Constituent Update
From the Office of Sen. Austin M. Allran
42nd N.C. Senate District
RALEIGH
Week eleven of the North Carolina General Assembly’s 2009-2010 session started Monday night (April 13) with the passage of a joint resolution honoring former North Carolina State University Women’s Basketball Coach Kay Yow, who lost a hard-fought battle with breast cancer earlier this year.
Coach Yow led the Lady Wolfpack to win more than 700 games and four Atlantic Coast Conference tournament championships and coached the U.S. Olympic team to a gold medal in 1988.
But for many people, Kay Yow is best remembered for her unwavering courage and resolve while fighting cancer. She raised public awareness and money for research and remained devoted to her team through the most difficult times in fighting the disease. Coach Yow is truly an inspiration to all North Carolinians.
On Tuesday morning, Senate and House Republicans hosted a news conference to call for reform of the broken budgeting process in order to balance the budget and control future growth of government spending. They urged passage of Senate Bill 1052, “Limit General Fund Expenditures,” which would cap General Fund spending at the amount of revenues collected in the preceding calendar year and require that any surplus funds go to savings, capital improvements, repayment of state debt or taxpayer refunds.
If adopted, this bill would make it less likely that our state will face another fiscal mess like the one we have now.
The Greensboro News & Record published an editorial in regard to the state budget proposal passed last week by the Senate, that provided for spending money but did not provide for paying for all of the expenditures.
The editorial said: “It’s preposterous to approve a $20 billion spending plan without accounting for all the tax revenue needed to support it. Where the money comes from is important. Not all taxes are equal, nor do they affect all taxpayers alike… Senators can reject any tax package that’s eventually presented to them by their leaders, but that would require starting over on the budget. It would have been much smarter to deal with revenues and expenditures together in the first place, which is how budgets are usually crafted …”
In other news, House Democrats passed a bill on Tuesday to bail out the bankrupt government-run State Health Plan. The legislation will cost taxpayers roughly $710 million, raise premiums 10 percent per year for dependents of state employees and increase co-pays and deductibles. The bill, opposed by House Republicans, will now be considered by a conference committee.
Even though budgetary items are overshadowing all other issues this legislative session, there are thousands of other issues that are important to different people. Just to mention a few examples:
1. There was a bipartisan press conference to unveil the new “Choose Life ” license plate. Senate Bill 210 “Choose Life Special Plate” (sponsor: Allran) is pending in the Senate, with a companion bill in the House. Proceeds of the plate would go to pregnancy care centers.
2. A bill to ban the sale of cigarette lighters made to look like children’s toys (Senate Bill 652, sponsor: Allran) passed the Senate, after Senator Allran cited a number of examples of children and adults being burned and even killed by fires started by these “novelty lighters.”
3. A bill that would have allowed for the “immediate” euthanizing of collarless dogs and cats that have bitten someone was amended to force a waiting period of three days (72 hours), plus an obligation to attempt to find the owner before euthanization can take place.
Meanwhile, on Tuesday evening, students at UNC-Chapel Hill violently disrupted and ended a speech by former Congressman Tom Tancredo (R-Colo.). Tancredo was attempting to speak about his opposition to in-state tuition for illegal immigrants.
In contrast, across the state, there have been peaceful “Tea Party” demonstrations where citizens have protested tax increases. And this week, a group called “Freedom Works” held a rally at the legislature to protest reckless spending and the ever-increasing tax burden.
Finally, a “crossover deadline” for bills to pass either the House or Senate is quickly approaching. All bills must pass one of the chambers by May 14 or they will not be eligible for further consideration this session.
The legislature’s bill drafting and clerk’s office were busy this week with many proposed bills; some bills of interest follow:
• S.B. 723-No Credit for Obscene Films
Sponsor: P. Berger
An act to eliminate the tax credit for obscene film production
• S.B. 337 – N.C. Illegal Immigration Reform Act
Sponsor: Allran
An act to provide for regulation of illegal immigrants in North Carolina
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