INC NEWS - Report of 2005 Legislative Session

[pat carstensen]

We asked members of the Durham delegation for their thoughts on the 2005 
session.  We heard back from Senators Atwater and Lucas and Representative 
Wilkins.

Senator Atwater asked us to share the following statement with you:

Dear Members of the InterNeighborhood Council:

I regret that I cannot join you in person for this informative meeting, but 
I appreciate this opportunity to send you my best wishes and this session’s 
legislative updates.  My first term as a Senator has been very positive.  
While I only represent a small portion of Durham County, working with the 
Durham delegation has been informative and empowering.  This is the type of 
the teamwork that moves forward positive legislation.

I will begin by addressing our Durham Court System needs.  As many of you 
are aware, Durham rests near the center of the judicial workload chart by 
county, with approximately one district court judge and fourteen assistant 
district attorneys for every 39,000 county citizens.  Should a bill on the 
Governor’s DWI Taskforce recommendations become law, a reserve will be set 
up to relieve additional strain on courts.  This is where I plan to once 
again seek much needed assistance for our court system.

The legislature has recently passed what will prove to be a very fiscally 
responsible budget, while remaining under the governor’s spending cap and 
setting aside $200 million in the rainy day fund (for natural disaster or 
economic downturn).  The budget increases funding in education, funds many 
health care services for our children and seniors, as well as invests in new 
job creation.  In the end, we were able to avoid large cuts to areas such as 
teacher assistants and Medicaid service with strong negotiations based in 
our values.  Overall, this budget will continue to boost North Carolina’s 
economy.

While the budget process was at the center of recent legislative activity, 
we also remained committed to our principles of public safety, economic 
development, and education through other pieces of legislation.

	In the realm of public safety, funding has been set aside for DNA analysis, 
a focus on methamphetamine and also computer/identity theft crimes.  
Allocations have also been made to improve driver license security and 
validation.  The legislature has increased penalties for Internet sexual 
predators, as well as set aside $8 million for a statewide communications 
system for our first responders.  I am also very hopeful that a bill 
designed to address street gang violence becomes law with the appropriate 
level of funding to make it affective.  The budget also provides $2 million 
in grants for gang prevention initiatives, which will be available to the 
state this year.

	The economy will benefit from legislation that will allow state government 
to give preference to NC companies when considering bids.  Our minority 
businesses will receive attention from the Department of Administration, 
which will help certify many of these businesses.  New funding was allocated 
to the One NC Fund and the Jobs Development Investment Grant program, 
economic-growth tools that have created more than 25,000 new jobs since 
2001.  Additionally, rural economic growth with receive $20 million; funds 
for roads and clean-water infrastructure to help communities grow and 
attract new employers.

	Education in NC will certainly receive a boost.  The budget sets aside $80 
million to address deficits pointed out in the Leandro case, improve teacher 
quality and resources, raise teacher pay and retention, fund enrollment 
growth at our universities, as well as increase financial aid for our 
college students with need.  The teacher shortage was also addressed and due 
to two recent bills, our community colleges and qualified teachers from 
other states will now provide added relief to this area of education.

	I am proud of the work done this session, but always seek to do more for 
our area.  Our local officials and community leaders are continually at the 
forefront of issues and I value these relationships.  As always please feel 
free to contact me in regard to the aforementioned issues and any other 
concerns that you may have.  I look forward to our future interactions.





Regards,


Senator Bob Atwater