Rep. Carl Ford (District 76)
♦ It’s been a slow week in Raleigh. Either leadership and our members are exhausted, or they’re reluctant to hear bills before our budget hits. Regardless, the House only had two voting sessions this week, on Wednesday and Thursday, and heard only a handful of bills. Wednesday night we passed the mammoth Regulatory Reform Act of 2015, which I explain below.
On Tuesday I, alongside some other pro-life legislators and Lt. Governor Dan Forrest, was blessed with the chance to speak to participants in NC Right to Life’s lobby day. We gathered in the legislative building’s auditorium to discuss pro-life legislative efforts and heard from 12 pro-life community organizations from across the state. After voting in support of HB 465 two weeks ago, a common-sense pro-life bill, it was a gift to see how our work in Raleigh benefits families and women in districts throughout the state.
Finally, many of you have likely heard about Judge Beaty’s ruling that the Rowan County Commission is violating the constitution by praying before its meetings. It’s unfortunate that the ACLU and activist judges have taken it upon themselves to bully honest Americans who exercise their religious rights, especially after the US Supreme Court ruled that prayer before legislative sessions was not a violation of the Constitution’s Establishment Clause in last year’s Greece vs. Galloway. I continue to stand next to my fellow current and former county commissioners as we defend a most fundamental American freedom, the right for all Americans to freely exercise their religion. Please join me in prayer for Justice Beaty, and all the parties invovled. We will likely hear more about this tragic lawsuit in coming months.
Bill Updates
“Regulatory Reform Act of 2015” – House Bill 760
Regulations, when they work properly, keep our drinking water clean, our air breathable, and our homes safe. Too often, however, regulations become burdensome, ineffective, and costly. As some of our members pointed out, when regulations increase the prices of goods and services or decrease wages, they transform into a kind of invisible tax. We passed HB 760, which modifies certain regulatory barriers that prevented both the public and private sectors from operating clearly and efficiently.
HB 760 strikes a balance between maintaining private property rights and the State’s responsibility to protect the environment through reforms to wetland, stormwater, and riparian buffer regulations. The bill also helps reduce the trajectory of rising energy rates and ensures that current and future ratepayers are protected from the harmful regulatory policies of the past. Finally, and importantly, the bill brings some common sense reforms to our state’s Occupational Licensing Boards, which have a history of abusing their power to eliminate competition. HB 760 protects hardworking contractors by ensuring that the Board’s investigators aren’t fellow contractors who clearly gain from shutting down and limiting their competition.
Thank you for taking the time to read about the work I was able to accomplish this week for Cabarrus and Rowan. Expect to hear big news as the 152nd resumes its legislative session and budget process.
Please share this newsletter with your friends and family in the district. And please remember to tune into the Houses’ Weekly Republican Address on YouTube and Town Hall Thursdays on Twitter. If you have any questions or concerns, please don’t hesitate to contact me.
God Bless,
Carl
Legislative Office: (919) 733-5881
District Office: (704) 305-3541
carl.ford@ncleg.net
