On Monday night, Governor Mike Easley delivered his fourth, and likely his final, State of the State address at the General Assembly, which was broadcast live across the state.
The governor focused largely on education and gave us a sneak preview of his budget, which was unveiled on Thursday and will be discussed by legislators next week.
The governor asked legislators to provide more financial assistance to students so they’re able to attend college debt free. He encouraged improved technology in all high schools as part of our efforts to expand the state’s Learn and Earn program, which gives students the chance to take college or university classes and receive a high school diploma and an associate’s degree in five years. He also announced his plan to cut income taxes for an estimated 1.2 million low- and middle-income North Carolinians.
Members of the House and Senate have introduced close to 700 pieces of legislation during the first month of the 2007 session, which started on January 24. This week’s highlights include bills focused on providing affordable health care to North Carolina’s more than 1.3 million uninsured, banning smoking in public places, and reducing gang violence.
Please remember that you can learn more about the General Assembly by visiting www.ncleg.net. Our newly updated website allows citizens to listen in on each day’s legislative session, committee meetings and press conferences, learn more about introduced legislation, and view each day’s schedule and list of bills to be voted on. The House will be back in session on Monday night at 7 pm.
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 General Assembly 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.
Governor Easley’s “State of the State” Address
During his fourth State of the State address on Monday night, Gov. Mike Easley praised the General Assembly for working with him since he took office in 2001, especially during the state’s recession and billion dollar plus budget shortfalls, and focused largely on ways to improve the education of every child in North Carolina.
The governor called on the General Assembly to launch the nation’s most ambitious education initiative that would allow students to earn a four-year degree at a state university debt free. First, he called for a major expansion of the state’s Learn and Earn program, which allows students to stay in high school for an extra year, and earn enough community college or university credits to get an associate’s degree and a high school diploma at the same time. The program now reaches 33 high schools and will expand to 75 high schools by the 2008-09 school year. In two years, it would be available to every student, Easley said.
Along with the Learn and Earn expansion, Easley proposed a new initiative that would allow more students to attend and graduate from college. For low- and moderate-income students, he called for the creation of a major new financial aid program that combines a two-year state grant with current federal assistance that will replace the need for loans if students work 10 hours a week to help pay for their education. Therefore, students who complete the Learn and Earn program with two years of college credit will be able to finish their four-year degree at a state university debt free.
In discussing our state’s economy, Easley said, “our state is much stronger. We have taken the toughest blows that a national recession and federal trade policies could deliver, and we are not only surviving in this new world economy, we are thriving in it.” But despite the improving economic situation, Easley declared that North Carolina has an obligation to continue to help its most vulnerable and hardworking citizens.
Governor Easley also called on legislators to:
* Add 10,000 additional 4-year-olds to the state’s “More at Four” pre-kindergarten program, which currently serves nearly 20,000 at-risk children.
* Continue raising teacher pay, which will be up 18 percent since 2005 and on the way to reaching the national average by 2008.
* Eliminate the state income tax for 600,000 low-income taxpayers and cut it in half for another 600,000.
* Provide health insurance to foster children attending college until they turn 22 and to approximately 12,000 children in families who earn $40,000 to $60,000 a year, or 300 percent of the poverty level for a family of four.
* Expand the North Carolina Rx prescription drug program to reach 45,000 more seniors.
* Strengthen and expand campaign and lobbying reforms.
* Expand prisons and increase funding for technology and communications for local law enforcement.
* Work toward energy independence and greater energy conservation.
The governor’s speech drew about 20 rounds of applause from legislators, Members of the Council of State, the Governor’s cabinet and the judicial branch, Mary Easley and their son Michael, and guests. There were also several standing ovations, several which followed the introduction of special guests in the House gallery. While mentioning the value of our state’s military bases and continued deployments overseas, Easley recognized 9-year-old Breanna Bodden of Spring Lake, whose mother, father and stepfather are currently deployed in Iraq. The governor said all three were watching the address overseas Monday night, so he asked Breanna to look into the camera and blow them a kiss.
Governor’s 2007-08 Budget
Gov. Mike Easley will release his state budget proposal for the next two years on Thursday morning during a press conference. My colleagues and I at the General Assembly will receive an extensive briefing on it next week. The governor’s budget is expected to provide greater details regarding the new initiatives he unveiled during Monday night’s State of the State address. The announcement of the governor’s budget officially kicks off the budget process in Raleigh. Over the next several months, the House and Senate will pass their own budget proposals, in hopes of passing a final budget before the start of the new fiscal year on July 1.
I will provide more details on the governor’s budget in next week’s update, or you may review the entire budget online at www.osbm.state.nc.us beginning Thursday afternoon.
Improving Health Care in NC
Several bills were introduced this week, which focused on improving the health of North Carolinians. Rep. Verla Insko, D-Orange, introduce legislation (House Bill 265) that would establish a high-risk insurance pool, which has already gained the support of 53 co-sponsors in the House including myself. The bill seeks to help people who cannot afford health insurance because of pre-existing health conditions. It would guarantee coverage to patients with premiums of no more than 175 percent of a standard health care plan, and insurers would pay a fee of up to $2 — phased in through 2012 — per each traditional customer it serves, which would go into the pool to pay the health care costs of the high-risk patients. Supporters of the high-risk pool say this is a first step toward providing affordable health care to more than 1.3 million North Carolinians who do not have health insurance. The House passed a similar bill in 2006, but it was not considered by the Senate before adjournment.
