Over the weekend we had a wonderful reunion with the descendants of the Cataloochee Valley. We all gathered with the families in the valley for a commemorative service remembering those who have passed away over the past year. It was a beautiful day with friends, family, and fabulous table fellowship on the grounds of the old Cataloochee Methodist Chapel.
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I gathered with many good friends, including Jeff Henderson, our guest minister Terry Bevill, and Secretary of State Elaine Marshall.
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Last week we took an important step toward passing the
FIBER NC Act,
a bill that is key to our North Carolina Broadband Strategy. This bill would allow municipal and county governments to step in and build broadband infrastructure when private industry fails to adequately provide internet service for the citizens. This bill would open fantastic opportunities for public-private partnerships to help expand
broadband everywhere we have electricity!
We worked hard, and with a big thanks to Chairman Kevin Corbin, the State and Local Government Committee passed the bill with
a strong bipartisan vote.
I am continuing to work with my colleagues to ensure that the bill continues to move forward.
There are
70 primary sponsors and co-sponsors
on the FIBER NC Act, which is more than a majority of the House. If we can just keep the bill moving to the floor of the House for a vote, I am sure that we will pass it on over to the Senate and hopefully on to the Governor.
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The League of Municipalities and Association of County Commissioners presented the FIBER NC Act to the bipartisan broadband workgroup that I chair earlier this session. We are heartened to see progress still being made!
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Health and Safety Matters!
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Meeting with AARP in Haywood County
I had a great meeting with Rebecca Chaplin and Deborah Wagner from the AARP here in Western North Carolina. We had a productive conversation about AARP's legislative priorities to benefit our seniors. These priorities include:
The
FIBER NC Act,
just mentioned above.
Good internet is important to all our citizens, especially to our senior citizens.
The
SAVE Act,
which
I have co-sponsored. This is important legislation to allow nurse practitioners to serve to the extent of their licenses.
House Bill 604 to study
small business retirement options.
I voted for this legislation and am looking forward to sending it to Governor Cooper soon to sign into law.
I was also glad to learn that the AARP is opposed to
Senate Bill 559,
which would give Duke Energy less oversight over longer periods of time. I am absolutely opposed to any legislation that would result in higher electricity rates for the consumers. We need to go in the exact opposite direction: lower rates and higher efficiency from a smarter grid, complete with low-cost, renewable energy.
Lastly, the AARP is in favor of
House Bill 655
to close the Healthcare Coverage Gap.
This is the House's bill for Medicaid Expansion. It is far from perfect, but I am absolutely in support of moving it forward while we are here in session. I hope we will vote to send it to the Senate as soon as possible, putting it on the table for negotiations with the Governor.
There are a lot of conversations to be had regarding why we would or wouldn't add work requirements and premiums to Medicaid Expansion for North Carolinians. I want to have these conversations, with the Senate and with the Governor. The most important thing we can do is make this a timely decision, with as few roadblocks to access as possible.
We are here to serve the people now!
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I joined Associate State Director Rebecca Chaplin and Advocacy and Program Volunteer Deborah Wagner at Panacea Coffee Shop in Waynesville for a working session focusing on our senior citizens' concerns.
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I plan to join the AARP at their forum to lower prescription drug prices.
The AARP is hosting an event in Asheville about prescription drug prices and ongoing efforts to reign in the costs. You can find out more information
by clicking here.
Please consider joining us!
Date:
Thursday, August 29, 10 a.m. - 12 p.m.
Location:
Osher Life Long Learning Institute at UNC Asheville
One University Heights, Asheville
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NC: 50
th
in Healthcare
The personal finance company WalletHub just
released a study
ranking all US states and D.C. based on a variety
of healthcare factors, such as average monthly insurance premiums, the number of insured adults and children, mortality, and disease
.
North Carolina ranked 50th.
We're lower than any other southern state from Mississippi to South Carolina. This is completely unacceptable, but we have a fix:
Expand Medicaid,
provide insurance to 500,000 low-wage workers, create more than 40,000 good healthcare jobs and save thousands of lives.
It is time.
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Earlier today I attended the Back to School Safety Summit with Governor Roy Cooper and the Department of Public Safety. We had robust presentations about the hard work our state is doing to ensure the safety of our children in school.
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I joined in strong support of our Governor's efforts to make our children and schools safe and secure.
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When a committee refuses to hear a critical bill, we have an option called a "Discharge Petition" to bring that bill onto the House Floor for a vote. This past week, after hearing the tragic news of the two back-to-back mass shootings in El Paso, Texas, and Dayton, Ohio,
we filed two Discharge Petitions
to hear House Bill 454 and House Bill 312.
House Bill 454
would establish a system for Extreme Risk Protection Orders to temporarily restrict a person's access to firearms if there is significant evidence that the individual poses an immediate threat of physical harm to themselves or others.
House Bill 312
is the Hate Crime Prevention Act, which would establish a database for hate crime statistics in our state, establish training protocols to prepare our law enforcement officials to identify, respond to, and report hate crimes, and increase the penalties for committing a hate crime.
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Again, our flags have been at half mast to honor those who perished in two more tragic shootings in Dayton, Ohio and El Paso, Texas. Our thoughts and prayers are with the families and their communities as they grieve the losses of loved ones, friends, and neighbors.
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For some, even common sense gun protection measures are controversial, and I consider myself to be a strong supporter of the Second Amendment. But, no matter where you stand on this issue, we have the obligation to debate these measures in the Legislature. In the wake of these terrible mass shootings, and in memory of the horrific shooting at UNC Charlotte that took the life of one of our own, Riley Howell, that is the least we can do.
Therefore, I stand with my fellow legislators and ask that we hear these two bills on the House Floor so we can start to have the necessary conversations that will lead to common sense solutions, preventing these tragedies in the future.
There are lots of rights at play here. We can find solutions that respect the right to bear arms and the right to safe and secure lives. They are not mutually exclusive. We need to quit thinking "either or" and start thinking "both and."
Our thoughts and prayers remain with these families, but our thoughts and prayers are not enough. Action is required.
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Please
share
this with your friends!
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P.S. check out our legislative web page at
www.joesamqueennc.com
. You can find all of my previous newsletters and more!
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