N.C. Senator Ellie Kinnaird's Newsletter

June 28, 2010 Newsletter

Dear Friends,

Ellie Kinnaird

Greetings from the North Carolina Senate,

This was a difficult and frustrating week. First, on the good side, the Senate voted to ban Sweepstake Internet Cafes in spite of being inundated by hundreds of emails to vote against the bill. Turns out that the Internet Café owners paid their customers $10.00 per email to urge legislators to vote against the bill. Internet Sweepstakes is an on-line version of casino gambling played on computers in store-front parlors located in poor neighborhoods. Hundreds of the parlors have sprung up in the last few months. The game is highly addicting and a scourge on our poorest communities. (Of course, the state thinks the lottery is all right but I voted against the lottery and still think it is bad public policy.) The House has yet to take up the bill, some members believing Internet Sweepstake Cafes should be allowed and taxed.

On the other hand, the Senate responded to robo calls from the Americans for Prosperity, a tea-party type movement paid for by big business to kill public financing for the Treasurer, the Attorney General, Agriculture Commissioner, and Labor Commissioner. Most people don’t know these offices are even on the ballot, consequently the candidates can’t raise much money from ordinary people, instead receiving most of their campaign funds from those they regulate. It certainly is not seemly that the Treasurer gets huge contributions from investment and money management companies and the Labor Commissioner from big corporations. We had hoped that the weekly scandals playing out in the newspapers would convince the legislature that good government is more important than special interests, but it didn’t play that way last week.

It was just as bad in Washington where Congress exempted the NRA (why do they have so much control over elected officials?) from disclosure in ads for candidates. The bill was to counteract the terrible Supreme Court decision allowing corporations to fund unlimited ads against candidates. It certainly is frustrating to get good government when special interests wield more power than the people.

We hope, however, to have an effective ethics bill that would prohibit a legislator from becoming a lobbyist for a year after leaving office. It would also prohibit the staff from going to work for those they regulated for a year. Other financial disclosures would be required for those serving on boards and commissions.

North Carolina’s foreclosure rate is up and we are continuing our efforts to help homeowners keep their homes with a bill that would strengthen a program to reduce foreclosures for as many 80,000 homeowners. The proposal would allow the state Commissioner of Banks to work with lenders and homeowners to find solutions that would keep people in their homes and delay foreclosure for up to 30 days. In the Senate budget, the Home Protection program helps laid-off workers from losing their homes and maintains $10 million in funds for the Housing Trust Fund, which provides housing and housing assistance for those most in need, such as homeless persons, individuals with physical and/or developmental disabilities, survivors of domestic violence, and the elderly.

A bill was signed into law this week by the Governor that requires health plans to cover hearing aids for young people through the age 21. This small, but significant step, will help improve the quality of life for hearing-impaired young people and allow them to attend classes with their peers.

Other bills of interest would reinstate the cigarette stamp tax. It was removed in 2003 and has caused millions in bootlegged cigarettes to be sent and sold illegally in other states where the tax is much higher. Of course, our tax is ridiculously low, but trying to raise it last year was a real struggle and this bill also faces an uphill battle. Another tobacco bill has to do with a new product (there never seems to be an end to the creativity of the tobacco industry) called "little cigars" that are really cigarettes but avoid the higher tax on cigarettes by being labeled as cigars.

Please let me know your thoughts on these issues, or on any other issue you feel is important to our community and our state. I look forward to hearing from you, and I appreciate the opportunity to continue serving as your state senator.

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