Senator Gene McLaurin
♦Many of you have mentioned you enjoy my occasional history lesson in my legislative report, so here’s one for this week. In the history of our great state of NC, have you ever known of a father and son who both served as NC Lieutenant Governor? This has only happened once and a prominent Anson County family has this distinction – the Taylors. Mr. Hoyt Pat Taylor, Sr. served as Lt. Governor from 1949-1953, following his years of service in the NC House and Senate from 1936-1945. His son, Mr. H. Pat Taylor, Jr. served in the House from 1955-1966, as Speaker of the House during the last two years, and then went on to be elected as Lieutenant Governor in 1969. Lt. Governor H. Pat Taylor, Jr., who still lives in Wadesboro with his lovely wife Lib, was honored last week when the state of NC named Highway 52 North the H. Patrick Taylor, Jr. Highway. I regret that my legislative duties in Raleigh kept me from attending the ceremony, but I want to acknowledge the outstanding service rendered our state by the Taylor family. Last year Lt. Governor Taylor gave me an autographed copy of his book, Fourth Down and Goal to Go. It is full of wisdom and brief stories about our great state of NC and his life experiences. I treasure the book and last week as Lt. Governor Taylor was being honored, I picked it up again and read several chapters. In his chapter on Change, one of my favorite quotes is as follows, “But today almost all our needs are met by pooling our resources to provide services throughout the county, the city, the state and, in some cases, throughout the nation. So we either stand together or we fall together. We can only meet our common needs by working together.” Congratulations to my friend, Pat Taylor and thanks for this good advice.
Last week, I had the opportunity to visit Bountiful Harvest Farm – owned by Gary and Kelly Sikes in Anson County. I really enjoyed the visit, especially since earlier that day I attended a breakfast in Raleigh with the Carolina Farm Stewardship Association – a 2,700 member organization that brings awareness to organically grown produce and poultry, while encouraging people to eat local. As I sit on the Agriculture, Environment, and Natural Resources Committee in the Senate, I hear about the struggles and concerns of farmers across our district and state. I am grateful for all they are doing to keep the wonderful tradition of family farms alive for the future.
I was pleased to accompany Richmond Community College officials and NC Community College President Scott Ralls on a tour of Plastek, a local manufacturer providing hundreds of jobs for local citizens. As a former community college student and trustee, I know from personal experience how valuable these 58 colleges are across our state. RCC has provided customized training for Plastek since they began operations in our district. This is a great example of the value added by our community colleges – who respond uniquely to industry demands. If we are to continue to rely on our community colleges to provide pre-employment training, educate, and prepare our workforce for today’s jobs, we must find a way to adequately fund student enrollment. I also had the opportunity recently to visit the beautiful campus of Stanly Community College and hear about the excellent work they are doing, the new programs they have started to help local industries and businesses, and their legislative and budgetary concerns. I will do everything I can to make sure our community colleges have what they need to carry out their mission.
It was great to be in Stanly County last week for their annual Chamber of Commerce legislative breakfast. Almost 200 local business and community leaders attended the breakfast and asked great questions about state and federal issues. Following this meeting, I had a chance to meet with Sheriff Rick Burris and then visit the Stanly County 911 Center in the courthouse. Our 911 centers across the district provide a valuable service dispatching emergency calls to the appropriate first responders.
This week I ventured out to the NC Fairgrounds for the “Got to Be NC Agriculture” dinner which showcased our state’s best food crops, wines, and more. Commissioner Troxler spoke to the crowd about the importance of marketing NC produce here and around the world. I also met some wonderful people from the district, including Amie Baudoin from Gold Hill, NC – who owns Morgan Ridge Vineyards in Rowan County. North Carolina has over 100 wineries across our state – they play a vital role in our Agri-Tourism Industry.
Auto Insurance Reform:
I serve on the NC Senate Insurance committee. This week we approved two changes to auto insurance laws. Senate Bill 180 allows insurance companies to offer specialty packages which should benefit our consumers. Senate Bill 181 prevents insurance companies from penalizing older, experienced drivers. Both bills had the support of Insurance Commissioner Wayne Goodwin and are now headed to the House for their consideration.
Public Notices on Internet:
Several bills have been filed in the House and Senate to allow local governments to place public notices on the internet instead of in newspapers. I serve on the SenateState and Local Government committee where we heard one bill this week. While I am in favor of helping local governments reduce their expenses, I am concerned about transparency, open government, and citizens having access to how public business is conducted. Many citizens do not use the internet and local newspapers still are the best source for local news.
As always, please feel free to email me at Gene.mclaurin@ncleg.net or send a letter to 1118 Legislative Building, Raleigh, NC 27601. Of course, you can also reach me or my Legislative Assistant, Katie Stanley in my Raleigh office at 919-733-5953. If you would like to stay engaged, please visit the NC General Assembly’s website at www.ncleg.net .
