Happy Thanksgiving

My wife, Dr. Kate Queen, and I have many things to be thankful for. At the top of that list is our grandson Willie Cole. He is such a blessing in our lives. It was a joy to spend Turkey Day with him and his classmates at preschool. From our family to yours, we wish all of you a Happy Thanksgiving.

NCAA Trout Farmers Meeting

Here I am enjoying a lunch break with Ben Easton and Dean Inman of Sunburst Trout farms in Haywood and Bill Pales, a trout farmer from Buncombe Co, at the North Carolina Aquaculture Association's Mountain Trout Farm Meeting at the Haywood County Cooperative Extension Center. I listened to trout farmer's concerns and their hopes for expanding opportunities for trout farming in our region. As a member of the NC Agriculture Committee in the General Assembly, I am a big supporter of our trout industry in all of its forms.

Outdoor Recreational Industry

At the Southwestern Planning Commission we heard a powerful presentation on the importance of the growing outdoor recreation industry in our region from Matt Raker. Read more here.

Legislative Updates

It was an honor to give a legislative update to Governor Cooper's Community Engagement Conference in Bryson City and the Southwestern Planning Commission's Banquet in Cherokee. Read more here.

Leadership Haywood

November 20th was the "History Session" for the 2019 class of Leadership Haywood. I enjoyed a day long bus tour with the class around the county visiting historic sights and reviewing the county's history. As a highlight, we stopped at Folkmoot for lunch and had an old fashioned Appalachian Square Dance, experiencing firsthand our region's heritage of hospitality with great music and dance.

Interfaith Peace Conference at Lake Junaluska

Capping off my week, I attended the three day Interfaith Peace Conference at Lake Junaluska. This year's theme was "The Arts of Peace: Imagining the Way." This was the tenth year of the conference's collaborative pursuit of peace among the Three Abrahamic Faith Communities of Judaism, Christianity and Islam. We explored the many wonderful ways that the arts can be helpful in advancing peace and understanding. The video above depicts the Sufi tradition of whirling dervishes. Peace to all.

Joe Sam's Notes

We're entering the Holiday Season with a recess, even though the work in the capitol isn't done: We don't have a True Comprehensive, Balanced Budget. We have a Constitutional System of checks and balances. When the legislature presents a budget that is inadequate or unwise it is the Governor's, the executive branch's, responsibility to veto it and propose a better way. Then the legislature is to consider the veto and either override it, or work toward a commonly accepted solution. This has not yet been done, even though the Governor has offered every opportunity since July to do so. North Carolina is in a historic situation of legislative delay due to the Republican Legislative Leadership's unwillingness to negotiate. The Governor has cooperated on a series of mini budgets, but there are still three very important issues that remain to be solved for North Carolina to get to a Truly Fair, Comprehensive, and Balanced Budget which works for all North Carolinians. First, will we continue to deny a half million of our hardest working lowest paid citizens healthcare, which we have already paid for? Records show that over a thousand North Carolinians will actually die due to the lack of healthcare coverage. Governor Cooper believes that North Carolina is better than that. See my video. Secondly, will we give our teachers appropriate pay raises, or will we give our wealthiest corporations another billion dollar tax cut? What will North Carolina's priorities be, making the rich richer, or moving forward with real educational opportunities for all North Carolinians? Read more in my Town Hall Recaps. Lastly, will we offer our citizens the opportunity to pass an Education and Infrastructure Bond, that is fair, timely, transparent and certain, or will we choose a fat political slush fund at the legislative leadership's disposal, where investments won't be fair, transparent, timely, or certain (the SCIF SCAM)? The Governor knows the bond is a better way. The Governor has vetoed the Republican Conference Budget because there are much better, in fact Billions Better, options for investing in the educational, healthcare and infrastructure needs of our state. Stay tuned.

Sincerely,

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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!