By Jonathan E. Coleman .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
In the spirit of working together during tough economic times, more than 100 people gathered at the old Cabarrus Bank & Trust building in downtown Kannapolis Monday to hear from local and state legislators their priorities for the upcoming year.
While the topics at the Cabarrus Regional Chamber of Commerce’s Legislative Breakfast varied from transportation needs to education and health care, the theme of continued collaboration was pervasive.
“I think that’s something that’s probably unique about our county — that we would have a group this size of legislators come together in one room to discuss important issues,” said Steve Morris, chairman of the chamber.
Local officials from across Cabarrus County were joined by Sen. Fletcher Hartsell and Reps. Jeff Barnhardt, Linda Johnson and Fred Steen to discuss the 2009 legislative priorities.
As discussion unfolded, three major themes emerged:
• The need for educational funding to retain teachers and to update technology;
• Funding for transportation projects along Interstate 85, including the Yadkin River bridge;
• Finding affordable health care solutions to serve the uninsured and underinsured.
Johnson (R-Dist. 83), who serves on the Education Committee, said that it is important to supply students with the proper tools to succeed, especially as the local job market is becoming more reliant on technology.
“With the new businesses here in our region, understanding technology is going to be necessary,” she said. “We’re going to have to have it (funding for updated technology) in order for our students to keep up.”
Currently, she added, the community colleges are funded for technology upgrades on a 10-year cycle. The equipment, Johnson said, is long since outdated by the time funding comes to replace it.
“I think that we have, budgetarily, almost starved community colleges when they are at the forefront of what we’re trying to do,” said Hartsell (R-Dist. 36).
Barnhardt (R-Dist. 82), who serves on several health-related committees, said in a time of financial difficulty, it’s important to ensure that residents have access to affordable health care.
“Long term, what we need to do with health care is, we need to decrease costs,” he said. “What happens with an increase? More people fall off and become uninsured. We’ve got to get our hands around that.”
Funding for new road projects is an important issue for Cabarrus County as well as its neighboring communities.
Steen (R-Dist. 76) called the widening of Interstate 85 a “safety issue, not a convinence issue,” addressing specifically the Yadkin River bridge, which is in need of repair.
But, Steen admitted, legislators face a tough road headed into the upcoming budget season.
“For the first time since I’ve been in Raleigh, it’s a financial situation, not just an appropriation situation,” he said. “It’s not just an issue of where the money is going to be appropriated, it’s also an issue of where it’s going to come from.”
But in all, legislators agreed that there are brighter days ahead, and Cabarrus County has put itself in a position to prosper moving forward.
“People are coming from all across the country who have the same interests we have,” Hartsell said, “who want the same things we want for ourselves and our children — and that is just an opportunity.”
• Contact Managing Editor Jonathan E. Coleman: 704-789-9105.
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