civitas capitol connection march 2013

www.nccivitas.org

Civitas CAPITOL CONNECTIONCLC 2013 Highlights Edition • Vol. 5, no. 3

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In This Issue

Power and Principles

page 2

Tax Reform Petition

page 3

Voting Scheme

page 4

CLC Highlights

pages 5-9

Scandal page 12

Leaders of the freedom movement told the Civi-tas Institute’s Conserva-tive Leadership Conference March 1-2 in Raleigh that conservatives must adhere to their ideals and take action to sustain the nation’s well-being and principles.

CLC was sold out in ad-vance, and hundreds of con-cerned citizens came to the Ra-leigh Marriott Crabtree Valley hotel for a full slate of speakers, breakout sessions and other events designed to educate and empower attendees.

“We have been saying North Carolina now has a golden opportunity to be a beacon of freedom and pros-perity for the nation,” said Civitas President Francis X. De Luca. “At CLC, we all felt energized and enthusiastic about how we can help North Carolina move ahead.”

No matter what is hap-pening in Washington, in North Carolina and in many other states conservatism is gaining strength, said for-mer U.S. Sen. Jim DeMint,

General Assembly Hits the Ground RunningThe 2013 session of the

North Carolina General Assem-bly is off to another quick start this year. While traditionally the General Assembly passes very little substantial legislation dur-ing their first month in Raleigh, since the 2010 Republican takeover, the General Assembly has made a habit of hitting the ground running. Already this year several major controver-sial bills have been passed and signed by Gov. Pat McCrory.

Perhaps the most contro-versial of the early bills was a major overhaul of the state’s unemployment system. For years North Carolina has funded a very generous unem-ployment insurance system in large part by borrowing funds from the federal government. By 2013 this borrowing had left the state unemployment insurance system $2.5 bil-lion in debt, and had trig-gered a mandatory federal tax increase on North Carolina businesses. The bill reformed

the unemployment sys-tem by bringing ben-efits more in line with our regional neighbors and accelerating the schedule under which the debt to the federal government would be paid. Governor McCro-ry signed the bill into law on Feb. 19.

The General Assembly also took up a bill that would pre-vent the implementation of State Healthcare Exchanges and the expansion of Med-icaid in North Carolina. The bill —making permanent North Carolina’s opposition to the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare

BY CLARk RIEMER

CLC INSPIRESConference Rocks ConservativesBY JIM tYNEN

— was signed into law on March 6. According to figures from the Heritage Founda-tion, preventing Medicaid expansion in North Carolina will save North Carolina tax-payers $1.7 billion dollars through 2022.

The General Assembly has also started work on the long-

Friday keynote speaker Michelle Malkin quoted Latin in telling conservatives “nil desperandum” – never despair, never give up.

CLC Continued on Pg. 6

GA Continued on Pg. 10

promised voter ID bill. Rep. David Lewis (R-Harnett), Chairman of the House Elec-tions Committee, held a press conference that outlined a several-month timetable for the bill that would allow for signifi-cant input from the public and stakeholders on all sides of the issue. As part of the early de-liberations on the issue, Civitas President Francis X. DeLuca gave testimony to the Elec-tions committee on the need for Voter ID in NC. A public hearing was held on March 12, and a draft of the proposed bill is expected in April.

The General Assembly is also expected to take up a ma-jor reform on North Carolina’s tax code in 2013. So far no bill has been proposed, but several conceptual proposals have been

2 CLC 2013 Highlights nccivitas.org

CAPITOL CONNECTIONCivitas

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MANAGING EDITOR Jim Tynen

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Raleigh, NC 27603 phone: 919-834-2099

fax: 919-834-2350

All non-advertising content published in Civitas Capitol

Connection may be republished as long as appropriate credit is given and it is published

in its entirety.

© 2013 by John W. Pope Civitas Institute

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•F R O M T H E E D I T O R •

The Civitas Institute’s 2013 Conservative Leader-ship Conference highlighted the opportunities and chal-lenges the freedom movement will face. They include:

Principles. It seemed as if every CLC speaker called on conservatives to stick to their principles once they gain of-fice. For instance, talk-show host Jason Lewis said “the tragedy of the GOP” is that all too often it abandoned its stand for limited government. “Instead of asking which GOP candidate can win, we should debate what GOP candidates stand for.”

