#NCGA: A short session surprise?

The Daily Haymaker, by Brant Clifton • February 12, 2014 

A piece of legislation that has raised the ire of Civitas and other Tea Party-aligned groups,  and has been voted down twice in the state House, has been resurrected and sent to the House Rules Committee.  According to a rather surprising source — who has a vote in the House GOP caucus — it’s eligible to be voted on in the General Assembly’s short session.  

The legislation I am taking about is H440 — The North Carolina Benefit Corporation Act.  It’s come up in the legislature in 2011 and in 2013.  Tea Party groups have attacked this legislation as an instrument of the United Nations’ Agenda 21.  Civitas went after it as being antithetical to capitalism. 

Benefit corporations are  not currently recognized by the state of North Carolina. But this legislation is seeking to change that.

What’s the big deal about Benefit Corporations, also known as B-corps?  A really smart guy with a fancy-pants Raleigh law firm dishes the dirt for us: 

READ IT HERE.

NC--Crossover Bills Still in Play

Civitas Institue By Angela Hight, January 9, 2014

On Wednesday, May 14, the North Carolina General Assembly will reconvene at noon for what is called the “short session.” One thing that people may not realize about the short session is there are crossover bills that will be eligible to be considered.

According to the General Assembly Website crossover bills are:

a. Senate bills and resolutions introduced in 2013 that passed third reading in the Senate and were received by the House in 2013, or

b. House bills and resolutions introduced in 2013 that passed third reading in the House by May 16, 2013 and were received in the Senate by May 20, 2013

c. However, any bill otherwise meeting these deadlines is not eligible for consideration if it:

i. Violates the rules of the receiving chamber; and

ii. Is disposed of in the other house by tabling, unfavorable committee report, indefinite postponement, or failure to pass any reading

READ MORE HERE.  

NC Lawmakers give leaders legal standing

 In the last hours of session Friday morning, state lawmakers voted to give legislative leaders equal standing with the Attorney General to intervene in constitutional challenges to state laws.

The provision, hastily attached to a health care transparency bill in House Rules committee late Thursday night, says:

"The Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President Pro Tempore of the Senate, as agents of the State, shall jointly have standing to intervene on behalf of the General Assembly as a party in any judicial proceeding challenging a North Carolina statute or provision of the North Carolina Constitution."  

"These two gentlemen, if they act together, are agents of the state," said Rep. Skip Stam, R-Wake. "So if the state has a right to intervene, they would have the right to intervene." 

CONTINUED:  http://www.wral.com/lawmakers-give-leaders-legal-standing-/12705623/

Public School Reforms Include Higher Spending on K-12

Carolina Journal Online

Ending teacher tenure, expanding charters, increasing accountability among changes

By Dan Way

Jul. 29th, 2013

RALEIGH — Although authorized spending on K-12 public education in the newly enacted state budget will increase by nearly 5 percent over the previous school year, opponents of education reform have orchestrated rallies, flooded the media, and vilified the Republican-dominated General Assembly for its sweeping agenda.

Lawmakers adopted a 2013-14 budget conference report authorizing $7.9 billion in General Fund spending on K-12 education, which is up 4.8 percent over the $7.5 billion budget enacted for the 2012-13 fiscal year. 

"Since 2010, Republican legislators have made it clear that their policy agenda included a handful of core education reforms eventually incorporated into the budget,” said Terry Stoops, director of research and education studies at the John Locke Foundation. 

“These include the expansion of parental choice, elimination of teacher tenure and certain pay supplements, implementation of a school grading system, and development of a performance pay system for school personnel,” Stoops said. “Simply put, this budget is the culmination of an education reform agenda that had been laid out for the last three years."

Acknowledging there are naysayers who claim that the reforms are an attempt to destroy public education, Stoops said: “The truth is that these reforms discard or dismantle policies approved decades ago at the behest of a handful of special interest groups. Legislators both modernized and diversified public education in North Carolina."

Now comes the hard part, he said. 

“Status-quo teachers and administrators, along with the advocacy groups that support them, will do everything in their power to undermine these new policies during their implementation. As such, Republican legislators must remain vigilant,” Stoops said. “Otherwise, these worthwhile reforms will flounder through no fault of their own."

Overall General Fund allocations to education increase the share of spending on education from 55 percent of the General Fund budget last year to 56 percent this year.

