The North Carolina House and Senate will each convene for business on Wednesday, January 30. As bills are introduced, they will show up on their website at http://www.ncga.state.nc.us/. We can use the website to follow the progress of each bill.
The attachment is my “wish list” for the North Carolina General Assembly to accomplish in 2013. I sent it to Norm Sanderson, Michael Speciale, and John Bell with a letter asking to meet with each of them to hear their hopes and plans for the upcoming legislative session, and to get their reaction to the things I’m concerned about. I’ve now had long, informative conversations with each of them.
To a person, they’re sympathetic to the things I expressed concern about. Republican caucus meetings have already been held, caucus votes counted on a number of issues, and it appears there’s a good chance we’ll see a lot of things we’ll like coming out of our General Assembly this year. I’m very grateful to have been reinforced in my belief that we conservatives are excellently represented there.
I met with Michael last Tuesday, and he said that nullification is hard to do, and gave me a little history lesson to show what he means by that. He said that in the prior legislative body, Glenn Bradley had gone “full bore” after the National Defense Authorization Act, but that none of his stuff got to the floor, and he was “double bunked” when his area was redistricted (only the area very near his home remained in his district; most of it was in areas in which he had no name recognition), so he ran for the Senate, but he lost. Apparently, the “leadership” punishes those it deems to be extreme.
Therefore, Michael says he thinks we can achieve much of what I covered in the “PROTECT NORTH CAROLINA CITIZENS FROM THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT” section of the attachment by taking a lower key approach. I’m not wed to the word nullification, and I don’t think our members are either. We just want North Carolina citizens protected from the expensive, poor quality health care that would come with ObamaCare, and protected from federal attempts to control our weapons and ammo, and protected from being detained without due process under the NDAA, and have our small farmers protected from the most ridiculous aspects of the Food Safety Act, etc.
Michael said he’d like to see the Craven County Board of Commissioners pass a resolution similar to the one passed in Beaufort County so that it’s obvious what his constituents want.
Michael also pointed out that two thirds of the general assembly members have been there two years or less, that they’re pretty conservative, and they’re not the sort to sit quietly in the back of the room and await events. They’re there because they have a job to do. Michael thinks PHOTO ID will pass (along with some other voting reforms such as shortening the early voting period, doing away with same day registration and voting, and eliminating “straight ticket” voting), and does not think North Carolina will set up a state exchange. He says they’ll be evaluating each bill that might be challenged in court for how well it can be expected to hold up under that kind of pressure. Michael knows several people for whom the FOOD SAFETY ACT is a big issue and thinks we can expect to see some legislation we’ll like in that area.
Michael says the state’s infrastructure is falling apart. Many state owned buildings badly need repairs. Money is an issue. Spending will need to be carefully watched.
Real tax reform will be proposed. Michael is glad drastic tax changes are being talked about, but doesn’t agree with everything he’s hearing. I think this is an area we should follow and form an opinion on based on what will make North Carolina solvent, attractive to business, and affect citizens in the most even handed way and so that a maximum number of citizens “have skin in the game.”
Michael also expects changes in unemployment insurance to be proposed. I think we should watch this, too. If it gets less expensive for employers, it will tend to strengthen employment; if it gets more expensive, the reverse is true.
John Bell couldn’t meet with me until next week, and I’m having knee replacement surgery on Tuesday, so we “met” for a couple of hours on the phone.
John sees ObamaCare as unconstitutional and a jobs killing bill. He doesn’t have to look far from home to see the jobs killing aspect because his mother has a medical device business that will be “done in” if ObamaCare is implemented. John says he represents 84,000 people in House District 10, and if they want the effects of ObamaCare nullified, he needs to work toward that end. His is but one voice in the House, but there are ways to work on it, and he pointed out that the North Carolina Constitution could be changed if need be.
John believes that if we lose our 2nd Amendment rights, all our other rights will fall, too. He believes the president wants to take guns from our people, and he’d like to see action in the general assembly to counter that. Like Michael, John would like to see a resolution from local Boards of Commissioners.
