Friend,
North Carolina still does not have a State Budget in the traditional sense, but much of the State Budget has passed into law. That is why you do not see parks closed or public services shuttered – problems you typically see when the federal government fails to pass a budget.
Yet the failure to pass a State Budget is still really bad for a number of reasons.
- Teachers and Public School Employees have not gotten a pay raise of any kind.
- No statewide bond for school facilities and clean water infrastructure.
- No Medicaid Expansion.
This past week the impasse continued. The General Assembly passed billions in tax cuts, with the largest tax cuts going to large corporations, while at the same time passing bills with teacher and public school employee pay raises significantly SMALLER than the raises the State is providing to all other state employees. Governor Cooper is likely to veto these bills.
Legislative leaders continue to block our attempts to double the retiree COLA from ½ a percent to a full percent and our attempts to stop the corporate tax cuts and use that money to pay teachers and school employees more. Legislative leaders also continue to refuse to hear a Medicaid Expansion bill.
The General Assembly has now adjourned until November 13th. It has been months since Governor Cooper and legislative Democrats put forward a counter-proposal to the Republican State Budget. During that time, Republican leaders have focused overriding the Governor veto instead of negotiating. The next step should be a negotiation between the different sides, but we will have to wait and see.
As always, please feel free to reach out to my office if you have any questions or if I can be of any assistance.
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Sincerely,
Representative Julie von Haefen
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Strengthening Laws on Rape and Child Sex Abuse
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We passed SB 199 to significantly strengthen laws on rape and child sex abuse. The bill does a number of things, but here are the two most significant parts.
First, it extends the length of time available (known as a “statute of limitations”) to seek justice in a civil court for someone who is abused sexually as a child. The research is clear that many people who endure sexual abuse as a child repress those memories until later in life or it may take years or decades to be ready to emotionally to confront their abusers. Under the new law, victims will have until the age of 28 to seek justice in a civil court. While that is not as long a period as I would have hoped, it is much better than current law.
Second, the bill changes the law to recognize that women have the right revoke consent to have sex once sex has begun. North Carolina has been the only state in the country that did not recognize a woman’s right to do so.
Both of these changes in the law should have been passed years ago, but I am glad we finally took these important steps to help the victims of abuse and violent assaults.
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Vaping: An Emerging Youth Health Crisis
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- Electronic cigarette use increased 78% among high school students and 48.5% among middle school students since 2017.
- There is a growing body of evidence supporting vaping as a one-way bridge to cigarette smoking among youth. “Vaping as a risk factor for future smoking is a strong, scientifically-based rationale for restricting youth access to e-cigarettes.”
- A national survey showed that approximately 72% of U.S. youth believe e-cigarettes cause little, some harm, or even NO harm
- The Centers for Disease Control are now tracking the lung injury apparently caused by vaping on a weekly basis. 34 deaths have been confirmed in 24 states.
This week the House Finance Committee passed an amendment to tax vaping products similar to how cigarettes are taxed and to use those funds to pay for anti-vaping programs focusing on our youth. I voted for this amendment as a member of the Finance committee, and the amendment passed with both Democrats and Republicans in support.
Unfortunately, legislative leaders and tobacco lobbyists intervened, and stripped out the anti-vaping amendment behind closed doors
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It's very unusual for the House to be in session on Halloween, but when we are, there's a chance we might be joined by an honorary 121st member...
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Hopefully the rest of us aren't worn down to our bones by the end of this long session.
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Third Thursday Office Hours: November 21st
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Rep. von Haefen will hold office hours on
Thursday, November 21th from 9AM-11AM
at Chanticleer Cafe & Bakery in Cary.
Address: 6490 Tryon Rd, Cary, NC 27518
Stop by anytime between 9AM & 11AM to share your thoughts or ask questions!
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Thanks For Coming to Our Town Hall
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Thanks to everyone who came to our Election Security Town Hall! We hope it was informative & helpful as we enter the 2020 election season. I am so thankful for Tomas Lopez from
Democracy North Carolina
, Bob Phillips from
Common Cause NC
and Allison Riggs from the Southern Coalition for Social Justice for sharing their expertise and experience with us.
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NC Public School Forum: Rural Education Study Group
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I am so thankful to be part of the NC Public School Forum's newest study group. We'll be examining the unique education challenges facing students across rural North Carolina.
North Carolina is home to 568,000 rural students, the second largest rural student population in the United States, after Texas. Eighty of North Carolina’s 100 counties are classified as rural – 40 percent of all NC public school students reside in rural counties – and 87 of the state’s 115 traditional K-12 public school districts are located in rural counties.
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By convening subject-matter experts across North Carolina, the study group will identify new ways to address the needs of rural students and schools from school funding challenges, to improving rural teacher recruitment and retention strategies, and how to tackle the broadband access gap for our rural students, as well as other key considerations.
Tune into WRAL's "Education Matters" this weekend to find out more.
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I was glad to spend my weekend among public education advocates, educators, researchers, policy makers, and more at the Public School Forum of North Carolina “Color of Education” conference learning about how we can achieve racial equity in education across our state through connections and engagement.
The highlight was the keynote speech by Ta-Nehisi Coates, award winning author of
Between the World and Me
and his new book
The Water Dancer
. Mr. Coates is a internationally known speaker on race in America, and I was honored to hear him speak. These conversations are so important to moving our state forward on racial equity in our schools and in the teaching profession.
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The Public School Forum of North Carolina is also establishing the Dr. Dudley Flood Center for Educational Equity and Opportunity (CEEO), which will serve as a hub to identify and connect organizations, networks, and thought leaders who address equity, access, and opportunity in education across North Carolina.
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Thank you to Wake County's chapter of Communities in Schools for inviting me to tour the Choice Bus!
This traveling exhibition experience takes student participants through an interactive presentation designed to show the connection of education to career choices and lifetime earning potential.
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Last week, I had a wonderful morning at the Cary Chamber of Commerce's Eye Opener Breakfast. It's always a pleasure to hear from Wake Technical Community College's President, Scott Ralls, on how Wake Tech creates economic opportunities in our area with its multiple campuses, programs & partnerships.
“We are a ladder to growth for our students.” - Scott Ralls
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New Amazon Fulfillment Center
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I got a behind-the-scenes tour of the new Amazon Fulfillment Center in Garner today!
This HUGE facility, opening in 2020, will employ 1500 full time workers, starting at $15/hour with benefits. It is the first robotic fulfillment facility in the Triangle with 2.6 million square feet, 20 miles of conveyance, and using 50,000-90,000 totes for product sorting! Wow! We are proud to welcome Amazon to Garner and Wake County!
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What a beautiful day at the NC State Fair! I was lucky enough to to be able to cut the ribbon to officially open the fair this morning with my friend
Allison Dahle - NC House 11
!
I hope you all had a chance to visit the state fair grounds and enjoy all that our great state has to offer. What’s your favorite fair food? Mine is the Deep Fried Milky Way. Yum!!
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I had the best time at the Elected Official Build Day with
Habitat for Humanity of Wake County
this morning! I learned how to use a circular saw, build a porch railing and felt a sense of accomplishment knowing I was helping build a home for a family in need. I loved it!!
Want to get involved? Go to the link below and learn how you can help this awesome organization provide affordable housing in our community.
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District Events
Click the links for more details about each event!
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North Carolina is the largest producer of
sweet potatoes in the nation.
In 1995, Students at a Wilson County school successfully petitioned the North Carolina General Assembly for the establishment of the sweet potato as the official state vegetable.
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