Politics. to govern by those principles, conservatives must win elections against free-spending liberals. As U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) said at CLC, comparing lib-erals to conservatives: “Well, they’re giving away candy. We’re the ones saying, ‘I’m sor-ry America, candy causes cavi-ties. Oh, it’s worse than that,

it’s caused an abscess. Oh, it’s worse than that, the abscess is infected and we’re going to die if we don’t operate.’”

Yet, as he noted, conserva-tives have the truth on their side. For example, the former businessman displayed a chart of how college costs have sky-rocketed in tandem with the growth of federal aid to stu-dents. Liberal candy really does cause cavities. If conser-vatives make that clear, they can win.

The Paradox of Power. Winning an election, howev-er, gives conservatives power over a government they want to reduce in size and scope. How they handle that para-dox is key.

For the flip side of this paradox is that Democrats pose as the party of government, but making it too big and powerful ultimately sabotages govern-ment itself. CLC speaker Jim DeMint, formerly the U.S. Senator from South Carolina, said that conservatives must show Americans where big gov-ernment policies lead. “We can go to Detroit and show [peo-ple], ‘This is 50 years of those policies.’” Or, he said, take conservative Utah and texas, both growing and prospering, and compare them to the virtu-ally bankrupt, big-government states of California and Illinois. In short, big government is bad government.

In North Carolina, a centu-ry of Democratic dominance has left government a sham-bles, with historic buildings decrepit and on the verge of

collapsing, and agencies in dis-array, new Lt. Gov. Dan Forest told CLC. As an example he noted that the incoming Mc-Crory administration found that “the It infrastructure of the state is a wreck.” The most telling sign was when the new technology chief found there was no way to actually com-municate to with his entire staff – no functioning email or phone system — except over the building intercom.

In short, if NC Repub-licans stick to conservative principles, they can demon-strate yet again that limited, focused government is bet-ter government. And if the current administration and General Assembly can restore what’s useful in the state op-erations while pruning away what’s wasteful and even destructive, they can build a lasting legacy in the Old North State.

CLC Looks at Challenges of Power and Principles

Jim Tynen, Civitas Capitol Connection Editor

BY JIM tYNEN

2014

STAY UP TO DATE!

CLC2014.com

Keep an eye on Capitol Connection and CLC2014.com for more information!

3CLC 2013 Highlightsnccivitas.org


END Income Taxes in NC

I support eliminating the income tax in North Carolina.Eliminating the Income Tax in North Carolina will mean more jobs for our citizens, make our state more economically competitive and increase personal freedom by reducing the government’s role in our lives.

Only by eliminating the Income Tax can we start to stop state government from picking winners and losers and redistributing income.

Cut out and mail to: Tax Reform c/o Civitas Institute, 100 S Harrington St. Raleigh, NC 27603 • Please make copies of this form for others to sign

Name (First, M.I., Last) Street Address City State, Zip County Phone Number Email Signature Date

Name (First, M.I., Last) Street Address City State, Zip County Phone Number Email Signature Date

‘Bad Bill’ Would Hobble Free SpeechA recent Bad Bill of the Week

is actually a House Joint Resolu-tion. HJR 171, crafted by Rep. Verla Insko (D-Orange), urges the NC General Assembly to draft a resolution opposing the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision on Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, and call-ing on Congress to amend the Constitution to reverse the free speech rights protected by the United decision.

BY BRIAN BALFOUR For those who may not recall, the United decision reversed previous laws that banned independent political expenditures by corporations (including non-profits and unions). The expansion of free speech rights was met by liberal groups as some sort of “threat against democracy” – and Rep. Insko wants the U.S. Consti-tution amended to enshrine a permanent ban on free speech exercised by groups of individ-uals classified as “corporations.”

Opposition to the United de-cision, however, has nothing to do with preserving democracy or the voice of average citizens. Like most liberal/progressive is-sues, it has to do with control. In this case, liberal politicians want to control political speech by de-termining who gets to speak.

taken to its logical conclu-sion, those who want to ban po-litical speech from corporations would prohibit book publishers from publishing books praising or critical of certain candidates.