House Majority Leader Hugh Holliman of Davidson County has introduced a bill (House Bill 259) that seeks to better protect the health of North Carolinians by banning smoking in public places, such as restaurants and work places. Exceptions are made for bars and private clubs, retail tobacco shops and designated rooms in hotels. As the bill is currently written, it would take effect Jan. 1, 2008, and would leave local health directors across the state to keep track of violations. Holliman sponsored a similar bill in 2005, which failed in the House by five votes. Several states have already adopted similar smoke-free legislation aimed at reducing second-hand smoke, including Florida, Colorado and New York. New York State experienced a 12 percent drop in smoking rates the year the bill was passed.
House members have also introduced legislation (House Bill 335) that seeks to reduce health disparities between Caucasian North Carolinians and African Americans, Hispanics/Latinos and American Indians in our state. I co-sponsored the bill which would provide $6 million to the Department of Health and Human Services over the next two years, which would be awarded to local health departments, community organizations and American Indian tribes that seek to reduce infant mortality, cancer, diabetes, HIV/AIDS, homicides and motor vehicle deaths.
The Future of Hog Farming in North Carolina
The North Carolina Pork Council and Progress Energy said in a press conference on Monday afternoon that they’ve found an economical way to generate energy from farm waste. They asked legislators to create a seven-year pilot program that would test the feasibility of converting hog waste from across the state into electricity, which could be sold to the utility company no later than late 2012. If approved by the General Assembly, hog producers would collect methane gas from their treatment systems and convert it to power. Under the pilot program, Progress Energy would purchase the electricity generated at about 18 cents per kilowatt hour — significantly more than the 4.5 cents to the 5.5 cents usually paid by other non-utility generators. The program could help the hog industry develop a new use for hog waste, which would further increase the state’s renewable energy sources and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Under federal law, Progress Energy and other utility companies are required to buy electricity from renewable energy generators and other small electricity producers.
On Tuesday, environmentalists and neighbors of hog farms in eastern North Carolina held a press conference and walked the halls of the General Assembly to meet with legislators to urge them to approve a permanent ban on animal waste lagoons and spray fields, and replace those that already exist with safer methods of disposal. A 10-year state moratorium on new hog lagoons is set to expire in September. North Carolina is the nation’s second-largest swine-producing state and its hog farms dump 13 million pounds of hog waste a day into open-air pits called lagoons, which is later sprayed on fields as fertilizer. Farmers say the practice is the only economically feasible way to handle the waste, but opponents say it’s an environmental danger, spoiling the air and contaminating groundwater and rivers. Last spring, a report recommended five alternatives that would reduce ammonia and pathogen emissions, but which could cost of up to five times more than the lagoon and spray-field method. Environmental groups and swine farmers launched two pilot projects last summer to dispose of the waste more safely.
Also Tuesday, Rep. Dewey Hill, D-Columbus, introduced legislation (House Bill 275) to extend the existing moratorium on new hog farms and lagoons by three years, to September 2010.
Two New Coal-Fired Power Plants for NC?
On Thursday, lawmakers sent a letter to the N.C. Utilities Commission, asking it to delay its decision for 90 days on whether to allow Duke Energy to build two coal-fired power generators at the aging Cliffside facility west of Charlotte. Launched by Rep. Paul Luebke, D-Durham, the letter complains that the public hasn’t received adequate information about the plant and the potential negative impact on consumers, in addition to its rising costs. In November, the company acknowledged that its cost estimate for the plants in Rutherford and Cleveland counties had soared 50 percent, from $2 billion to $3 billion. Duke Energy is urging quick approval of the new plants so it can “lock in on negotiated prices for equipment and labor before costs rise again.” If built, Duke Energy’s proposed Cliffside units would be the state’s first major power plant project in a quarter century. The utilities commission is scheduled to rule on the proposal next week.
General Assembly Salutes the UNC Women’s Soccer Team
Members of the House and Senate came together on Thursday morning to pass a joint resolution congratulating the University of North Carolina women’s soccer team for winning the 2006 NCAA championship. The UNC team has won 19 national titles in its history.
Other Legislative Highlights
Below are several bills that have been introduced in the House or Senate during the last week:
House Bill 274, the Street Gang Prevention Act, would increase criminal penalties for gang violence as well as providing $150,000 to the Department of Justice for the creation of a statewide criminal street gang member database and $10 million in grants for gang violence prevention and intervention programs.
House Bill 291 directs the State Treasurer to divest in companies doing business in the conflict-wracked African nation of Sudan.
House Bill 332 would appropriate $10 million for the Farmland Preservation Trust Fund.
House Bill 341 would provide that the state Supreme Court’s “proportionality review” of any death penalty case should include all similar capital cases reviewed on appeal, not just those that resulted in a death sentence.
Senate Bill 215 would require a deposit on beverage containers that could be returned to redemption centers for deposit refunds as a way to reduce litter and encourage recycling.
Senate Bill 208 would issue up to $500 million in bonds for grants and loans for wastewater and drinking water projects if voters approved the borrowing in a statewide referendum this November.
I introduced the following bills:
HB 264 – Advanced Vehicle Research Center/Funds Capital Improvements
HB 281 – Conway Veterans Memorial Funds
HB 282 – Afton-Elberon VFD Funds
HB 295 – Domestic Violence Offender Program Funds
I met with the following people/groups this week:
* Fraternal Order of Police – Jackson
* Mayor Doris Risper – Rich Square
* Electric Co-Ops Representatives
* Dr. Ralph Soney and Mr. Tom Schwartz, Roanoke Chowan Community College
* Warren County Technology Initiatives Community Meeting