State Government
Watch
Length of
Legislative Session Chills Candidates' Interest
By Steve Tuttle
Incumbents
are opting out of the General Assembly in unusually large
numbers and many are saying that last year’s 11-month-long session
is what’s driving them away from politics. With the end of the
filing period on March 1, 17 House members and six senators chose
retirement or another, higher office, over seeking re-election to the
legislature.
Last year’s record-long session also seems to be discouraging
newcomers from running for the legislature as well; 24 senators and 48
House members are unopposed for re-election. Coupled with
redistricting plans that carved out four new House seats and three new
Senate seats, the retirements mean that nearly one out of six
lawmakers at the legislature will be new next year.
The turnover is the most since 1992, the election after the last
legislative redistricting. That year, about a third of the General
Assembly changed. This year, the trend is most apparent in Mecklenburg
County, where only three incumbents out of 13 in the House and Senate
have contested races. Here’s the list of incumbents not seeking
re-election:
Senate: Frank Ballance
(D-Warren), Robert Martin (D-Pitt), William Martin (D-Guilford), Brad
Miller (D-Wake), Ed Warren (D-Pitt), Hugh Webster (R-Caswell).
House: Gene Arnold (R-Nash),
Dan Blue (D-Wake), Don Davis (R-Harnett), Ruth Easterling
(D-Mecklenburg), Zeno Edwards (D-Beaufort), Theresa Esposito
(R-Forsyth), Toby Fitch (D-Wilson), Lyons Gray (R-Forsyth), Bob
Hensley (D-Wake), Bill Hurley (D-Cumberland), Warren Oldham
(D-Forsyth), Art Pope (R-Wake), Gene Rogers (D-Martin), Fern Shubert
(R-Union), W.B. Teague (R-Alamance), Gregg Thompson (R-Mitchell).
Tax Commission Meets: The Governor’s Commission on Modernizing State
Finances held its first meeting March 5 and immediately began
analyzing the state’s tax laws, many of which were written seven
decades ago. Tom Ross, executive director of the Z. Smith Reynolds
Foundation in Winston-Salem, is chairing the commission, which was
created by Gov. Mike Easley to determine how best to update the
state’s tax structure to conform to the new economy. The group must
make recommendations to the General Assembly later this year.
Commission members divided themselves into three working groups. The
subcommittees’ topics and members are as follows:
Intergovernmental Finance,
chaired by John Sanders, former director of the N.C. Institute of
Government. Members are Mary Ann Black, Durham County Commissioners
chairman; Sen. Dan Clodfelter of Mecklenburg County; Charlie Mercer,
an attorney for Moore & Van Allen in Raleigh; and Jim Talton, a
retired KPMG accountant of Raleigh.
New Economy, chaired by Ben
Russo, an economics professor at UNC Charlotte. Members are Rep.
Gordon Allen of Person County; Lucy Allen, former mayor of Louisburg;
Michael Hannah,of Deloitte & Touche in Raleigh; and Sen. David
Hoyle of Gaston County.
Tax Simplification, chaired
by Jack Cummings, an attorney with Alston and Bird in Raleigh and
former chairman of NCCBI’s Tax and Fiscal Policy Committee. Members
are Frank Emory, a corporate attorney in Charlotte; Kay Hobart,
assistant attorney general; John Medlin of Winston-Salem, former CEO
of Wachovia; and Rep. Wilma Sherrill of Asheville.
Government Efficiency Commission: The Governor’s Commission to
Promote Efficiency in Government held its first meeting in Raleigh on
March 7 and began examining ways to reduce state spending without
reducing services. The commission will review current laws,
regulations, and practices throughout state and local government in
order to recommend changes that will increase efficiency.
Jim Hyler, vice president of First Citizens Bank and NCCBI’s new
chair, was named by Gov. Easley to chair the panel. The governor named
these other members of the commission: Phil Carlton, an attorney of
Pinetops; Sen. John Carrington of Raleigh; Bill Coley, president of
Duke Power of Charlotte; Lisa Crutchfield, vice president and general
manage at TIAA-CREF of Charlotte; Rep.Jerry Dockham of Davidson, Tyler
Fitzgerald, divisional manager for Waste Management in Raleigh;
Darleen Johns, president of Alphanuermic of Raleigh, Ken Lewis, an
attorney for Buford & Lewis of Raleigh; Steve Lusk, vice president
of the State Employees Association; Jeff Morse, Valdese city manager;
Rep. Bill Owens of Pasquotank County; Graham Pervier, Forsyth county
manager; Sen. Tony Rand of Cumberland County; Ed Shelton, owner of
Shelton Vineyards of Dobson; and Gwynn Swinson, secretary of the
Department of Administration.
Justice Department OKs Districts: The U.S. Justice Department has
given its stamp of approval to the new House and Senate district maps,
a decision that helps keep North Carolina’s election schedule on
track. Justice Department lawyers found that both the House and Senate
plans, adopted as a result of the decennial census, met the
requirements of the Voting Rights Act. State officials said that as of
now, North Carolina’s primaries, set for May 7, will proceed.
Counties Get New Rankings: Eighteen counties changed their economic
development tier rankings during the annual review by the N.C.
Department of Commerce. In the 2002 evaluations, Richmond, Columbus,
Montgomery, Onslow, Cumberland and Franklin moved up one tier level,
while Vance, Lenoir, Rockingham, Greene, Pender, Nash, Macon, Dare and
Lee all moved down one tier level. Alexander, Transylvania and Davie
also moved down two tiers. All other counties were unchanged.
The Department of Commerce evaluates North Carolina’s 100 counties
annually and assigns them a ranking from one to five, with Tier 1 as
the most economically distressed and Tier 5 as the least challenged.
The changes are based on annual evaluation of population growth,
unemployment rate and per capita income.
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