John gave an open invitation to CCTA to lobby for anything we want changed, and specifically requested that we give him feedback on our ideas about North Carolina tax reform.
John agrees that the FOOD SAFETY ACT puts some ridiculous regulations on small businesses (family farms).
John has submitted a request for research on the topic of consolidating many of the very numerous boards and planning organizations with which North Carolina is burdened.
On immigration, John seemed favorably impressed with Marco Rubio’s recent pronouncements on that topic, and would like to see the laws already on the books enforced.
John expects our election laws to be revisited, calls Photo ID “a must,” is not in favor of one stop voting, and says early voting is too long and too expensive.
John is very well aware of how government can harm businesses, and says INCENTIVE GRANTS is the government picking winners and losers.
John was recently in a meeting in which MPOs (Municipal Planning Organizations) and RPOs (Rural Planning Organizations) presented their transportation wish list of projects plus ways to RAISE revenues for them by 2040, and said they wanted to see taxes RAISED on this, RAISED on that, and RAISED on the other thing. I think it’s safe to say his reaction was much as ours would have been.
John thinks teachers are not allowed to teach but are tied up with lots of other stuff, would like to see school choice, and thinks the “pink palace” behind the legislative building houses a lot of people who would have a hard time justifying their positions. He’d like to see teachers get back to teaching and believes that parents need to get involved.
John said he’d like to have a continuing open dialogue with CCTA, a sort of roundtable from time to time. He said he’d be pleased if Norm and Michael wanted to participate, too. I told him I’d be glad to serve as liaison to help set it up.
Toward the end of the conversation, John “fessed up” that he had requested an extra button for his desk. In addition to the “Yes” and “No” buttons, he wants a “Heck No” button. Not a bad idea, huh?
I met with Norm today. He fully expects that the ObamaCare exchange start-up money accepted by Bev Perdue will be returned to the federal government, and North Carolina will take the position that the federal government can set up an exchange if they want to; we will not. He says the money isn’t there for the feds to use, the feds don’t have the infrastructure needed within the states, that they want to use the infrastructure that’s already in place in states (Departments of Social Services, etc.), but that we’ll just sit back and “let the feds do it.” Norm is convinced the feds are not in a good position to do it, and time is not on their side. He said there’d already been a Republican caucus vote on that topic, and all 33 Senate Republicans voted in favor.
On the 2nd Amendment, Norm says he expects North Carolina to have authority over 2nd Amendment rights in North Carolina by preventing any tampering with the right of North Carolinians to make, buy, or sell ammo and weapons within North Carolina. He says weapons and ammo are already being produced in North Carolina, and that buying, selling, and making totally within a state is not interstate commerce.
With steps like this, Norm says, the more states who take the same (or similar) action, the more powerful it is. He said that Pat McCrory recently commented that neighboring states are doing things of this kind, that many of them are ahead of North Carolina, but they won’t be for long. Sounds promising. Let’s hope he means it.
On PHOTO ID, Norm said the caucus vote was 33 to 0 in favor. I believe we’re finally going to get photo ID. Norm says the problem of mentally incapacitated people voting needs to be handled by the Board of Elections. There are laws in place that can be enforced to adequately deal with it. (For example, it’s legal for a family member to help them vote; it is not legal for the driver of a van from the place they live to do it.) Norm would like to have a camera in each polling place recording each voter who presents him/herself to vote. That way, we could look back and see what happened if a question arises.
Norm also said there is massive fraud involved in absentee voting, that early voting is too long, and expressed dislike of same day registration and voting. I think we can expect some changes in these areas.
Norm also said there will be a massive need for judges in polling places. We didn’t have them everywhere in 2012, and for the next election Republicans will need two judges for every one they had in 2012. I know CCTA is not affiliated with the Republican Party; however, many of our members are. I hope those of us who are will take the training and be prepared to do our parts to assure fair elections.
Norm said, “Homeland Security needs to go away.” He pointed out that The National Defense Authorization Act was passed in the immediate aftermath of the attacks of September 11, 2001 when we didn’t know what was coming next, and we made some bad decisions. Now, we’re still being affected by it. We can hinder it; for example, the National Guard serves at the pleasure of the Governor. I got the impression that Norm does not expect a frontal attack (nullification of NDAA), but does expect our citizens to be somewhat sheltered from the worst abuses of it.
