N.C. Senator Ellie Kinnaird's Newsletter

June 13, 2011 Newsletter

Dear Friends,

Ellie Kinnaird

Greetings from the North Carolina Senate,

Let’s start with some good news. We passed a study to determine how to create more primary care physicians, collaboration with UNC Health Care and the state. Because of our system of fee for service and the very high cost of educating doctors, too many medical students choose specialties where they can make more money to pay off the debts they have accumulated during medical training. But it means there are too few primary care providers, especially in rural areas and small towns. There are two solutions that are not even on the table at this point: universal health care combined with low cost, subsidized medical training so that they will not graduate with prohibitively high education costs that discourage doctors from going into primary care.

Another good health bill we passed requires more training for infection control for workers in assisted living centers. And finally, the Gfeller-Waller Concussion Awareness Act, named after two high school athletes who died of concussions, will develop an athletic concussion safety training program.

Now the bad news about last week’s session: $69 million is set aside in the budget for severance pay for state workers. This is more than twice previous year because of the large number of state employees laid off as a result of the budget cuts. It will be added to the $2.6 billion unemployment bill that North Carolina already owes to the federal government. We began the slide into inadequate funds when the business community asked for a decrease in their contribution during the roaring 90's. But during this recession, the state quickly used up the reserves. Our state has grown by more than 400,000 during the last three years, community colleges and universities have grown by 64,000 students, K-12 by 5000. So we have to ask, is it wise to cut so many jobs?

But perhaps the biggest news was the stripped down Charter School bill that returned after several months that just removed the cap on the number of charter schools that can be created. All the bad features were removed: no separate board, no capital funds from the county, etc. There are safeguards in that the Board of Education can require standards of performance and close down charter schools that are not performing well.

As to traditional public schools, NC’s graduation rate is above the U.S. average and our drop-out rate has greatly improved, but we just cut the Drop-out Prevention program completely and cut the K-12 budget.

One can now carry guns in parks. I gave my usual speech against all gun bills, citing the alarming statistics of the number of people killed in other countries compared to the U.S.: 17 in Finland, 35 in Australia, 39 in England and Wales, 60 in Spain, and 9,484 in the U.S. in one year. Then there are the large number of guns from North Carolina that are used in crimes, and the number of guns used in suicides and accidents. Amazingly, this persuades no one.

Under a bill passed by the Republicans, straight party ticket will no longer be a method of voting. A voter will have to go down the list of each office and mark each candidate individually. The purported reason for the bill is to give people a choice. When I asked the bill sponsor if voters couldn’t do this right now under the present system, he answered, “yes.” So what is the real reason for the vote? Well in some African American precincts, 93% of ballots are marked straight party. The resulting long lines may also discourage some people from voting. Another bad bill lets people list their party on the ballot in non-partisan elections, such as municipal elections, thereby turning them into partisan elections for all practical purposes. I voted against both bills.

A compromise was reached on tort reform for lawsuits against emergency room doctors. The bill is better than the original, but still limits recovery for injured persons so I voted against it. Another compromise was struck among all parties for changes in Workers’ Compensation that was sought by the business community and because all parties came together, I voted for that bill.

In a difficult vote for me, two issues were put into the same bill that I ultimately voted for after weighing the values. One would finally make the Administrative Judge’s decision final in agency cases. Under the current procedure, the agency’s decision was final and, of course, in most cases, they found in their own favor. This levels the playing field and had been a goal of many of us for years to make the system more fair. But included in that bill was the provision that environmental regulations could not be stricter than federal law, the so-called “Hardison” amendment. That had been a goal of the business community for years after a similar bill was repealed in the 90's. The argument was that state regulation stifled business growth, but the truth is that when a limitation on state regulation was passed during the 80's recession, business slowed and when it was repealed during the 90's, business thrived.

The goal of the Republican leadership is to adjourn next week and return for redistricting later in the summer. Another later session will deal with constitutional amendments, such as declaring marriage as only between a man and a woman. But the wild card is the Governor’s veto and whether the five House Democrats who voted for the budget (and were given lots of goodies for their districts by the House Republican Leadership) will vote to override it. If so, the schedule would hold, if not, it’s anyone’s guess.

I hope everyone is planning an enjoyable vacation this summer. Somewhere cool.

Paid for by Ellie Kinnaird for Senate • Campaign Address: PO Box 668, Carrboro, NC 27510 • 919-918-3432
Legislative Office Address: Room 628 LOB, 300 N. Salisbury St., Raleigh, NC 27603 •