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 Continue reading →
