We were all incredibly saddened to learn that one of our finest from Waynesville, Riley Howell, was among the victims of the UNC-Charlotte shooting. This tragic event would have been much worse if not for Riley's heroic actions. He tackled the gunman, sacrificing his own life to save others.
Riley will be remembered as a hero. Let us all keep his family in our prayers.
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The NC Flag at the legislature flew at half mast this week in honor of Riley Howell and all of the victims of the UNC-Charlotte shooting.
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Last Wednesday,
educators
from Haywood, Jackson, and Swain Counties joined with
school employees
from across North Carolina to advocate for better public education. Public school staff, parents, and students attended the
Rally for Respect
and voiced their support for
increasing per-student funding
and
expanding Medicaid now!
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It was great to see such committed citizen advocates from Haywood, Jackson, & Swain at the Capitol!
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We need a great teacher in every classroom and an excellent principal at the head of every school.
Education is our top priority as a state. We must do better. I will continue to work for better funding and more resources to support our schools and educators in their efforts to better serve our children.
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I am working hard to provide the resources our classrooms need and our children deserve.
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House Budget Highlights
This week we debated the House version of our State Budget.
I voted against this irresponsible budget
because it fails our teachers, working families, and every day North Carolinians. Instead it prioritizes tax cuts for the wealthiest and continues to promote an irrational political ideology.
You can see the full House Budget
here
and the Governor's Budget
here.
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House Budget
This House Budget fails to expand Medicaid,
denying more than 500,000 of our hard-working North Carolinians healthcare coverage that we already pay for.
This is incredibly irresponsible;
fiscally irresponsible and morally irresponsible
.
By denying this common sense step, we are throwing $2.5 billion down the drain every single year.
That's $5 billion WASTED in this budget.
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Governor Roy Cooper's Budget
Our Governor's budget would
expand Medicaid
in full, insuring more than 500,000 individuals, creating 40,000 new jobs and
saving thousands of lives.
Expanding Medicaid requires
no new taxes.
It simply stops the waste of the taxes we already pay, allowing those tax dollars to help our citizens here in North Carolina instead of paying for healthcare in another state.
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House Budget
This House Budget under-funds our existing Medicaid programs by $64 million--
a total loss of $174 million
including lost federal matching funds--making Medicaid Transformation more difficult than it already is.
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Governor Roy Cooper's Budget
Our Governor's budget
fully funds a path for a smooth
Medicaid Transformation
from the traditional Fee-For-Service Model to a true Managed Care Model.
Medicaid Transformation refers to our Department of Health and Human Services' innovative strategy of focusing on medical outcomes. It uses health drivers, a medical home for all patients, and a unification of physical and mental health for an all-encompassing,
truly managed care.
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House Budget
This House Budget fails to invest adequately in rural North Carolina.
It cuts
Governor Cooper's proposed $15 million Rural Investments Strengthening Economies (RISE) Program.
It cuts
the Governor's $26 million for locally identified rural economic development projects.
It transfers
more than $14 million away from existing rural economic development programs, the Utility Account and the State Rural Infrastructure Grants.
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Governor Roy Cooper's Budget
Governor Cooper's budget invests
$134.7 million in rural economic development,
broadband expansion, and affordable housing.
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House Budget
This House Budget's
"SCIF SCAM"
siphons 4% from the general fund for capital and debt service,
handcuffing this and future budgets'
ability to meet critical needs in a timely manner.
The SCIF approach simply
does not provide any long-term guarantee
as to what projects we will actually get, where they will be located, or when they will be built. It provides neither certainty nor transparency.
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Governor Roy Cooper's Budget
The bond is a better way.
It is certain and transparent.
Governor Roy Cooper's budget creates the
Invest NC Bond,
which would issue
$3.9 billion
in bonds
this November,
allocated as follows:
- $2 billion for public schools
- $800 million for water and sewer
- $500 million for the UNC System
- $500 million for the Community Colleges System
- $100 million for the Museum of History and the NC Zoo
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House Budget
This House Budget fails our children,
skimming money from teacher pay and healthcare to pay for school construction. It cooks the books on teacher pay, giving our educators a 1/2-year raise.
Shifting funds to fit a set of talking points instead of working for real policies to improve our education system is not smart for North Carolina students.
Our educators deserve respect, and our children should not be pawns in a political game.
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Governor Roy Cooper's Budget
Our Governor's budget would
raise teacher pay more 9.1%
over the next two years.
It invests
$30 million to create the NC GROW program,
which would pay for tuition at community colleges for students in high-demand fields, and
$15 million in Finish Line Grants
to help community college students finish school.
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This House Budget is by far the most haphazard, unresponsive and irresponsible budget I have seen in my years as a legislator.
This House Budget simply does not meet the needs of our great state.
We can only hope the Senate will do better. Stay tuned.
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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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