The 2009 Republican Senate Agenda
This document was released yesterday in Raleigh. I think it shows a commitment to better state government, I endorsed the contents by signing it and pledging to support it when elected.
NORTH CAROLINA REPUBLICAN SENATE – AN AGENDA FOR CHANGE
A New Direction for North Carolina
Republican candidates for the North Carolina Senate pledge that a Republican Majority in the North Carolina Senate will change state government by bringing the following legislation to the floor for an up or down vote during the 2009 Legislative Session:
1. Strengthen North Carolina’s economy and create jobs by reducing North Carolina’s highest in the Southeast Income Tax rates and adopt a budget free of earmarks, pork, and unnecessary spending
2. Legislation to reduce dependence on foreign oil supplies and create jobs by allowing natural gas and oil exploration on North Carolina’s Outer Continental Shelf with meaningful protections for our coastal environment
3. Legislation to Protect our Citizens
· Resume enforcement of the death penalty for first degree murderers
· Increase active sentences for gang related crimes
· Require collection of a DNA sample from every person charged with a felony
· Make murder of an unborn child a crime in North Carolina (Laci Peterson’s Law)
4. Legislation to Improve Public Education
· Increase funding for career, technical, and vocational education
· Require public schools to use national tests to evaluate student performance
· Create a merit-based pay program to reward highly qualified and effective teachers
· Lift the cap on public charter schools
· Keep North Carolina’s public universities and community colleges the best in the nation
5. Legislation to increase transparency in government and end Democrat corruption
· A Constitutional Amendment limiting the length of legislative sessions
· Term limits for the office of President Pro Tempore of the Senate and Speaker of the House of Representatives
· Reform and restructure the Department of Transportation and Board of Transportation to return North Carolina to its position as the “Good Roads” state
· Implement Senate Rules to require open committee meetings
· Make all state expenditures and state contracts available on the State’s Internet Website
6. Legislation to Limit the Growth of State Government.
· Create more internal auditor positions in state agencies and increase the number of internal audits and performance-based audits
· End raids on Trust and Savings Funds, including the Highway Trust Fund
7. Meaningful medical malpractice reform with limits on non-economic damages
8. Legislation to end North Carolina’s status as a safe-haven for illegal immigrants
· Prohibit illegal immigrants from attending state-supported Universities and Community Colleges
· Stop issuing North Carolina driver’s licenses to illegal immigrants
· Stop welfare and entitlement benefits for illegal immigrants
9. A Constitutional Amendment to protect private property from condemnation solely for economic development
10. Legislation to reinstate the healthcare tax credit repealed by Democrats in 2002 and to expand the healthcare tax deduction for small business