Preliminary estimates from the General Assembly’s Fiscal Research Division suggest education spending for the fiscal year that just ended will be about $7.7 billion — roughly $200 million more than budgeted — due to teacher retirement and health plans costs, among other expenses. That additional $200 million was taken from state reserves authorized for FY 2012-13. Such expenses have historically been excluded in budget authorizations for K-12 education at the beginning of a fiscal year because it is impossible to make an accurate projection of how much will be required for those purposes. Additional money is spent as needed. For that reason, it also is likely that actual K-12 spending during the 2013-14 fiscal year will be higher than the $7.9 billion budgeted, which is why fiscal analysts have traditionally measured annual changes in spending as authorized-to-authorized — or, after the fact, as actual-to-actual.

State Superintendent of Public Instruction June Atkinson, teachers, and public school advocates disparaged the budget.

Teachers group to mount legal challenge to NC budget proposal

RALEIGH, N.C. — A little more than 12 hours after House and Senate negotiators announced a budget deal, the North Carolina Association of Educators announced plans Monday to try to block key provisions in the $20.6 billion spending plan.

"You are placing a sign on each school's door that says, 'Quality educators need not apply,'" association President Rodney Ellis wrote in a two-page letter sent to lawmakers criticizing the budget.

Superintendent of Public Instruction June Atkinson, teachers and public school advocates also expressed disappointment in the budget compromise, which is expected to be approved by lawmakers on Wednesday and head to Gov. Pat McCrory.

"For the first time in my career of more than 30 years in public education, I am truly worried about students in our care," Atkinson said in a statement. "North Carolina has moved away from its commitment to quality public schools. I am disappointed for the children in our state who will have fewer educators and resources in their schools as a result of the General Assembly’s budget."

Unlike earlier proposals, the budget provides no raises for teachers. But the NCAE is most upset with the $20 million set aside over the next two years for "opportunity scholarships" to allow low-income public school students move to private schools and the elimination of "career status," or tenure rights, for veteran teachers.

Instead of tenure, school districts could place all teachers on one-, two- or four-year contracts, depending on their length of service and performance.

"Hopefully, we get the very best teachers in front of our classroom, which is what we're trying to do," said Sen. Neal Hunt, R-Wake, one of the Senate's top budget writers.

CONTINUED:  http://www.wral.com/teachers-group-to-mount-legal-challenge-to-budget-proposal/12688596/

‘Moral Mondays’ Getting Murkier

CIVITAS INSTITUTE

June 12, 2013

Let’s say you’re an ordinary citizen and you trespass on someone’s property. You come back the next day anyway. You get arrested again, and this time you’re charged with contempt. Wait – what’s that? You’re the Rev. William Barber? Never mind. Please, come inside.


The legal situation surrounding weekly protests at the Legislative Building in Raleigh is growing murkier. If you’ve been following the coverage of “Moral Mondays,” you may have heard the term “civil disobedience” being tossed around. It’s an evocative word: it hearkens to mind the courage of Henry David Thoreau, who willingly consigned himself to prison rather than support a war of aggression in Mexico. It summons images of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., braving the fire hoses and police dogs in Alabama. You might think that the protesters arrested these past weeks at “Moral Mondays” have been braving some of the same hardships.

Nope.

Protesters who are arrested do not spend any time in incarceration. Most of them are cuffed with plastic flexi-cuffs instead of metal handcuffs. They get supportive hugs from General Assembly police officers. The NAACP provides free lawyers to anyone arrested, and the protesters are home by midnight. Oh, and they get souvenirs, too.

Apparently some people in the criminal justice system think that this is still too onerous a process. Colin Willoughby, the Wake County District Attorney, told Civitas that he suggested to police that it “might be appropriate to issue citations” to demonstrators instead of arresting them. In other words, protesters could get a ticket and a fine instead of being charged with a misdemeanor. And Sam Higdon, the assistant director of the Wake County detention center, told us that it was recently “agreed that the CCBI [City-County Bureau of Identification] would not process them.” This, despite the fact that the CCBI has processed all of the demonstrators previously arrested. According to General Assembly Police Chief Jeff Weaver: “The CCBI director, Sam Pennica, stated his budget would not allow him to have additional personnel on site for any more of these arrests.”

Now that the CCBI is out of the loop, arrest reports are no longer readily accessible to the public through the online Wake County Police to Citizen (P2C) portal. Farewell, transparency.

