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 August 8, 2008
Greetings from Raleigh!
I hope you were able to take advantage of this past weekend's sales tax
holiday and that this holiday provided some economic relief for those of
you preparing for the upcoming school year. Our state has made education
one of our top priorities for this past session, and during the short
session we were able to increase our education funding by over $150
million. This increase in funding will allow us to make the proper
investments for our children by reducing class sizes, attracting and
retaining the very best educators, and reducing our dropout rate.
I wanted to update you on some important pieces of legislation that the
governor recently signed into law. For those of you in Stanly County and
the surrounding areas, one of our most pressing issues has been the FERC
relicensing to Alcoa concerning the Yadkin Hydroelectric Project. I
appreciate everyone who has expressed their interest in this issue. The
Environmental Review Commission will consider and develop proposals
regarding (1) the socioeconomic impacts of Alcoa's decision to
discontinue its job-producing manufacturing activities in Badin, (2) the
assurance of an adequate, clean future water supply for the region, and
(3) the allocation of water for non-power uses from the Yadkin
Hydroelectric Project. The Commission is called to submit their report
to the 2009 General Assembly by February 1, 2009. I am hopeful that
their recommendations will help us reach a resolution on this issue.
Another environmental issue for our region has been the cleanup of
abandoned manufactured homes. The governor signed into law a statute
that will provide units of local government the authority, funding, and
guidance needed to provide for the efficient and proper identification,
deconstruction, recycling, and disposal of abandoned manufactured homes
in our state. This funding will come from the Solid Waste Management
Trust Fund, and will help protect our public health and our environment.
Another protection the General Assembly adopted this session and the
governor recently signed into law was to clarify our game promotion
laws. Game promotions are unlawful if they are a server-based electronic
game promotion, which means a system that has a database with a pool of
entries where each entry is associated with a prize value. Prior to this
clarification of our gaming laws, some people were able to purchase a
prepaid card, which then gives them one or more entries into the
database, and then the prize would be revealed at either the place of
purchase, or at the game terminal (similar to the display on a slot
machine). I think it is important to make sure illegal gaming is not
allowed in our state, and I'm glad that we were able to issue this
clarification.
I will continue to send updates from the 2007-08 session and to keep in
touch with you about my work during the interim. Please continue to
contact me about issues of importance to you as we prepare for the 2009
session this coming January. Have a great weekend, and as always, thank
you for the opportunity to serve you in the North Carolina Senate.
William R. Purcell, M.D.
Senator Bill Purcell
Legislative Office Building
Room 2117
Raleigh NC 27601-2808
Phone: 919-715-0690
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