NC General Assembly

House Bill 606
Nonpartisan Redistricting Process. Last Action: Ref to the Com on Elections, if favorable, Government on 04/09/2013

Sponsors: Stam; Glazier; McGrady; D. Ross; (Primary)
Adams; Alexander; Baskerville; L. Bell; Brandon; R. Brawley; Carney; Cleveland; Cunningham; Dockham; Earle; Faircloth; Farmer-Butterfield; Fisher; Foushee; Fulghum; Gill; Goodman; C. Graham; G. Graham; D. Hall; L. Hall; Hamilton; Hanes; Hardister; Harrison; Holley; Horn; Hurley; Insko; Jackson; Jones; Jordan; Lucas; Luebke; McManus; Michaux; Mobley; R. Moore; Murry; Pierce; Queen; Ramsey; Richardson; Saine; Shepard; Steinburg; Stevens; Szoka; Terry; Tine; Tolson; Waddell; Warren; Whitmire; Wilkins; Wray;
Attributes: Public;
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House committee discusses voter ID

The House Elections Committee hears from experts and debates a proposal to require voters to present photo identification at the polls.

video here: http://www.wral.com/news/state/nccapitol/video/12326054/#/vid12326054

From the Fayetteville Observer editorial:

Why would state Rep. Edgar Starnes and Sen. Jerry Tillman want North Carolina to be the next Florida? That's what they would turn us into, in the 2016 presidential election.

The Republican lawmakers have filed bills that cut the early-voting period from two weeks to one and eliminate same-day voter registration.

Starnes' bill also would halt early voting on Sundays and ban straight-ticket voting.

We know most lawmakers aren't historians, but what happened in Florida last November is such recent history that it almost still qualifies as news. But Starnes and Tillman are ignoring it, which may doom us to relive it.

(Hat tip to Carin Savel)
http://fayobserver.com/articles/2013/03/29/1246753?sac=fo.opinion

"Save Early Voting" Press Conference
Monday, April 1st - 10:30 am
North Carolina General Assembly
Jones Street, Raleigh, NC

UPDATE from WNCN news in Raleigh today:
Progress North Carolina led a news conference Monday at the Legislative Building to oppose bills last week to reduce 2½ weeks of in-person early voting by one week. One of the bills would bar Sunday voting.
Read more and view video here:
http://www.nbcnews.com/id/51398303/ns/local_news-raleigh_nc/#.UVoSw1eyJ5E

"Come stand with your fellow citizens, teachers, former election officials and others as they call attention to the devastating consequences of bills pending in the NCGA to cut early voting in half and make other changes to our elections rules that make it extraordinarily difficult for people to vote."

Our governor’s refusal to set up expanded Medicaid in the state of North Carolina will not only cost our citizens the benefits that come from well over 20,000 new jobs and better health care, but will cost our existing businesses money. Bloomberg news is reporting that:

Governors who refuse to expand their Medicaid programs for the poor may cost employers in their states as much as $1.3 billion in federal fines, a study found.

The next meeting of the Wake County Legislative Delegation is scheduled for Monday, March 25, 2013 at 4:00pm, room 643 of the Legislative Office Building, 300 North Salisbury Street, Raleigh, NC 27603. The meeting will be open to the public to share comments and concerns.

Please do whatever you can to arrange your schedule to participate. If you are unable to attend the meeting, please contact the Wake Delegation prior to their meeting via email or telephone. A list of members of each chamber of the NCGA is available at www.ncleg.net, and email addresses are available on the page for each member.

From an email from NC Women United:

Are you ready? Come to Raleigh on Tuesday, April 9!

Hear Kim Gandy talk about her history of working for women, especially in the area of Violence Against Women
Hear representatives from NCWU member organizations talk about other issues of concern.
Join with others from your district and across the state to speak to your legislators about the issues of most concern to you
If you are free Monday evening, join us for a special reception in honor of Ms. Gandy and focused on the issues of violence against women

Registration is open! Please let us know you are coming!
Register for the April 8 reception: ncwu.org/register-gandy
Register for Advocacy Day: www.ncwu.org/register-wad/

Hundreds of people crowded into three rooms to attend the House Elections Committee hearing to voice their opinion on legislation that hasn't even been drafted yet. Republican lawmakers said last week that they want to collect as much input from both supporters and opponents before crafting and filing a bill later this month.

Representatives from NAACP, Democracy NC, AARP, Disability Rights North Carolina and the League of Women Voters spoke out against a required voter ID earlier in what was expected to be a lengthy hearing.

http://www.wral.com/voter-id-assailed-backed-in-house-hearing/12213799/

The meeting is now adjourned (as of 8:30pm). The video of Part I is up at WRAL.com, Part II(video) will be available soon

Last night while watching the Disney/Pixar animated movie Monsters,Inc., I had an epiphany. The parallels between the animated corporation Monsters,Inc., which used fear to power their city, and the new Republican dominated NC General Assembly, are unmistakable.

The Republican party of NC used fear, religion, homophobia, and ignorance to gain power in our state. With the help of Art Pope's money, a barrage of misinformation, lies, and right wing propaganda, they were able to attain a majority in both houses in 2010 and install an easily manipulated stooge in the governor's mansion in 2012.

Now it's become to clear that their mission is to retain that power through gerrymandering and inflict as much pain on the citizens of this state as humanly possible, all the while setting our state economy and social progress on a backwards spiral.

Democratic Senators are excited about the new talent which will be joining their ranks. There will be seven new members of the Senate Democratic Caucus in 2013. The North Carolina legislators are scheduled to return to Raleigh to begin the legislative session in January. Opening day is Jan. 9th, but session business will be for organizing only for a couple of days, and then the NCGA will adjourn until late January.

Democrats in the North Carolina Senate have selected officers for the 2013-14 legislative term. The new officers are as follows:

Senator Dan Blue (Wake), Caucus Co-Chair

Senator Dan Clodfelter (Mecklenburg), Caucus Co-Chair

Senator Ellie Kinnaird (Orange), Caucus Secretary

Senator Martin Nesbitt (Buncombe), Minority Leader