Senator Bill Rabon --Weekly Update
July 20, 2011
I hope that everyone is having a good summer. Since the Senate adjourned, I have been working at my vet clinic in Southport and I have also been working hard to tackle the needs of our district here at home. Last week, I returned to Raleigh for a session on redistricting and to address some of the Governor’s vetoes. It was good to be back and to see my Senate colleagues. I have been very impressed by the hard work undertaken by my fellow Senators and Representatives here from all over the state. This weekend I will be in Fair Bluff for the annual Watermelon Festival and I encourage everyone to attend for the celebration we will be having on Friday and Saturday.
Last week, I was honored to be appointed as chairman of the Joint Legislative Transportation Oversight Committee. The committee is made up of members from both the House and Senate and I look forward to working with them on transportation issues during the interim. We are committed to working with the Department of Transportation to improve the drivability of roads across the entire state. At the top of every agenda is ensuring the safety of each and every motorist on North Carolina’s highways and interstates.
I’ve also been working on bringing new jobs to North Carolina. I will be meeting with several companies in the coming weeks from both in and out of the state about adding new jobs. It’s also an important initiative of mine to protect the jobs we do have, and I will also be discussing these strategies with state officials and business owners in the coming weeks and months.
Our last public redistricting meeting was held at the first of the week. This once-a-decade redistricting process has been the most transparent and open that I’ve ever witnessed in North Carolina. Throughout the process, legislators have ensured that redistricting has been conducted fairly and legally across the board. Many hours have been put into drawing districts that accurately reflect the population changes of this new decade. I will be in Raleigh at the end of this week to help finalize the process as we intend to vote to approve the final redistricting plan very soon.
Although the Senate has adjourned, members of my staff are still available to receive your calls, letters, and e-mails at our office in Raleigh. If you need to reach me, please call 919-360-9763. You may also write to me at 16 W. Jones St., Rm 2108, Raleigh, NC, 27601, or by e-mail at Bill.Rabon@ncleg.net.
June 29, 2011
The Senate adjourned on Saturday, June 18th, to reconvene in July for redistricting. In the meantime, I have returned to working full-time at my vet clinic, and tending to the needs of our district. The wildfires in Pender County are being contained, but I and others went out to see the fires and to donate water and gatorade to our firefighters who are working hard to battle the blaze. I encourage Pender County residents to remain vigilant as our brave firefighters work overtime to put out the wildfires.
Weekend before last I had the honor of attending the Blueberry Festival in Burgaw. Mayor Cowan and Police Chief King also came to Raleigh to deliver a sampling of their blueberries to the Senate and they were absolutely delicious.
Three of our local Brunswick County residents have been greatly honored by receiving appointments to several North Carolina boards and commissions. Franklin Rouse, of Leland, has been appointed to the North Carolina Railroad Board of Directors. Michael Powell, of Shallotte, has been appointed to the North Carolina Turnpike Authority Board. Mary Louise Childs, of Southport, has been appointed to the South Eastern Regional Economic Development Commission. All three have been appointed to a term lasting until June 2015. I am so proud of their achievements, and I know that great things will happen through their service to North Carolina.
Although the Senate has adjourned, members of my staff are still available to take your calls and e-mails at our office in Raleigh. They may be reached by telephone at 919-360-9763, by mail at 16 W. Jones St., Rm 2108, Raleigh, NC, 27601, or by e-mail at Bill.Rabon@ncleg.net.
June 18 2011
This past week has been a great opportunity for the Senate to pass some excellent bills. We plan on adjourning soon, but before then we’re going to make sure that each and every bill has a chance to be heard. We’re strengthening our rules of the road to make highways and interstates safer for the motorists in our state, we’re raising awareness of athletic injuries and breast cancer, we’re increasing public access to vaccines and immunizations, and we’re passing laws to make life easier for our members of the military, veterans, and their families.
