Work with Medicaid Advocates
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American Heart Association
I met with several members of the American Heart Association early last week. These healthcare professionals made it clear: their
top priority is Medicaid Expansion.
It is the single biggest thing we can do this year to ensure that more people have access to quality, affordable healthcare. It is their top priority because it is proven to increase positive health outcomes and reduce healthcare costs for everyone.
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American Heart Association members Cara Meyer, Anna Henderson, Karla Jones, and Shannon Emmanuel discussed their support of Medicaid expansion and the many reasons why it is right for NC.
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Western North Carolina Medical Society
I also met with several doctors from the WNC Medical Society while they were in Raleigh to advocate for Medicaid Expansion. The doctors who work with the WNC Medical Society witness firsthand just how important it is to have quality, affordable health insurance, and the often tragic consequences of denying it.
Doctors are not politicians, and advocating in Raleigh is not a normal practice in the medical community. But these doctors took the time out of their busy schedules to travel to our Capitol because
they know that Medicaid Expansion is the right thing to do.
I was proud to meet with them and offer my support in their efforts.
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WNC Medical Society members Dr. Brian Antono, Dr. Richard Bunio, and Dr. Mark McNeill traveled to Raleigh with Nadia Zebouni and CEO Miriam Schwarz to make sure our representatives know just how important Medicaid Expansion is in Western North Carolina.
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Down Home NC
Back in Western North Carolina, I met with members of Down Home NC at their brand new office in Waynesville at 301 N. Haywood Street! These young advocates are hard at work, pushing for policies like Medicaid Expansion that will
help ALL North Carolinians.
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This past weekend I attended the birthday celebration for Mr. Bill Pitts, a native of Haywood County who turned 100 years old on March 21st.
Mr. Pitts served for four years in the Army during
World War II
before returning to Western North Carolina to work as a mechanic. He is a fine man with a wonderful family and an amazing story to tell. The Mountaineer wrote a fantastic profile of Mr. Pitts, which you can
read here
.
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It was a great pleasure to help Mr. Pitts celebrate his 100th birthday!
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Important Bills Co-Sponsors this Week
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Education Bills - HB 428 and HB 433
HB 428, the K-3 Reading and Literacy Improvement Act
, will restore teaching assistants and cap class size at 21 in kindergarten through third grade classrooms. This bill would take us one step closer to giving our public schools the resources they need to ensure our children get the education they deserve.
HB 433, the Economics & Financial Literacy Act
, will require high schools to teach the necessary skills for young adults to handle their personal finances. This bi-partisan bill will close an important gap in our children's education.
Broadband Bills - HB 398 and HB 431
HB 398, Growing GREAT-Rural Broadband Funding
is a bill to expand funding for the GREAT Grant, which aids broadband infrastructure development in rural North Carolina. It is a good idea out of the House, but it is just half of what the Governor is recommending, so I will be working to expand its funding.
HB 431, the FIBER NC Act
will allow municipal and county governments to build broadband infrastructure and lease it to internet companies. Our broadband deficit in Western North Carolina is largely due to internet companies' reluctance to build the necessary infrastructure to bring broadband to rural areas. This bill will allow local governments to navigate around this problem and expand broadband everywhere, to everyone, for everything.
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I met with members of the Haywood EMC this week to discuss the importance of closing the digital divide and the electric cooperatives' role in bringing access to our rural communities.
I co-sponsored House Bill 387 to remove restrictions on our electric cooperatives that currently prevent them from seeking federal grant funding for broadband projects. What we need now for broadband is what Rural Electrification did for electricity in the 1930's.
Everywhere we have electricity, we should have high-speed broadband.
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I had a productive meeting with Clay Talley, Larry Clark, Tom Batchelor, and Roy Stamey from the Haywood EMC. Cooperatives are leading the state in broadband expansion and broadband access.
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Supporting NC Agriculture
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Agriculture Awareness Day
Farmers from across the state traveled to Raleigh on Wednesday in support of our state's agriculture economy. While we may not have the large-scale farms of the east, Western North Carolina is home to a rich assortment of small farms, homesteads and innovative agriculture operations, all important to our rural communities.
I am currently working in the Agriculture Committee on a bill to ease the burden on small farmers. I spoke with the committee's chair, Representative Jimmy Dixon, and he filed
House Bill 339
to broaden the sales tax exemption for small farmers, which I co-sponsored.
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This past Wednesday I joined rural citizens from across North Carolina at the Agriculture Awareness Rally on the Centennial Mall. NC Secretary of Agriculture Steve Troxler was one of many speakers.
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All farmers, big and small, are important, and we are taking steps necessary to ensure that they are empowered to make a living and contribute to their local economies.
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The WNC Farmers Market
On Friday I joined Representatives Brian Turner and Chuck McGrady for a tour of the WNC Farmers Market. The WNC Farmers Market is our primary wholesale and retail hub for mountain agriculture. We learned about their new upgrades for vendors, which will help hundreds of small WNC farmers to better market their products across the Southeast.
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I joined with Representative Brian Turner for a great tour of the WNC Farmers Market. Representative Chuck McGrady was also with us.
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Closing the rural-urban divide means quality education, affordable healthcare, and real high-speed internet for our rural communities.
This is my priority.
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Please share this with your friends!
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P.S. check out our new legislative web page at
www.joesamqueennc.com
. You can find all of my previous newsletters and more!
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