The answer to political speech you don’t approve of is not to silence those speaking, but rather to counter with your own speech. A free so-ciety doesn’t use government force to silence people.

One final note, for those concerned about big money in politics: take a look at the size of government. The larger the size and scope of government intrusion into our lives, the more is at stake for individuals and businesses alike. Govern-

ment meddling creates the need for businesses and other groups to spend money to influence politicians in order to either gain political privileges or fend off harmful restrictions. Reduc-ing the reach of government would drastically reduce the felt need for organizations to spend money on the political process.

Because it would under-mine one of the core prin-ciples of a free society – free speech – HJR 171 is this week’s Bad Bill of the Week.



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A Civitas Institute inves-tigation has revealed that the North Carolina State Board of Elections (SBE) successfully subverted state law to facilitate online voter registration in North Carolina by the 2012 Barack Obama campaign.

In doing so they coordi-nated with partisans behind closed doors, lied about the NC Attorney General’s Of-fice concurring with the SBE staff on the issue, and dodged oversight by their own board and the legislature. The end result was to add thousands of people to the North Carolina voter rolls illegally.

North Carolina law does not authorize any kind of on-line voter registration. State law clearly says of voter reg-istration that “[t]he form shall be valid only if signed by the applicant.” But Civi-tas learned through records requests that SBE staff ap-proved voter registration in which people scrawl their names with a finger or sty-lus on a tablet computer or

State Elections Bureaucrats Ran AmokBY SUSAN MYRICk smartphone. The image was

then recorded and transmit-ted to auto pens that marked a paper registration form.

Don Wright, SBE General Counsel, played word games when answering inquires about the Obama campaign’s own re-election site, Got-taregister.com, which utilized the technology that SBE staff approved. Wright repeatedly denied that the SBE allowed online voter registration, in-sisting that it was “web-based voter registration” instead, as if there could be a “web-based” process that wasn’t online.

He also defended the result as a “wet signature” – one in ink. But a “wet signature” is about a person signing with ink on a piece of paper. to have an auto pen inserted at one point in a long computerized process is a far different thing. Even the Obama campaign called it online voter registration.

Wright produced a legal opinion approving this pro-cess, which was provided by Allpoint Voter Services voter registration technology in North Carolina. His opinion

dated September 16, 2011 claimed it was reviewed by the North Carolina Attorney’s General Office, which con-curred in it. That statement, however, is untrue.

In what appeared to be a move to head off any prob-lems right before the presiden-tial election, on September 18, 2012 — after a year in which the SBE had been silent about this whole process — the state elections staff finally notified

the 100 NC counties about the registrations.

The email went out a day after SBE Director Gary Bartlett received an email from George Gilbert, Guil-ford County BOE Direc-tor, reporting that they had received “a good number of registration forms from Allpoint Voter Services.” Gilbert went on to say they contained signatures that were “immediately suspect.”

HOTTOPICSHot Lunch!

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Join Civitas as we present our newest polling data!

The timing of the responses to the counties and indi-viduals raises the question of when, if ever, the state SBE would have brought the on-line registrations to the no-tice of the counties.

Subsequently other coun-ties questioned these forms and offered some observations about problems with them. For example, the Duplin County BOE Director said, “The part we find the most question-able is the similarity of all the signatures ….” There are other problems and questions includ-ing that these registrations were coded as a “voter registrations drive” which would exempt new voters from showing an “ID” as is required of new vot-ers who register by mail.

Moreover, the SBE staff apparently tried to keep this all from the view of the pub-lic and even county elections boards until mere weeks be-fore the election, which raises the disturbing question of whether those involved were aiding a last-minute registra-tion surge planned by the Obama campaign.



CLC 2013CONSERVATIVE CLARION

Former U.S. Rep. Artur Davis (top) told his CLC audience that conservatives must speak to the concerns of ordinary Americans.

Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) (bottom left) said the conservative movement needs a clear strategy.

Michelle Malkin (bottom center) commented on pop culture and its importance in politics.

