The North Carolina state legislature recently finished its regular session, making progress in pro-jobs, pro-education, and good-government legislation. They closed a large budget deficit without extending a temporary sales tax or making dramatic education cuts. Reforms were passed to worker's compensation, charter schools, special needs education, voter ID requirements, and annexation laws. Representative Ruth Samuelson provided the update and welcomed her newly married son and daughter-in-law home.

1.
Capitol
Commentary
419B Legislative Office Building
Raleigh, NC 27603-5925
(919) 715-3009 ruths@ncleg.net
June 21, 2011 Legislative Update Raleigh, NC
The state legislature finished up its regular legislative session this past Saturday, and while we're
already gearing up for a special session on redistricting next month, this short break gives us
some time to reflect on the accomplishments of the past five months. Our work is far from
finished, but we've made good progress in three important categories: pro-jobs, pro-education
and good-government legislation.
Pro-Jobs
The new Republican legislative majority inherited a $2.5 billion budget deficit when we
kicked off the session in January. Not only did we close the gap, we passed a bi-partisan
budget without the political turmoil seen in so many other states providing the stability
and predictability our economy so badly needs. That's leadership.
Not only did we keep our promise not to extend the "temporary" sales tax increase (a large
tax burden on the poorest among us), we cut taxes by creating an exemption for the first
$50,000 of business income. That's a substantial boost for many start-ups and small
businesses struggling in this economy.
By an overwhelming margin, we passed legislation to reform our worker's
compensation system. Now it is significantly less burdensome on employers and benefits
are more in line with those in surrounding states.
Pro-Education
The budget avoids the "draconian" education cuts that detractors warned of, reducing
K-12 spending by only ½% more than the governor did in her "protect education" budget.
Several of the state's larger districts have reported in the last week that there will be no
major teacher layoffs this year. As a result of this budget legislation, school districts will
also get more flexibility in how they spend state funding so they can better address the
unique needs of their student population.
We raised the 100-school cap on public charter schools!
Parents of special needs children will get a much-needed tax credit for costs incurred
for private school, tutoring and therapy. This legislation also includes additional funding
for educating special needs children who remain in public schools.
Good Government

2. We passed widely popular legislation that requires voters to show a photo ID before
casting a ballot. A person must show a photo ID when applying for many forms of public
assistance; I don't think it's too much to ask for one before a person votes.
We adopted 4 year term limits for the speaker of the House and the president pro-tem of
the Senate. This still must come before the voters as a constitutional amendment, probably
on the November 2012 ballot.
We reformed our state's antiquated annexation laws, giving residents a real say in
whether their community becomes part of a city.
I think we've made an excellent start! Even during this brief legislative hiatus, please feel free to
contact me with your comments or questions at my legislative office at (919) 715-3009 or by
email at ruths@ncleg.net or samuelsonla@ncleg.net.
For those of you who have asked, my son and his bride had a beautiful wedding on June 11! We
welcomed the happy couple, Bobby and McKinsey Samuelson, home on Sunday.
Best wishes,
Ruth Samuelson, Majority Whip
NC House of Representatives, District 104
Mecklenburg County
http://www.ruthsamuelson.com