But hey, at least we can take comfort in the fact that the police and District Attorney’s Office are enforcing the law. Or are they?
CONTINUED:  http://www.nccivitas.org/2013/moral-mondays-getting-murkier/

Reverend Bill - "The Raleigh Commanchero"

June 6, 2013

Come on.... are you really surprised to learn that Reverend Billy’s Traveling Mob is now importing full-time agitators and union thugs? News that the SEIU union thugs are now part of the Monday Jones Street gaggle of Barber-ians and Carrboro old hippies was the plan all along..... and NOT REPORTED by McClatchy weasels or Jim Goodmon’s creepy crawlies. ......


That Barber’s local media stooges are reporting exactly what was agreed to is no surprise..... and no amount of indignation from the public will change that. McClatchy (The N&O) and Goodmon’s bunch (WRAL-TV5) are as committed to civil disruption and public hate-mongering as Barber is.

Baghdad Bob reporting Saddam Hussein’s victory over the Great Satan was amateurish compared to the journo-weasels covering these weekly hate-fests.

One aspect you may have missed is what I call “getting the Injuns likkered up on firewater”. Recall those John Ford / John Wayne westerns in the 60s. They were always set in Monument Valley in Southern Utah.   These movies all built up to the big battle when the “injuns” attacked the cavalry fort. The cavalry was better equipped and better trained (and had John Wayne on their side !!) so these attacks were basically suicide Kamikaze missions. No Indian in his right mind would attempt such. So their minds were messed up before the attack.

“Commancheros” were half-breeds who supplied guns to the Indians..... guns AND firewater (rot-gut whiskey). The night before the big attack the Commancheros would get the Indians likkered up with high-octane “courage-in-a-bottle” and the occasional peyote leaves. Appropriately fueled, the redskins whopped and hollered and rode to their death.

The consequences are much much less severe for Bill Barber’s “tribe” in this current foolishness. But Rev Billy is using the same pre-game tactics.

He picks out a local church as a gathering place each Monday and takes to the pulpit to hoot & holler and rev-up his minions with whatever manner of hyperbolic exaggerated rhetorical hate-imagery that he can dredge up.

Last week he compared Voter ID to “crucifixion” of blacks and the poor and I suppose old Carrboro hippies too.

Compare his over-the-top inflammatory BullS*** to: .......... Hitler in Munich. OR.... Ayatollah Khomeini in a Teheran Mosque

A real piece o' work - Reverend Bill Barber..... "media darling". Say and do whatever you want to Bill and we (McClatchy and Goodmon) will run interference for you every step of the way.


If Bill Barber decides to firebomb the NC General Assembly..... Jim Goodmon will bring the marshmallows and Orage Quarles will bring the weiners. THAT is how much they despise everyone who does not agree with their political point-of-view. How much these three men despise 95% of the people reading this column. And over 50+ of the citizens of North Carolina.

But AgentPierce.... I saw a picture in The N&O / a newsclip on WRAL that showed a nice "normal-looking white lady/man/child" explaining how EEEEEvil all the Republicans are etc etc etc.

Yes, I'm sure you did. Barber is no fool. That "normal-looking white ...." was carefully selected for that sound bite. The media knew exactly who to go to and what he/she would say.

Barber is no fool..... Barber IS a two-bit carny hustler who, to his credit, knows what buttons to push on his brain-dead minions. Jim Jones.... Charles Manson.... David Koresh..... Castro all knew their audience. Every self-appointed tin horn demagogue uses the same tactics. Ramp up the rhetoric and watch the zombies march.

CONTINUED:  http://www.agentpiercesaid.com/Home/June-2013/Reverend-Bill----Raleigh-s-Commanchero-.aspx

CCTA WATCHDOG REPORT NC House Bill 983

CCTA NC Legislative Report, 7 May 2013

Dear CCTA Members and Friends,

Monday, twelve of us carpooled to Raleigh, and there were at least as many more who wanted to go, but could not due to medical appointments, jury duty, dental appointments, and work requirements. They were with us in spirit.

Rick Hopkins, Gladys and Ed Suessle, Lynn Childs, Lillian Creger, Ann Bowman, Ann Tipple, Terrie Winter, Don Murdoch, Kathryn Blankley, and Hal and I were the Raleigh crew.
When we arrived, we went straight to Representative Michael Speciale's office, and found a sign directing us to an auditorium in the building. We got there just in time to see and hear Michael and Hazel Speciale giving instructions and stickers (identifying us as being opposed to House Bill 983) to some 400+ people. Wow! And what a nice group. For the most part, they were commercial fishermen. We were acknowledged by Michael and Hazel with big smiles as we entered, and identified from the front of the room by Jerry Schill as being members of the Coastal Carolina Taxpayers Association. When it came time to form lines to sign in as attendees and to sign up to speak at the hearing, those of us with CCTA were approached by numerous fishermen who thanked us for being there to support them.