Jason Lewis (bottom right) said that the freedom movement must “stand up for what this nation was founded on.”Except where noted, CLC photos are courtesy of

Aesthetic Images Photography of Greensboro, NC



CLC INSPIRES HUNDREDSIN RALEIGHwho is president-elect of the

Heritage Foundation. Speaking to the crowd at

lunch Friday, he noted the changes, and said, “What’s making a difference is you — and people like you across the country.”

He said that where con-servatives have gained, it was due to local activists, not the establishment. “Republicans didn’t take back the House in 2010 — it was America that took it back.”

The freedom movement must also take back the cul-ture, syndicated columnist Michelle Malkin said in her Friday keynote address. “We have to reclaim the coolness factor of self-determination,” she said.

For example, viewers of “Shark tank” admire the fledgling entrepreneurs on the ABC tV reality show who make their pitches to in-vestors for new products and businesses. “The next day, everyone wants to talk about the show” she said.

“They don’t equate en-trepreneurs with ‘evil, rapa-cious millionaires and bil-lionaires,’” she added, saying that conservatives must learn how to tap into that ad-miration for independence and enterprise.

The same goes for educa-tion. “Academic excellence is so fundamental to fixing our problems,” she said. ”How can we win a debate on the sequestration or the budget if these kids can’t add or sub-tract or multiply?”

The challenges facing conservatives are many, con-ceded U.S. Sen. Ron John-son, (R.-Wis.), but ultimate-ly, “The truth is on our side.”

“The only way we get this country back is informa-tion,” Johnson said. “It’s a war of ideas.”

Business leaders should be in the vanguard of this ef-fort, he said. “We have got to tap into the network of those who understand the free-market system.”

Former U.S. Rep. Ar-tur Davis, a Democrat who nominated Barack Obama at

the 2008 Democratic Con-vention, and has joined the Republican Party, said that in the 2012 election a key voting bloc was “people who thought they had a home in the Democratic Party [who] decided that home no longer exists.”

“Many of these people were going to be ours,” he said. But by Election Day “they slipped away” because too few conservatives con-veyed that they had answers for those voters’ concerns about everyday struggles.

When conservatism speaks to everyone – to those in gat-ed communities and those down in the hollows — Da-vis said, “We will take this country back.”

CONtINUED FROM PG. 1

House Speaker Thom Tillis

Economist John Lott

CLC Continued on Pg. 8

Audentia Award Winner Cathy Heath (at left)



CLC INSPIRES HUNDREDSIN RALEIGH

U.S. Rep. Renee Ellmers Photo by NewHope

U.S. Rep. George Holding Photo by NewHope

Justice Paul Newby

Former Sen. Jim DeMint Heritage Foundation President Ed Feulner (center)



CLC Examines Crucial US, NC IssuesDavis also noted that

CLC took place as the fed-eral budget sequester went into effect, yet somehow “the world continued.”

“Cutting back, when you are spending too much, is not a radical idea — except in Washington, D.C.,” he said.

It’s no wonder Washing-ton’s fiscal perspective is so skewed, U.S. Rep. George Holding said. Because Con-gress hasn’t passed a budget in nearly four years, more than half of all sitting mem-bers haven’t gone through the normal budget process.

Conservatives can suc-ceed in reaching out to dif-ferent groups, U.S. Rep. Re-nee Ellmers said, if we stress one of our core beliefs: “We believe everyone should be lifted up.”

Speakers and breakout ses-sion presenters also focused on a range of specific issues facing North Carolina.

tax reform, in some form or another, is coming

CONtINUED FROM PG. 6 to North Carolina in 2013. CLC attendees interested in why tax reform is needed and what it could mean to our state attended a break-out session examining these questions. Civitas policy director Brian Balfour dis-cussed why North Carolina’s struggling economy de-mands action on the state’s anti-growth, outdated tax structure. He also shared the results of the study “More Jobs, Bigger Paychecks,” which evaluated the benefits to North Carolina from a plan that would eliminate state personal and corporate income taxes and shift to a primarily consumption-based tax system more reflec-tive of the modern economy.

