (SB 704); improve the graduation rate (HB 1877) and to identify and assist at-risk students earlier (HB 1875).
Priority #3 — Making sure state government lives within its means
This year, we eliminated $600 million in spending from our budget without raising taxes. We made the largest cuts in the State’s history in 2009 and like most families in North Carolina, it was necessary that we continue cutting back this year. We streamlined, economized and prioritized government spending and continued to find ways to make government more efficient, while also funding essential services for our state’s most vulnerable people. We also improved our tax and debt collection process.
Some of our savings include reducing the size and responsibilities of the state’s air fleet, finding efficiencies in drug programs and cutting the legislature’s own operating budget by more than $2 million.
Priority #4 — Demanding a responsible government
We acted to ensure an open and transparent state government that acts responsibly and finds solutions. Our budget allocates:
The Government Ethics and Campaign Reform Act of 2010 (HB 961) creates stronger standards for elected officials and government workers. Among other things, the act: increases the penalty for illegal campaign donations; improves the state’s campaign finance database by making it easier to search; makes complete salary histories of government workers public; requires the government to pay plaintiffs’ legal fees in cases where they are found to have violated open records laws without a written basis; increases economic disclosure requirements for judicial officers, legislators, and public servants
Other legislation (HB 1851) increases the authority of the Secretary of Administration to provide oversight of the review and award of contracts and enhances the efficiency and effectiveness of the contracts process by requiring more state agencies and institutions to comply with certain requirements regarding review and award of contracts. The legislation also requires the Attorney General to review certain contracts and prohibits the use of cost plus percentage of cost contracts.
In response to a federal ruling that now allows corporations to spend money on political races, we added new disclosure rules (HB 748) to assure that the companies report how much money they are spending on political activity and how it is being used. Other new laws updated the state’s Alcoholic Beverage Control system to make sure it meets modern standards of ethics (HB 1717) and transparency and attempt to crack down on fraud and kickbacks in the Medicaid system (SB 675).
Notes
CertainTeed Gypsum Inc., a manufacturer of construction materials, will build a wallboard manufacturing facility in Person County. The company plans to create 89 jobs during the next three years in Roxboro. The project will benefit from a $300,000 grant from the One North Carolina Fund.
CNBC has declared North Carolina as most improved among the top five states for doing business, elevating the state from 9th to 4th in its annual survey, “America’s Top States for Business.”
Georgia-based trucking firm, SouthernAG Carriers, announced that it will bring 30 new jobs and an investment of $2.5 million to Chowan County. The company, a food transporter, specializes in the transport of peanuts, including those of local goober processor Jimbo’s Jumbos.
As I’ve said many times before, I hope you will continue to let me know how you feel about the issues that are being debated by the North Carolina Legislature and the challenges you and your family are facing each day.
By working together, we can make Northampton, Vance and Warren Counties and all regions of North Carolina a better place to live, work and raise a family.
Please remember that you can listen to each day’s session, committee meetings and press conferences on the General Assembly’s website. Once on the site, select “Audio,” and then make your selection — House Chamber, Senate Chamber, Appropriations Committee Room or Press Conference Room.