N.C. Senator Ellie Kinnaird's Newsletter

March 16, 2008 Newsletter

Dear Friends,

Ellie Kinnaird

The legislature is in the interim period between sessions of the 2007-08 term. While we are not in regular session, business is being conducted in the form of Study Commissions. There are two types of study commissions, a Joint Select Legislative Committee, comprised of only legislators and the other type consisting of a mix of legislators and citizens. There are thirty five total Committees and Commissions, studying everything from autism to transportation issues and many others in the alphabet between, including Global Warming. I am serving on two: the Joint Select Committee on Governmental Immunity and an End of Life Directives Commission. We may also convene a Commission to study Subsidized housing for the disabled and elderly.

In addition there are standing commissions with both House and Senate members. .I am Chair of Children and Youth where we will study corporal punishment in the public school and raising the age of juvenile offenders from 16 to 18. Others that I serve on are the Environmental Review Commission of which I am vice-chair. From this commission come many of the major environmental bills. We also hear reports from agencies and areas the DEHNR staff is following. Examples are the Leaking Underground Storage Tank (LUST - we like that acronym), tire and oil disposal, fishing grounds, wetlands, rivers and streams, recycling programs and drought measures.

I am also a member of the Energy Policy Commission. This body proposes and carries out the energy policy of the state. It was originally funded by the Exxon Valdese oil-spill settlement, but that money has expired and we are now funded by the legislature.

I am the co-chair of the Joint Legislative Corrections, Crime Control and Juvenile Justice Oversight Committee. We review reports from every agency in that area from state troopers to the courts and Corrections and all non-profits that get funds from the state for delivery of services.

The short session starts in early May. Theoretically we meet only to tweak the budget we passed in the 2007 long session, depending on revenues. We can also take up any bills that passed one chamber or has money in it or are recommended by a study commission. So far, revenues are coming in at $180 million more than what we appropriated last year. That is because we write our budgets conservatively, with a cushion in case of a downturn in the economy or a natural disaster. With a possible softening in the economy, and the mortgage crisis, that cushion may disappear. But since we were conservative in our expenditures, we hope not to have to cut vital programs.

The interesting feature of the short session is that it follows the election primary. So some members may be defeated and not returning in 2009. It is also a time that those who survived are campaigning for the general election, which means the members want to get our business done as quickly as possible and go home to campaign. It also means that no controversial bills will be heard. Those bills will die and have to be brought up again in 2009. It some times takes years for such bills to get passed. It took Rep. Martha Alexander 19 years to get her mental health parity bill through. Unfortunately, when the bill came to the Senate, BCBS were able to remove substance abuse addiction and children’s mental health from the coverage. (This is the same company that pays its executives high salaries and perks while raising premiums regularly.) Another bill that took eleven years to pass was my spay/neuter bill that will save the destruction of thousands of animals when it goes into effect. On the other hand, I was able to get my trafficking of humans bill passed last year when my colleagues realized the tragic nature and scope in North Carolina of this criminal enterprise.

But it and many other progressive bills passed last session, including the N.C. Green Business Fund which supplies funding to help small businesses develop alternative energy technologies and bring environmentally friendly products and services to market.

I want to leave this letter on a high note and say it was the best session of my twelve years in the Senate and I was proud of all we accomplished.

Paid for by Ellie Kinnaird for Senate • PO Box 668, Carrboro, NC 27510 • 919-929-1607 •