My colleagues and I moved closer this week to issuing a long overdue apology for slavery and other legalized racial injustices and to outlawing investments by our state in Sudan, where the government is accused of widespread human rights abuses.
We announced a plan to help increase the number of high-school graduates in North Carolina and made very important appointments to the University of North Carolina Board of Governors. We also took time to recognize the remarkable season of the national champion men’s basketball team from Barton College.
Thank you as always for allowing me to share this information with you and please let me know if I can be of any service.
EDUCATION
Speaker Joe Hackney, along with other leaders in the House, announced the start of an initiative to improve the state’s high school graduation rate by setting up pilot programs that will serve as models for other schools. A recent report showed that about 30 percent of the state’s students aren’t graduating within four years of entering high school. The House plans to set aside money this year for the program and has set a goal of a 100 percent graduation rate.
The House appointed eight people to the University of North Carolina Board of Governors, the policy making board for the state’s 16 public universities. Ronald Leatherwood of Waynesville, former Robeson County schools superintendent Purnell Swett and former Fayetteville Mayor Marshall Pitts were elected to the board for the first time. The House also elected five incumbents: Brent Barringer of Cary; Charles Hayes of Sanford; G. Leroy Lail of Hickory; Gladys Ashe Robinson of Pleasant Garden; and Priscilla Taylor of Chapel Hill.
The House approved a measure that would give school systems more scheduling flexibility. Under the bill, the State Board of Education could grant waivers for educational purposes to school districts that want to start before Aug. 25, the date set in state law. Some parents and the travel industry want the state to continue enforcing that law. School boards and educators say the strict scheduling requirements limit students’ academic options. The bill must now go to the Senate.
CIVIL RIGHTS
Lawmakers in both the House and the Senate introduced resolutions expressing “profound regret” for slavery and legalized racial segregation. The bill in the House, introduced Wednesday, has four sponsors and two co-sponsors while the Senate bill was filed by Sen. Tony Rand and co-sponsored by 35 of the Senate’s 50 members. “It’s a part of our time that is difficult to confront, of course, but in this way and time it should be confronted,” said Rand, the Senate’s Democratic majority leader. House Speaker Joe Hackney is also supportive of the bill, which he says will have a “healing” purpose. Legislatures in Virginia and Maryland recently approved similar resolutions.
The state House voted unanimously Tuesday in favor of a bill that would require the state to divest its holdings in companies that do business or have strong ties to the Sudanese government. That government is accused of genocide and human rights abuses in the Darfur region. North Carolina would be the first state in the Southeast to enact such a ban if the bill becomes law, supporters say. Moore has already taken steps on his own to sell the state’s holdings in nine companies that have done business with Sudan.
Activists working on behalf of government workers want lawmakers to abolish a nearly 50-year-old law that prevents state employees from bargaining collectively. The law allows state employees to join unions and associations, but prohibits them from being represented by such groups during contract negotiations. The International Labor Organization, a United Nations agency, ruled recently that North Carolina’s laws violate principles of freedom of association and the right of unions to seek improved conditions for their members. North Carolina and Virginia are the only states that specifically prohibit state and local governments from collectively bargaining with their employees, the N.C. Public Service Workers Union says.
HEALTH
Smoking around most buildings in the University of North Carolina system would be banned under a bill supported by the House Health Committee. The bill allows exemptions for the University of North Carolina Health Care System and medical buildings at East Carolina University. The measure wouldn’t apply to private businesses within the 100-foot buffer zones. The measure now goes to a House judiciary committee.
ENVIRONMENT
A new report from the Environmental Review Commission recommends that North Carolina spend as much as $25 million dollars over the next 10 years to find better ways to produce fuel from plants. The report also suggests that by 2017 10 percent of the state’s liquid fuel should come from crops grown in the state. Currently, the state uses 5 billion to 6 billion gallons of petroleum based fuel in a year. The report also recommends the creation of a biofuels commission to work on policy, guide research and coordinate efforts in the public and private sectors to make and market biofuels.
NATIONAL CHAMPIONS
Members of Barton College’s championship men’s basketball team visited our chamber this week and were welcomed with great enthusiasm. Barton trailed the reigning national NCAA Division II champions from Winona State by seven points with 40 seconds remaining in the game and staged a remarkable comeback to win 77-75 on a basket scored as time expired. Barton, based in Wilson, finished the season with a 31-5 record and won their last 21 games.
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.
I introduced the following bills:
* HB 1272-Henderson Land Purchase Funds
* HB 1275-Kerr-Tar EDC Funds
I met with the following:
* Nancy Wilson, Vance County Tourism
* Judge Alfred Kwasikpui, 6B District Court
* Leslie Carswell, Maria Parham Medical Center
* Suzanne Crumpler, Maria Parham Medical Center
On a personal note, I celebrated my 40th birthday today with my colleagues in Raleigh. My wife, Kay, and I share the same birthday on April 6th. We wish for you a Happy Easter.
The House will return to session Monday at 7 p.m.
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.