Norm said to expect to see an OMNIBUS REGULATION REPEAL BILL. He and his fellows have been gathering information about regulations that make doing business needlessly hard for businesses in the areas they represent; this should bear good fruit. They want to get rid of as many regulations as possible. If you know of one that needs to go, please let Norm know.
On the topic of the International Building Code and other attempts to force the UN’s Agenda 21 on us, Norm said it’s been creeping in for a long time, and we need to back out of it. He recognizes that the building code is driving costs higher. He thinks it’ll take time, but that it can be fixed.
Norm thinks our representatives in D.C. need to do their jobs and reign in Executive Orders. He points out that presidents from both parties have done it, but that doesn’t make it right.
Norm likes Marco Rubio’s ideas on immigration, too. (Lock borders down first. Declare they’re here illegally. Pay any back taxes owed. Have a criminal background check. Etc.)
Norm expects tax reform to come up, too. He pointed out something that’s very interesting when we got on this topic. He says the money raised by taxes on corporations is roughly equal to the amount of money spent by North Carolina on INCENTIVES to lure business to our state. Looks like if we eliminate incentives, we can eliminate corporate taxes. Wow! Wouldn’t that tend to bring business here??? I like that idea!!!
Norm is working on trying to prevent tolls from happening. He’d like to see them off all North Carolina ferries. He says the Ferry Division needs to reduce overhead; it’s long been a place to reward someone with a job, and that needs to be reversed.
There is work going on to remove government funding of charities with taxpayers’ money. Norm is in favor of only funding those charities that relieve the government of a job that is a proper function of government. He says “feel good” and “look good” projects are not in this category even though they may be very nice.
Norm said that switching from defined benefit to defined contribution pension plans for state employees can perhaps be done for new employees, but not for people who are currently working. He did say that existing employees could be allowed to opt into the defined contribution plan. This could be attractive if the person got to choose all his/her own investments within that plan.
Norm agrees that schools are administratively top-heavy (about 4 people doing the job 1 used to do), but said when the budget was reduced, the School Boards fired the teachers’ assistants and kept the administrative staff. He says the local school boards have the power to make these types of decisions, so if we believe our schools are administratively top-heavy, we need to talk to David Hale and his associates. I believe we should spend more money in the classroom and less in the office. Maybe I should give David a call?
Thankfully, Norm believes the Charter School Bill will be reworked. Last time around, things were removed to prevent a veto; now it can be improved. One example is that a 20% increase is allowed without permission’s being granted. That allows a school to add another class of, say, the 8th grade. However, they can’t use the 20% increase in school population to add a 9th grade class if they don’t currently offer the 9th grade.
Norm believes that competition from Charter schools will tend to force our public schools to improve. Money from the state of North Carolina follows the child, and children can go to Charter schools in jurisdictions other than the one they live in. Charter schools involve parents. Public schools seem to try to push parents away. Norm sees parental participation as a good thing. I agree.
Norm also expects teacher tenure to be eliminated and to make it easier to fire bad teachers. I expect that’ll cause an uproar, but isn’t it the truth that everyone in a school knows who the good teachers and who the bad teachers are? Gosh, even the students know, don’t they? I always did, didn’t you?
Norm thinks the governor is going to initiate off shore drilling by applying to the federal government for North Carolina to be eligible to receive royalties from drilling more than 20 miles offshore.
Norm also says that “fracking” is being worked on. He estimates that it will take a year to 18 months to get regs that will assure it’s being done safely. Be still my heart! North Carolina taking steps to become energy independent! And prosperous!
Well, guess I’ve run on and on, but I really am expecting lots of good things to come out of our legislature this year, and I’m feeling up-beat about it. Let’s watch closely, and put our oar in to help where we can.
Sincerely,
Raynor
(Raynor James, North Carolina Legislative Watchdog Sub-Committee Chairman, CCTA)
Attachment: Actions Desired Of The 2013 North Carolina Legislature