After taking an oath of office Jan. 14, New Hanover County’s local delegation in the N.C. General Assembly intend to secure teacher pay raises and education reforms, find funds to improve infrastructure, enable economic development, and more.
Politics in the way of good policy
Sen. Michael Lee, R-District 9
Lee said he began working to save the state film incentives before he was elected to office. Politics got in the way of good policy during discussions about the incentives, he continued, and he plans to frame the incentives as a boost to small businesses to drum up support.
“This is not just a film incentive. This is a small business incentive. A lot of the funds that come through the film and television industry go directly into small businesses in southeastern North Carolina,” Lee said. “I think the small business industry is going to be very involved on that front.” While reinstating the original incentive is ideal, Lee said he will settle to tweak the grant program with more adequate funding and modified eligibility requirements.
Lee listed infrastructure development as a top priority that could foster local economic development.
“Most people think of roads, but we really have to focus on rail, water, sewer and other utilities infrastructure that enable businesses to locate in southeastern North Carolina,” Lee said.
Lee pledged to boost salaries for experienced teachers and support education reform, particularly integration of vocational programs into middle schools in cooperation with local community colleges. Lee said he suspects students decide whether to stay in school before they are legally allowed to drop out at age 16, and he hopes to capture their interest early by teaching practical applications in addition to core subjects.
“We can get kids interested and show them that school is not just education, that it can train you to get a job and be able to provide for yourself and a family,” Lee said.
Minimize the damage
Rep. Susi Hamilton, D-District 18
Hamilton said her plans for the legislative session are limited, as a Democrat facing a Republican super-majority in Raleigh, and she mainly hopes to minimize damage already inflicted.
“I guess at this point, the best I can do is be there and pay attention to what’s going on and ask the appropriate questions, so the public understands the direction in which the state is headed,” Hamilton said.
She said she is most concerned about economic development, and she agrees with some requests from Gov. Pat McCrory’s office, like securing funds for the Jobs Development Investment Grant program and reviving the state historic preservation tax credits.
“These are programs that have proven beyond a shadow of doubt to be very successful, and to benefit communities throughout the state,” Hamilton said of the programs, which both started 2015 without funding after failing to secure support during the 2014 session.
The jobs development program functions as an incentive, offering funds to entice major businesses and corporations to relocate or expand in North Carolina. Fighting for the state incentives once offered to film and TV productions and the $10 million grant program created to replace the incentives is a futile effort, Hamilton said.
“Grant programs are for government agencies and nonprofit organizations. For-profit businesses don’t rely on grant programs. They need certainty and a full-blown understanding of the regulatory requirements in order to be successful,” Hamilton said. “… Even if they put $40 million or $50 million in a grant program, I think the numbers will prove over time that we lost a substantial amount of business when we walked away from an incentive that was working,” Hamilton said.
If we have
available funds
Rep. Ted Davis Jr., R-District 19
Davis said many of his plans are contingent upon finding funding despite projected revenue shortfalls, including his focus on securing more substantial pay raises for senior teachers, some of whom received less than 1 percent raise compared to the 7 percent average increase for teachers included in the 2014-15 state budget.
“I would say that is one of the top priorities the Republican legislature will be looking at. I feel safe saying that, but of course, I have to preface that by saying, if we have the available funds. Because of the lower tax rate, our projected revenues are lower than we expected. We haven’t got the final numbers in for 2014, but from what I’m hearing, there will be less income,” Davis said.
The revenue shortfall will also impact the legislature’s ability to revisit film incentives and the film grant program that replaced the incentives, Davis said.
“Quite frankly, a six-month grant of $10 million is a joke. That’s nothing. Really, it’s insulting. So, if we’re going to have a grant program and it’s going to work, it’s going to take a lot of money,” Davis said. “But if you don’t have the money upfront to put into a grant program, then we may need to look at something in the nature of what we’ve been doing, and that is to allow the film industry to make certain types of expenditures, and then at the end, get some kind of rebate or reimbursement.”
Davis said he is willing to sponsor local bills.
He named the historic preservation credits as an example of an important issue in Wilmington, which he said other legislators might be willing to support.
“Areas throughout the whole state use that enticement to go in and refurbish old buildings and turn eyesores into something productive,” Davis said.
The job of
elected officials
Rep. Rick Catlin, R-District 20
Catlin’s focus moving into the 2015 legislative session is aligned with his philosophy of what state officials are tasked with accomplishing: maintaining infrastructure, supporting education, and protecting the health and safety of citizens.
“I think that’s the job of elected officials: not politics, but infrastructure, education and public health and safety. Sometimes people forget that and get moving in other directions,” Catlin said.
Catlin said he is reviewing the governor’s 25-year transportation plan and the corresponding $1 billion in bonds needed to pay for infrastructure improvements, looking especially at whether the jobs and tax revenue created by the bonds would offset its cost.
“Just in roads and bridges, we’ve probably got a need for $60 billion over the next 20 years. That’s $3 billion a year,” Catlin said. “Infrastructure funding has not been on the top of our list, and if we don’t maintain our infrastructure … we’re looking at an economic disaster and your children and my children, your grandchildren and my grandchildren, are going to be in a crisis situation.”
Catlin’s educational focus is developing a pilot program that allows high school students to follow a career pathway instead of enrolling in a college-bound curriculum. He was inspired to push for more vocational opportunities in high school by his experience owning and operating a business in Germany, where he said dropout rates are low and the pool of skilled workers is plentiful.
The vocational pilot program could also offer economic benefits, Catlin said, by developing a skilled workforce and curbing unemployment.
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