In order to keep our roads safe, we’re continuing to strengthen our laws against dangerous DWI offenders. Laura Fortenberry was a 17-year old Gaston County teenager who was killed last summer by a habitual DWI offender. The man who hit Laura was driving drunk and had three prior DWI convictions. No one with such a record should be allowed to drive on the roads of North Carolina. Laura’s Law increases penalties for habitual DWI offenders and provides methods for the courts to require continuous alcohol monitoring of habitual offenders. Laura’s Law will help to prevent accidents similar to the one that took the life of Laura Fortenberry, and DWI accidents that endanger drivers on the roads of our state.
The Gfeller-Waller Concussion Awareness Act is named for two young men who were killed playing football on the fields of North Carolina. Matt Gfeller was gravely injured during a varsity game. Jaquan Waller suffered a head injury during practice but was later allowed to play in a game. He then suffered a second injury and succumbed to the trauma. The Gfeller-Waller Act will make the courts and playing fields of this state safer for all participants in sports with a risk of brain injury. The Act requires that all players suffering a head injury be pulled from games until they are examined by medical professionals. Schools will also be required to develop emergency plans for dealing with concussions and plans for the education and awareness of these types of injuries for players, coaches, and parents. The bill has widespread support from professional sports organizations such as the NFL, NHL, and regional hospitals such as Duke Sports Medicine and Carolina Family Practice and Sports Medicine. The NC School Boards Association, NC School Administrators Association, and the North Carolina Association of Educators, also supported the Gfeller-Waller Act.
We’ve added a check-off donation for breast cancer screenings on income tax refund statements. In Raleigh, last week focused on breast cancer awareness leading up to the 15th annual Susan G. Komen NC Triangle Race for the Cure. Nearly 25,000 walkers and runners turned out to the event this past Saturday. All week, the Capitol and other state and city buildings were bathed in pink lights, and large pink ribbons were projected onto several walls downtown. On Fayetteville Street, the lines in the center of the road were even painted pink to raise breast cancer awareness. It is so important for women to catch breast cancer early, and in recognition of the importance of breast cancer screenings in this effort, you may now make a donation of a portion of your income tax refund to support these tests. It is our hope that these additional funds will further save lives in the fight against breast cancer.
Immunizations are also very important in the fight against diseases, not only for the very young and the elderly, but for healthy people as well. That’s why we voted to allow pharmacists to administer more immunizations than ever before. Now, in additional to the flu vaccine, your pharmacist may administer pneumococcal and zoster vaccines, along with several other important immunizations as directed by the Commission for Public Health. I believe that allowing pharmacists as well as doctors to administer these injections will increase public accessibility to these important immunizations. This bill also ensures that the process will be carried out with due diligence and care.
Finally, we’ve passed two more bills to help our members of the military. I’ve mentioned several times before that North Carolina is the most military friendly state in the United States. I am able to make that statement even more emphatically as this session winds down. I have never seen so many good bills designed to make life easier for our active duty members of the military, our veterans, and their families. Senate Bill 446, for example, allows community colleges to tack on the cost of textbooks to military tuitions, thereby covering this cost with the G.I. Bill. Textbooks can be expensive, and removing this financial burden will allow and encourage even more members and veterans of the military to pursue further education at community colleges. Many of our North Carolina military members are also either deployed overseas or face the prospect of deployment in the future. We’ve passed a bill which will make it even easier for them to vote while deployed, and also to ensure that each and every one of their votes is counted in any general election.
This week, we look forward to overriding Governor Perdue’s veto of the budget. As I’ve said to you before, I couldn’t be happier with the budget that has been passed by the General Assembly. All three of my original goals were met and surpassed. We’ve preserved and widened education in vital areas, we’ve cut taxes, and we’ve balanced the budget. It’s a good budget, and the fact that we’ve got enough votes to override the veto shows just how much support we have for our spending measures in North Carolina. I believe that this is the beginning of a new era of prosperity for our state, and though it will take time, we are moving in the right direction.