The impact of the Racial Justice Act was brought home in a breakout session led by Civitas policy analyst Angela Hight. What would it feel like to lose a loved one? What would it feel like to have a loved one murdered? What would it be like to have the person who was found guilty

of the crime against your loved one apply for the Racial Justice Act? Those questions raised powerful emotion in everyone who attended the “Real Victims of the Racial Justice Act” breakout session in which victims’ families told their stories of seeing killers escape the death penalty be-cause of the RJA.

With voter photo ID one of the top issues before the NC General Assembly, Heritage Foundation elec-tions expert Hans von Spa-kovsky exploded some of the myths about voting and voter fraud.

For instance, he tore apart the contention that NC has hordes of voters without ID. One controversial compari-son used only exact matches between lists of drivers licens-es and voters to claim such voters don’t have ID. But with exact matches “Hans A. von Spakovsky” the voter doesn’t match the “Hans von Spak-ovsky” with a drivers license. According to that study, therefore “Hans A. von Spa-

kovsky” doesn’t have an ID to show at the polls!

The actual experiences of other states show that fears about voter photo ID are greatly overblown, he said.

The power of citizens to effect change was highlight-ed by the Civitas Audentia Award given to Cathy Heath. She was honored for her suc-cessful, decade-long effort to reform the state’s municipal annexation law.

With gun control a big issue nationally, CLC wel-comed John Lott, an econo-mist and author of More Guns: Less Crime. He has just published a book on the ad-ministration: At the Brink: Will Obama Push Us over the Edge?

At CLC he exposed myths surrounding gun control. Consider the factoid that 40 percent of gun purchases occur without background checks. “The problem is, it’s simply not true,” Lott said.

That myth is based on an outdated survey of all transfers, not just sales. The

vast majority are family in-heritances and gifts, not pur-chases. And as a survey it has other flaws, he added. Many transactions were “kitchen ta-ble” sales, and buyers may not have realized the dealers were in fact licensed.

Nationally and internation-ally, gun control has failed, he said. “Can you name one place where guns have been banned that has seen its murder rate fall?” Lott asked rhetorically. “I can’t find it.”

He said he has studied gun laws all over the world, and found that when guns are rigidly controlled or banned, the murder rate often goes up, “sometimes dramatically.”

In a panel discussion, ra-dio talk show hosts Matt Mittan, Lockwood Phillips, k.C. O’Dea and Bill LuMaye gave participants a look into the changing media scene. One possible conclusion from listening to their com-ments: In the media, success involves staying in touch with the people while sticking to core principles.

K.C O’Dea Lockwood Phillips

Bill LuMaye Matt Mittan



(Clockwise from upper left): Project Veritas President James O’Keefe described his group’s latest activities highlighting gun control hypocrisy; in a session on the Racial Justice Act, Al Lowry recalled his brother, Highway Patrol Sgt. Ed Lowry, slain in 1997; Senate President Pro Tempore Phil Berger vowed that the legislature would cut excessive regulation this year and in years to come; Francis X. De Luca, president of the Civitas Institute, served as master of ceremonies for the two-day

event; and House Speaker Thom Tillis said that with Medicaid expansion the federal government was “promising us money they haven’t taken from us – yet.”



CONtINUED FROM PG. 1

General Assembly Hits the Ground RunningUNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE FUND SOLVENCY AND PROGRAM CHANGES HB 4

SUPPORTHouse Republicans (74)

Arp Avila Bell, J. Blackwell Blust Boles Brawley, R. Brawley, W.Brody Brown, B. Brown, R. Bryan Bumgardner Burr Catlin ClevelandCollins Conrad Daughtry Davis Dixon Dobson Dockham DollarElmore Faircloth Ford Fulghum Hager Hardister Hollo HollowayHorn Howard Hurley Iler Jeter Johnson Jones JordanLambeth Langdon Lewis Malone Martin McGrady McNeill MillisMoffitt Moore, t. Murry Pittman Presnell Ramsey Riddell Ross, S.Saine Samuelson Schaffer Setzer Shepard Speciale Stam StarnesSteinburg Stevens Stone Szoka tillis torbett turner Warren, H.West Whitmire

House Democrats (3)

Brisson Goodman tine

Senate Republicans (32)

