Up and Coming Weekly is a weekly publication in Fayetteville, NC and Fort Bragg, NC area offering local news, views, arts, entertainment and community event and business information.
Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/742437
OCTOBER 26 - NOVEMBER 1, 2016 UCW 23 WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM being left without a safety net. Medicaid Expansion is crucial for our state on several fronts. Most importantly, it is a path to health care for close to 500,000 North Carolinians. To block Medicaid expansion is to put their lives at risk and further strain our healthcare system. Expansion of Medicaid is not merely good health policy; expansion would create thousands of jobs in the state — including many in our district — and save rural hospitals from closing their doors. The Republican leadership stated its refusal to expand Medicaid was due to an unwillingness to "expand a broken system." It is not broken. Now is the time to take the federal dollars to extend health care access to our working friends and neighbors who lack quality options for medical care. With lack of adequate health care coverage, thousands of North Carolinians will continue to seek care in emergency rooms. It hurts people and it hurts business in North Carolina. Middle Income Tax Relief: Since I have been in the Senate, the General Assembly has given huge tax breaks to the wealthy, while working families foot the bill. If anyone deserves a break, it's working and middle class families. Thus our tax poli- cies should be shaped with these groups in mind. We should reinstate the childcare tax credit for working families, with the poten- tial to increase the credit amount as revenues grow over time. We should index the standard deduction on our state income tax return to protect the value of the deduction from the ravages of inflation. We should also expand the Bailey Act to exempt all military retirement income for all military retirees from state income tax. Raise the Minimum Wage: I believe that everyone should have the opportunity to earn a living wage. Unfortunately, for many of our citizens who are earning mini- mum wage, that is not a reality. Thus, I support raising the minimum wage to a true living wage that supports our state's labor force and families by providing them an income that is sufficient for basic family needs. Some will say that increasing the minimum wage will result in fewer jobs. Well, when I graduated from high school in 1977, the minimum wage was $2.30 per hour. It is now $7.25 per hour and there are far more jobs now than back then. However, just as a minimum wage of $2.30 would not be sufficient today, neither is $7.25. Thus, we need to increase the minimum wage. As we continue to grow our economy there will be more jobs going forward. Economic Development with the state is of key importance. What ideas can you bring to the table at the legislature to grow business in our state, and in the pro- cess benefit the district? We need to foster a diverse and inclusive economy that prepares our citizens for a rapidly changing workforce and to be the innovators and leaders of today and tomorrow. This effort starts with a robust and diverse education system that provides stu- dents the opportunity to reach their full potential – whether that is through early college programs, certified career pathway opportunities or a four year college degree through our university system. Our actions should be focused on creating quality jobs and small business success for our state. When it comes to job creation we must consider not only Economic Development but Workforce Development. In terms of economic development: I support an aggressive mix of local and state incentives such as JDIG and the OneNC fund that create an economic environment for industry to flourish and also hold employers accountable to hire our workers. Additionally we must support small business startup and growth. The best way to support our small businesses is by helping them obtain access to capital. Many small businesses owners find it difficult to obtain financing. I was a staunch supporter for providing state funds to the "Carolina Small Business De- velopment Fund" formerly called "The Support Center." I was proud to attend the ceremony for the grand opening of its satellite office in Fayetteville last month. The "Carolina Small Business Development Fund" is a public private partnership that also receives funding from corporate sponsors to foster economic development in underserved communities by providing capital, business services and policy research to support small businesses. Furthermore, they also have programs that are specifically tailored to help military veterans and their spouses start their own businesses. In terms of workforce development: To attract industry we must have the trained workers to do the jobs that they require. That's why I have been a strong advocate and supporter of NCWorks Certified Career Pathways. Cumberland County was the second region in the state to have a career pathway certified through the NC- Works Commission. Folks can go over to FTCC, complete courses and training in a high wage, high demand field and get a good job at a living