Week #2 in Raleigh proved to be another busy one on numerous fronts.
House members continued to work on legislation to bring more openness and transparency to our state government by reforming and strengthening our state’s ethics, lobbying and campaign finance laws. Members of the House Appropriations Committee are continuing their work on the state budget as Senators try to finalize their spending plan, possibly next week. Legislators were busy again this week drafting and introducing new legislation on topics including the new education lottery, increasing the minimum wage, increasing competition among cable providers, economic development programs, health care and the state’s nursing shortage, and many others.
Strengthening Legislative & Executive Branch Ethics
House members approved legislation this week that strengthen the ethics laws that legislators, the Governor, Council of State members, other executive branch officials, leaders of the University of North Carolina system and community colleges, and all voting members of all state boards and commissions. The two bills were recommended by the House Select Committee on Ethics and Governmental Reform, which has been working to improve our state’s ethics, lobbying and campaign finance laws. The measure would bar lawmakers and executive branch officials from accepting gifts from lobbyists and their principals, make it a felony to lie on their economic disclosure statements, and require ethics training for General Assembly members when they take office.
The two pieces of legislation now go to the Senate for consideration. A House Judiciary Committee continues to make progress on eight other pieces of legislation dealing with these issues that will be before the full House for debate in the coming weeks.
Ensuring ALL lottery proceeds go to education
Close to 20 House Democrats attended a news conference on Wednesday morning to tout two bills they say will ensure that schools get as much money as possible from the new North Carolina Education Lottery. One measure (HB 1991, Tax on Lottery Winnings/Community College Equipment) would use the 7 percent withheld for state taxes from lottery winnings of $600 or more to buy equipment for community colleges. Bill sponsors Reps. Doug Yongue (D-Scotland), Joe Tolson (D-Edgecombe) and Maggie Jeffus (D-Guilford) said those withholdings could reach $15 million to $25 million annually.
Another proposal (HB 2212, Lottery Oversight Committee) would create a new lottery oversight board made up of legislators, educators and other public citizens to ensure that all lottery proceeds are used for education. Bill sponsors Reps. Bernard Allen (D-Wake), Hugh Holliman (D-Davidson), Pricey Harrison (D-Guilford) and Bill Owens (D-Pasquotank) said the board will keep a close eye on education spending and will ensure that all lottery proceeds are dedicated to early childhood education, reducing class size, school construction, and college scholarships as the Legislature intended.
Push to increase North Carolina’s minimum wage continues
Rep. Alma Adams (D-Guilford), former U.S. Sen. John Edwards and State Treasurer Richard Moore led a rally on Monday afternoon to promote an increase in the state’s minimum wage. The rally, which was held in front of the legislative building in Raleigh, was in support of a bill to raise the state minimum wage from $5.15 to $6.15 an hour. Adams has advocated a minimum-wage increase for years and achieved success last year when the House passed legislation to increase the wage to $6 per hour.
Over half the states in the nation, including North Carolina, abide by the federal minimum wage of $5.15 per hour. The national rate was last increased in 1997. Workers making $5.15 an hour earn about $800 a month or $10,700 a year. An extra dollar an hour would add up to an extra $2,000 a year.
“The current minimum wage is simply unjust,” said Adams. “It’s not enough to pay for basic necessities.”
About 100,000 workers in North Carolina – 3 percent of the workforce – make less than $6 an hour, according to State Treasurer Richard Moore, who spoke at the rally. Minimum wage earners bring in about $893 each month. Twenty states and the District of Columbia have now raised the minimum wage above the federal level. Recently, Arkansas raised its minimum wage more than a dollar to $6.25 an hour.
Expanding biotechnology in North Carolina
Dole Food Co. owner David Murdock, University of North Carolina President Erskine Bowles and North Carolina Community Colleges President Martin Lancaster urged lawmakers on Tuesday to get behind a proposed $1 billion biotechnology center in Kannapolis on the old Pillowtex Corp. site. Murdock has established a $100 million venture capital fund to attract biotech firms to the campus and has pledged to put $150 million into a nonprofit foundation to run the research lab there. Researchers from UNC-Chapel Hill, N.C. State University and Duke University plan to work on the campus. The committee members also heard from representatives of the nonprofit group behind the Piedmont Triad Research Park in Winston-Salem and the viticulture department at Surry Community College.
County Commissioners Visit Legislature
On Wednesday, the North Carolina Association of County Commissioners had their annual County Assembly Day at the legislature. County Commissioners from across the state walked the halls of the legislature, visited with House and Senate members, and attended committee meetings to convey their legislative priorities to the General Assembly. I was glad to see and meet with:
Northampton County: Wayne Jenkins, County Manager; and Commissioners James Hester, Fannie P. Greene, Robert V. Carter, Virginia D. Spruill,
Vance County: Commissioner Terry E. Garrison
Warren County: Linda Jones, County Manager; and Commissioner Barry Richardson
Halifax County: Matthew Delk, County Manager; Tony Brown, Deputy County Manager and Commissioner Rives “Judge” Manning
County commissioners continue to ask the state to provide Medicaid relief to the counties, which have seen dramatic increases in Medicaid recipients and resulting budget problems in recent years. Specifically, their goal is to cap county Medicaid costs at current levels, target additional relief to counties disproportionately affected by Medicaid costs, and to eventually permanently phase out counties in Medicaid participation. Several bills have already been filed this session in the House to provide Medicaid relief, and I plan to continue to push this issue with my colleagues.
I also met with:
Earl Evans and Archie Lynch, Haliwa-Saponi Indian Tribe
Angelena Kearney-Dunlap and Debbie Scott, Juvenile Youth Services-Warren County
Donna Stearns, Youth Services, City of Henderson
I served as a member of the Interim Study Committee on Emergency Preparedness and co-sponsored the following bills. The Committee is recommending ten bills that will address disaster readiness including money for a new state health lab, millions of doses of antiviral drugs and a fund to help meet basic needs after a disaster.
HB 2193-Study Building Code Issues
HB 2194-Energy Emergencies Preparedness
HB 2195-Liability Protection for State Medical Assistant Teams
HB 2196-Funds for Purchase of Vaccines and Antivirals
HB 2197-Funds for State Laboratory of Public Health/Office of the Chief Medical Examiner
HB 2198-Fund Regional Advisory Committees
HB 2199-Funds for NC Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services
HB 2200-Enhance Embargo Authority/Protect Food Supply
HB 2201-State Emergency Response Fund
HB 2202-New Emergency Operations Center/Funds
I also co-sponsored bills that came out of the House Select Committee on Sex Offender Registration Laws. This package of legislation was introduced to improve how government keeps track of convicted sex offenders, to increase access to public information about convicted offenders, and to give local law enforcement greater resources to protect citizens from sexual predators.
HB 1871-Sex Offender/Out of State Registry/DMV
HB 1896-Sex Offender Registration Changes
HB 1902-GPS Monitoring of Some Sex Offenders/Funds
HB 1903-Increase Protection from Sex Offenders/Funds
HB 1904-Sex Offender/Cannot Go Onto Schools Gds.
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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 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.