Allran Apodaca Barefoot Barringer Berger Bingham Brock BrunstetterCook Curtis Daniel Davis, J. Goolsby Gunn Harrington HartsellHise Hunt Jackson Meredith Newton Pate Rabin RabonRandleman Rucho Sanderson Soucek tarte tillman tucker Wade

Senate Democrats (4)

Clark Jenkins McLaurin Walters

OPPOSEHouse Republicans (2)

Hastings Wells

House Democrats (40)

Adams Alexander Baskerville Bell, L. Brandon Carney Cotham CunninghamEarle Farmer-Butterfield Fisher Floyd Foushee Gill Glazier Graham, C.Graham, G. Hall, D. Hall, L. Hamilton Hanes Harrison Holley InskoJackson Lucas Luebke McManus Michaux Mobley Moore, R. PierceQueen Richardson Ross, D. terry tolson Waddell Wilkins Wray



Blue Bryant Clodfelter Davis, D. Ford Graham kinnaird MckissickParmon Robinson Stein Woodard

NOT VOTING ABSENTHouse (0) Senate (0) House (1) Senate (2)

McElraft (R) Brown (R) Nesbitt (D)

SPONSOR(S) ROLL CALLHoward (R) S - 25

H - 17

buzzing around Raleigh. Among those proposals is a plan to elim-inate the state personal and cor-porate income taxes in exchange for broadening and slightly increasing the sales tax. The Ci-vitas Institute contracted with the consulting firm Arduin Laf-fer & Moore Econometrics to evaluate the impact such a plan would have on North Carolina’s economy. to learn more about the study and the need to reform North Carolina’s tax code, visit: www.noincometaxNC.org. The proposal has picked up traction among state Senators, and is ex-pected to form the basis of the Senate’s tax reform proposals.

The first of many planned education reforms was signed into law by the Governor on February 18, when he signed a bill to Increase Access to Ca-reer/technical Education. The bill will establish dual tracks in North Carolina high schools, allowing students to graduate with a high school diploma that certifies they are career-ready. The initiative was one of Mc-Crory’s main education prom-ises during the 2012 campaign.

The Legislature is also ex-pected to push for further edu-cation reform and especially for new legislation expanding school choice in North Caro-lina. School choice is likely to be the last major issue consid-ered this year as most observers do not expect a bill on school choice to make progress until after the shape of any tax re-form is settled. While the de-tails of implementation are still unclear, it is almost certain that the Legislature will push for some sort of opportunity schol-arship program that would al-low low-income students to escape failing public schools.

BY BOB LUEBkE

Bill Would Put Teeth in NC Records LawLet’s give three cheers for

state Sens. Thom Goolsby (R-New Hanover) and tom Apo-daca (R-Buncombe) for spon-soring legislation (SB 125) that would at last give public records and open meetings laws some teeth.

North Carolina’s Public Records law (State Statutes Ch. 132) reads: “The pub-lic records and public in-formation compiled by the agencies of North Carolina

government or its subdivi-sions are the property of the people.”

Aside from expensive and time-consuming law suits, however, the general public has few ways of ensuring they can rightfully obtain public records. Furthermore, the law provides no penalties for those who fail to comply with the law. SB 125 levels the playing field. It puts a penalty on those who fail to comply with public records and open meeting laws.

There are, however, two practical considerations SB 125 must clarify to become effective law. First, the law will have to define which official in each state agency is responsible for ensuring compliance with public re-cords and who would ulti-mately be held responsible in the event the law was vio-lated. Right now, responsi-bility over public records re-quest is diffused throughout state government, and that’s part of the problem.

Second, the law will have to determine the definition of compliance. That is, how long does an agency have to respond to a request? Plus, does “respond” mean to provide copies of records or merely allow an individ-ual to inspect documents? Clarity on some of these issues will go a long way in remedying many of the current problems.

SB 125 provides that those who violate public re-cords or public meeting laws

be charged with a Class 3 misdemeanor. If Sen. Gools-by gets his way, however, those charged would get up to 20 days in jail. It’s a cred-ible deterrent to ensure gov-ernment officials pay a price if they put themselves above the law.

If North Carolina state government is sincere about public records being the “property of the people,” SB 125 will go a long way to ensuring that lofty goal is realized.



