Budget
Budget negotiations between the House and Senate continued this week. There is not much to report right now in terms of the negotiations, but I will continue to keep you updated as they negotiations proceed.

Job Training
Employment and turning the economy around has been one of the main focuses of this session. The North Carolina Employment Security Commission released the latest state unemployment figures for May today. The numbers show a half-percent reduction in unemployment from April. This continues a three month trend of reduced unemployment since the year’s high in February of 11.2%. May’s 10.3% unemployment rate is also down more than a half-percent from May 2009 (10.9%). I am hopefully that the economy will continue to turn around and we’ll see unemployment rates drop into the single digits in the near future.
The Senate passed several measures that were recommended by the Joining Our Businesses and Schools (JOBS) Commission, which the legislature established last year. The JOBS Commission is charged with making recommendations to the State Board of Education and the General Assembly about how the state’s early college high schools can align themselves more closely with the economic development needs of their regions. The Commission has also focused on enhancing Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) education in the public school system.
One piece of legislation, Senate Bill 1201, allows flexibility to the state’s cooperative innovative and high school programs with technical education that might include a five-year school-within-a-school or a technical high school on a college campus. This will expose students who might be at risk of dropping out of school to skilled workforce training that encourages them to graduate.
Senate Bill 1198 directs the Governor’s Education Cabinet to take steps in the state’s education system to increase the number of students earning degrees in math, science, technology, and engineering. Both bills will now be considered by the House.
Measures like these are some of the many reasons why North Carolina is consistently ranked as a State with one of the best business climates

• 1st 2009 Best Business Climate (Site Selection Magazine)
• 1st 2010 Lowest State & Local Tax Burden on Business (Council on State Taxation and Ernst & Young)
• 2nd 2009 Best States for Business (CEO Magazine)
• 2nd Most Favorable Business Climate, 2008 (Development Counselors International)
• 3rd 2009 Pro-Business State (Polina Corporate Real Estate)
• 5th •The Best State for Business, 2009 (Forbes)
• 9th Americas Top State for Business, 2009 (CNBC)
• 12th 2009 Boardroom Guide to the Best states for Business(Directorship Magazine)

Video Poker
North Carolina, since 1791, has a long state history against games of chance and other forms of gambling. In 1937, the State of North Carolina specifically banned slot machines and in 2000 and 2006 outlawed video poker, with exception for federally recognized Indian tribes with an approved Class III Tribal-State Gaming Compact.
Despite the best efforts of the General Assembly and law enforcement in the State, so-called “sweepstakes cafes” have been showing up throughout North Carolina. These sweepstakes are nothing more than video poker operating under the guise of another name. This week, House Bill 80 passed the Senate Judiciary I Committee. This bill clarifies and restates the State’s long standing opposition to video poker. Nothing in this legislation will affect legitimate businesses. It merely corrects a legal loophole.
People are losing their life savings; sheriffs and police chiefs across the state have asked for us to tighten the law because of an increase in crime comes along with them. These sweepstakes machines are nothing more than casinos that operate outside the law. The full Senate is slated to vote on this ban next week.

Susie’s Law
For the past few weeks I have been sending you updates concerning Senate Bill 254, Susie’s Law, named after the puppy in Greensboro that was tortured, set on fire, and left to die in a park. Studies consistently show that those who harm animals are violent toward other people as well. In order to get this bill passed this session, I offered my bill, Senate Bill 254, to Senator Don Vaughn and Representative Pricey Harrison. I am pleased to report Senate Bill 254 passed the Senate unanimously and has been sent to Governor Perdue to sign into law.