N.C. Senator Ellie Kinnaird's Newsletter

July 4, 2010 Newsletter

Dear Friends,

Ellie Kinnaird

Greetings from the North Carolina Senate,

Happy 4th of July. While the country and our state is beset with great difficulties, we can be pleased with what we have accomplished while still working on those where we fell short.

The New York Times recognized North Carolina’s Early Colleges this week saying we are leading the country and serving as a model for the rest of the nation. Early College allows high school students to take Community College courses and earn a high school diploma and an associate degree in three years. Many students who would otherwise drop out find success and a path to a job or more college through the program.

Our budget was difficult, as was every state’s. (Except North Dakota that has a state bank and c gives mortgages to home owners, loans to small businesses and farmers since the big banks won’t. What if North Carolina had a state bank? Is it worth looking into?) We did fund necessary areas of education by preserving recurring funding for dropout prevention grants, enrollment growth at community colleges, which has grown by over 30,000 students this year alone, fully funding enrollment growth at universities, and removing any proposed cap on enrollment. In addition the budget provides $33 million for community colleges to purchase vital health, science, engineering, and technology equipment.

For small businesses, the budget includes a tax credit for 125,000 small businesses (most of which have less than 10 employees) that employ 500,000 people in our state. It allows a refundable income tax credit to a small business equal to 25% of the amount it paid in unemployment insurance tax on wages paid to employees. It provides loans to help small businesses and funds to help small businesses leverage federal entrepreneur grants.

It restores funds for Small Business Centers at 58 community colleges, which is a provider of training, counseling, and resource information. A new idea is "In-source NC" database to help NC companies find and use other NC companies for supplies and services to keep money circulating within our communities instead of going overseas or out of state.

In one of the most important budget items, we added 2,750 more kids to Health Choice for a total of 137,789 children. We restored the damaging cuts of last year to the mental health system and continued North Carolina’s landmark per year investment in cancer research.

If you want to read the full budget for yourself, it is here:

http://www.ncleg.net/Sessions/2009/Bills/Senate/PDF/S897v8.pdf

The spending and reduction summaries:

http://www.ncleg.net/sessions/2009/budget/2010/SB897_Joint%20Conference%20Committee%20Report%2006-28-10.pdf

On another note, we now have new a statewide data system to track probationers so we don’t have another tragic Eve Carson situation.

We always are working on measures that help the environment A bill that modifies the computer equipment recycling plan passed this week. The original measure required manufacturers to recycle their own products by maintaining pick-up sites or reimbursing mail-ins. Neither was practical, so the new legislation allows manufacturers to pay a yearly fee that gives municipalities and counties to run a recycling program. The legislation is intended to ensure that end-of-life computer equipment and televisions are responsibly recycled, to promote conservation, and to protect public health and the environment.

There were also strong measures to help the alternate energy front, but a note from the North Carolina Sustainable Energy Association presents our disappointment in a major setback: Legislators intended for the Renewable Energy Portfolio Standard to help North Carolina's renewable energy and energy efficiency markets grow and create thousands of additional clean energy jobs statewide. Since Renewable Energy Certificates purchased outside our state do not create jobs in our state, the NCSEA argued before the utilities commission that the solar set aside was intended to be met entirely with in-state solar renewable energy certificates, or SRECs, to drive market development in the state. Instead, the Commission ruled for the utilities, allowing up to 25% of the SREC purchases to come from out of state generators. As a result, Duke Energy is already in compliance with its solar set aside, with approximately 85% of their SRECs coming from a combination of Duke Energy's internal solar program and out of state SREC purchases. In fact, the utilities could stop buying solar RECs today and potentially not have to buy additional solar RECs for compliance from solar energy facilities in our state again until 2014. The solar and alternative energy industry was supposed to become up to 12% of our energy costs but now will not make that target.

Many of you have asked what NC can to about oil coming to our shores. Legislation to address oil spill liability, response and preparedness passed the House this week (SB 836). Among other things, the legislation will: (1) clarify liability for damages caused by the discharge of natural gas, oil, or drilling waste into state coastal fishing waters or offshore waters; (2) provide for the review of information related to proposed offshore fossil fuel facilities to determine whether they are consistent with state guidelines for the coastal area; (3) direct the Coastal Resources Commission to review existing laws and regulations that pertain to offshore energy exploration and production in light of the recent British Petroleum (BP) accident; (4) direct the Department of Crime Control and Public Safety to immediately review and update the oil spill contingency plan to prepare the state in the event that oil discharged from the BP leak comes to the North Carolina coast; and (5) direct the Department of Environment and Natural Resources to review limitations on recovery by the state for damage to public resources and for the cost of oil or other hazardous substance cleanup.

While this letter is long, I want to end with an amusing note on how we sometimes do business. A bill to control the abuses of puppy mills was thwarted by of all things, the pork industry that was afraid the bill would lead to everyone becoming vegetarians and wiping out their business. Anyone figuring that one out will win a seat in the legislature automatically.

As always, please don’t hesitate to let me know your thoughts on the budget or any other issue you feel is important. I hope you have a good weekend, and thank you for the opportunity to serve you in the Senate.

Paid for by Ellie Kinnaird for Senate • PO Box 668, Carrboro, NC 27510 • 919-929-1607 •