NO NC EXCHANGE/NO MEDICAID EXPANSION SB 4SUPPORTHouse Republicans (73)

Arp Avila Bell, J. Blackwell BlustBrawley, R. Brawley, W. Brody Brown, B. Brown, R.Bryan Bumgardner Burr Catlin ClevelandCollins Conrad Daughtry Davis DixonDockham Dollar Elmore Faircloth FordFulghum Hager Hardister Hastings HolloHolloway Horn Howard Hurley IlerJeter Johnson Jones Jordan LambethLangdon Malone Martin McElraft McGradyMcNeill Millis Moffitt Moore, t. MurryPittman Presnell Ramsey Riddell Ross, S.Saine Samuelson Schaffer Setzer ShepardSpeciale Stam Starnes Steinburg StevensStone Szoka tillis torbett turnerWarren, H. Wells West

House Democrats (1)

Brisson


Allran Apodaca Barefoot Barringer BergerBingham Brock Brown Brunstetter CookCurtis Daniel Davis, J. Goolsby GunnHarrington Hise Hunt Jackson MeredithNewton Pate Rabin Rabon RandlemanSanderson Soucek tarte tillman tuckerWade




Adams Alexander Baskerville Bell, L. BrandonCarney Cotham Cunningham Earle Farmer-ButterfieldFisher Floyd Foushee Gill GlazierGoodman Graham, C. Graham, G. Hall, D. Hall, L.Hamilton Hanes Harrison Holley InskoJackson Lucas Luebke McManus MichauxMobley Pierce Queen Richardson Ross, D.terry tine tolson Waddell Wilkins



Blue Clark Clodfelter Davis, D. FordGraham Jenkins kinnaird Mckissick McLaurinNesbitt Parmon Robinson Stein WaltersWoodard

NOT VOTINGHouse (0) Senate (1)

Rucho (R)

ABSENTHouse (6) Senate (2)

Boles (R) Dobson (R) Lewis (R) Moore, R. (D) Bryant (D)Whitmire (R) Wray (D) Hartsell (R)

SPONSOR(S) ROLL CALLApodaca (R) S - 44

H - 69

INCREASE ACCESS TO CAREER/TECHNICAL ED SB 14SUPPORTHouse Republicans (72)

Arp Avila Bell, J. Blackwell BlustBoles Brawley, R. Brawley, W. Brody Brown, B.Brown, R. Bryan Bumgardner Burr CatlinCleveland Collins Conrad Dixon DobsonDollar Elmore Faircloth Ford FulghumHager Hardister Hastings Hollo HollowayHorn Howard Hurley Iler JeterJohnson Jones Jordan Lambeth LangdonLewis Malone Martin McElraft McGradyMcNeill Millis Moffitt Moore, t. MurryPittman Presnell Ramsey Riddell Ross, S.Saine Samuelson Schaffer Setzer SpecialeStarnes Steinburg Stevens Stone Szokatillis torbett turner Warren, H. WellsWest Whitmire


Adams Alexander Baskerville Bell, L. BrandonBrisson Carney Earle Farmer-Butterfield FloydGill Glazier Goodman Graham, C. Graham, G.Hall, D. Hall, L. Hamilton Hanes HarrisonHolley Insko Lucas Luebke McManusMichaux Mobley Moore, R. Pierce QueenRichardson Ross, D. terry tine tolsonWaddell Wilkins Wray


Allran Apodaca Barefoot Barringer BergerBingham Brock Brown Brunstetter CookCurtis Daniel Davis, J. Goolsby GunnHarrington Hartsell Hise Hunt JacksonMeredith Newton Pate Rabin RabonRandleman Rucho Sanderson Soucek tartetillman tucker Wade


Blue Bryant Clark Clodfelter Davis, D.Ford Graham Jenkins kinnaird MckissickMcLaurin Nesbitt Parmon Robinson WaltersWoodard


House Democrats (1)

Cunningham



NOT VOTINGHouse (4) Senate (0)

Daughtry (R) Davis (R) Foushee (D) Shepard (R)

ABSENTHouse (5) Senate (1)

Cotham (D) Dockham (R) Fisher (D) Jackson (D) Stein (D)Stam (R)

SPONSOR(S) ROLL CALLtillman (R) S - 15

H - 47

The full report and summaries are available at www.noincometaxnc.org

Arduin, Laffer, & Moore Econometrics explains the benefits of tax reform in “More Jobs, Bigger Paychecks: A Pro-Growth tax Reform for North Carolina.”