wage. That's how you bring jobs. Make the county attractive and provide the workforce. District 44 James William Arp Jr. UCW: What is your stance on HB2? I believe we can all agree that HB2 needs to be addressed. I learned serving on the Fayetteville City Council that municipalities have limited authorities based on NC being a Dillon's rule state and that they cannot operate outside of the North Carolina General Assembly. If Char- lotte will repeal its ordinance, I will advocate strongly for the amending of HB2 to protect all the needs of our citizens. I remain concerned that we have to address spe- cific needs of all and we must avoid the potential impact of unintended consequences in schools and school locker rooms where children are already very self-conscious and uneasy about dressing and undressing in front of others. UCW: How the can the legislature work to improve the schools? Education is a top priority and a very personal issue for me. I attended Cumberland County Schools, and so did both of my sons. My sister, sister-in-law and nephew are currently teaching or taught in our public schools. Their selfless commitment to ensuring all children receive a high quality education is inspiring. As your legislator you can count on me to fight in Raleigh for further teacher pay raises. I know we can do better. I will work to increase state funding for education across the board. Our children deserve the best in education, and we must fight to make that a reality. Students deserve the best technology and teaching materials available. I will push to fund these vital tools for our classrooms that will enhance learning and prepare our children to enter the workforce. I believe our children learn best when teachers can focus on smaller groups, and address the individual needs of their students. That's why I will support smaller class sizes for our children. Teacher assistants are vital to a successful classroom. I will advocate vigorously continuing 100 per- cent funding of these positions. I will fight to make sure that we are making good business decisions with education funding to maximize every dollar and eliminate wasteful spending. As a parent, improving our local public schools is my #1 prior- ity. UCW: What, in your opinion, are the top three issues facing North Carolina? And what is your plan to deal with them? Improving Education: We must increase teacher pay so North Carolina can at- tract and retain top teachers. Recent teacher pay increases are a good start, but I believe we can do better. I will support experience-based step increases for teachers, assistant principals, and principals, in addition to teacher pay increases. I will work to increase state funding for education across the board, to include the best technology and teaching materials for our students. We must keep North Carolina's prestigious public universities affordable for North Carolina students. Freezing tuition was a good first step, but more remains to be done. I will advocate vigorously to continue 100% funding of teacher assistant positions. I support the new Cheatham-White Merit Scholarship Program for students at North Carolina Central University and North Carolina A&T. I will support increased funding for special education scholarships. Strengthening The Economy: North Carolina is making progress, we are on the right trajectory thanks to our new tax policies and we are a more business friendly state today than we have been in a long time. But there is more to do. I will use my experience in the defense and services industries, specifically with small businesses to fight for economic development, job creation, fiscal restraint, and tax relief — all with our community in mind. I will be a consistent vote for less taxes and regulations on North Carolina small businesses. I will fight to ensure the state's budget and spending is in line with available revenue by identifying the proper and necessary functions of state government and then prioritizes funding for them. My goal is leave more money in the hands of the taxpayers so you can create economic development, so you can create good paying jobs for our fam- ily and neighbors. Former President Ronald Reagan stated, "Our policies have concentrated on rationing scarcity rather than creating plenty." We need to create opportunities for all North Carolinians through pro-growth policies that set the environment for a great business climate, that fosters economic growth, and cre- ate more jobs. I will work tirelessly to develop policies that allow small businesses and entrepreneurs to thrive. Supporting Our Military And Veterans: I will work to make North Carolina the most military-friendly and veteran-friendly state in the nation. We are a stronger state and city thanks to these patriots and heroes who live among us. We need to further embrace this relationship and the economic benefits that Fort Bragg, Seymour Johnson, and Camp Lejeune bring to the state. I will work to ensure that the infrastructure is in place to support all of our installations and military families, and to help our veteran's transition to civilian life and stay in North Caro- lina. Much of the technology we enjoy today has come from military research and