Saving Teaching Jobs and the State Employee’s Health Plan.

Before the General Assembly passed the 2011 state budget, Democrats claimed that there would be a mass firing of teachers. Estimates were as high as 30,000 teachers. Now that the budget has been established, more accurate figures can be determined. According to the Department of Public Instruction, the federal government cut funding for more than ...

Committee 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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...