MORE JOBS, BIGGERPAYCHECKS

A Pro-Growth Tax Reform for North Carolina

DECEMBER 2012

Executive Summary



• S C A N D A L •

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BY BOB LUEBkE

Moss Pit: Lee School Boss Offered McCrory PostJeff Moss — the contro-

versial and soon-to-be for-mer superintendent of the Lee County, North Carolina public schools – continues to raise the eyebrows and tem-peratures of many conserva-tives. Several weeks ago Moss claimed he was offered the position of Education Policy Adviser in the McCrory ad-ministration. Moss’ state-ments imply the offer fell through because the governor could not match the school administrator’s current annu-al pay, $212,000. (Gov. Pat McCrory makes $141,000.) According to the Bluffton, S.C. Island Packet, Moss has been offered the superin-tendent’s job for the Beau-fort County (S.C.) School District and, at the time of this writing, was negotiating his contract.

It’s hard to tell what the disclosure says more about: Moss or the Governor’s office, which three months into its tenure has yet to name a top education adviser.

In documentation he sub-mitted for the South Caro-lina job, Moss wrote: “The Governor of North Carolina has tentatively offered me the position of Education Policy Adviser, which is the equiv-

alent of state superinten-dent, but he cannot match my salary.”

When asked about the statement, McCrory’s office said what we expected them to say: “We do not comment on personnel matters.” Yet the purported job offer remains curious for several reasons. to begin with, Moss is a registered Democrat. As Superintendent of Lee County Schools, Moss has been vocal in his opposition to budget cuts and Republican budget policies.

In addition, Moss found himself in the middle of sev-eral situations which raised legitimate questions about his behavior and judgment. Let me elaborate:

• Late last fall two people attending a political form in Sanford said Moss cursed them during a heated discus-sion of school performance. Moss acknowledges that his conduct during the meeting was “not professional,” but he denies using any profan-ity in the encounter. The exchange was reported by media and captured on a cell phone video. (Capitol Con-nection readers can search for the clip on Youtube to reach their own judgments on what happened.)

• In spring 2011, Moss was criticized by freshman

Dr. Jeff Moss

Republican lawmaker Mike Stone, who said his daugh-ter was “used against” him when a public school teacher instructed her and her class-mates to contact elected offi-cials in opposition to budget cuts. Stone’s daughter sent him a handwritten note ask-ing him to “put the budget higher dad.” According to Moss, the assignment was “appropriate” and an exercise where children could say they support public education

• In a follow-up to the school writing assignment, Moss wrote a terse and threat-

ening reply to a food vendor who also questioned teachers having students write law-makers. The individual was later fired from his job and some wonder if Moss’s com-ments had a role in the firing.

• From 2004 to 2009 and before coming to Lee Coun-ty, Moss served as Superin-tendent of Beaufort County School District in North Carolina. He was accused by county officials as well as newspapers with saddling the district with debt and overca-pacity and almost bankrupt-ing the school system.

What also raises a lot of questions is that the inci-dents seemed to have been entirely ignored by the Mc-Crory administration. It is true McCrory’s office de-clined to comment. Yet one would think if the offer was not made, the administration would have good reason to deny it.

Many continue to wait for the Governor to make top education appointments. Jeff Moss’ troubled past and political views send up red flags with conservatives; his behavior should trouble anyone who expects poised and professional behavior by well-paid professionals. That the McCrory admin-istration wasn’t reading the same signals means either they didn’t know about it — and anyone with Internet ac-cess and a search button on their computer would know – or it wasn’t a big deal, a conclusion that signals far bigger problems ahead for the administration.

—–—————Scandal is a regular column in Capitol Connection that will explore public corruption in

NC Government. ———

Have a local corruption story? Email [email protected]

or call 919-834-2099

civitas capitol connection march 2013

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