I enjoyed being appreciated, but got to thinking about it. There should have been all kinds of freedom loving people there from all over the state. Here is a group of self-supporting people who earn their living from North Carolina waters who are being told that fish that account for roughly 20% of their income will be put off-limits to them in favor of letting only sport fishermen go after these fish with rods and reels. The theory is that this change will beef up the sport fishing industry to a degree that will produce more income to North Carolina.

Can you believe it? This bill chooses to cut off the freedom of hard working citizens to earn a living as they are currently doing it (and in some cases have been doing it for generations) on the theory that the state will be more prosperous overall because of the change.

It sounded like the state's economic interest is more important than the economic interests of some of its citizens.

Didn't we institute government with the notion that its job is to protect our citizens and their God given rights? Apart from that, we delegated other jobs (such as fire protection) that we could do for ourselves, but were more practical and convenient to do collectively.

House Bill 983 gets at least two things horribly wrong.

It's an example of government attacking the rights of individual citizens while granting favors to other citizens. Some protection of rights that is. If that's the best government can do, I'd rather try going it alone.

None of us as individuals has the right to tell our neighbor how he or she can earn a living. Therefore, we could not have delegated that power to our state's government. Therefore, HB 983 is a very flawed, impertinent, arrogant proposal, and it deserves to be defeated.

When we got to the actual hearing, we heard two speakers who opposed the bill and two speakers who favored the bill each give prepared ten-minute statements.

Each of them was well spoken, and Jerry Schill who spoke "against" did a particularly good job.

Later, each person who had signed up got two minutes to speak his/her mind. The speakers were about 2 to 1 "against." (In terms of attendees, the odds looked better than that for folks who wanted to "kill the bill.")

Many of these talks were obviously heartfelt. We were hearing from folks whose livelihood is being threatened. Some were skilled speakers. Some were not, but some of them were among the most poignant.

From our CCTA group, Rick, Hal, and I spoke.

Rick began by welcoming our Representatives to The People's House, and thanked them for seeking to hear from us. I think he thought that some of the Representatives were being a little arrogant and too controlling, and chose this way to make a point, but you'll have to ask Rick to be sure.

Hal reminded people of the way North Carolina had once referred to itself as "First in Freedom," and explained that CCTA supports individual freedom - that we favor minimum government and maximum freedom, and that we want free enterprise to flourish, and because of all those things, we support the commercial fishermen, and want this bill to be defeated.

I mentioned some of the ideas expressed in this email, said that I expected that the Representatives among us were probably surprised at how much controversy the bill had ginned up, that I thought there was a better way, and asked them to protect our freedoms.

The hearing wrapped up just before 4 PM. We went to visit with Michael and Hazel, and Rick presented Michael with a certificate of appreciation for his service to CCTA as a Past Chairman.

I don't think any of us had seen him (because he was in a far corner), but Senator Norman Sanderson walked out on the floor and we had a short visit with him, too, and then went to his office to see Linda Sanderson who was her usual charming, generous self.

I believe Michael thinks the hearing went well and that the bill may very well die in committee. I surely hope so. Representative John Bell is a very nice person, and I've been convinced that he's conservative. I don't understand why he would sponsor a bill such as HB 983, but I appreciate his conducting the hearing, and hope he will change his mind about it.

Many thanks to all who participated!

Sincerely,
Raynor James, CCTA's NC Watchdog Sub-Committee Chair 

 

ACTION ALERT FROM NC FIRE!

Attention NC Citizens!

NC House Bill 786 -Reclaim NC Act (the bill that provides drivers' licenses (permits) and state ID cards to illegal aliens in NC), passed another hurdle on Wednesday, May 1st. It was approved by the NC House Judiciary Sub-Committee B and is now in the NC House Finance Committee.

This is the last step before it goes to the House floor for a vote!

We MUST make sure that several clauses and sections in this bill are fixed before it leaves this committee. If you don't stand up and say "FIX THIS BILL" now, you will be "sold down the river" by this Republican sponsored bill.

1) This bill does not help unemployed NC citizens get the jobs the illegal aliens currently have (and I'm not talking about stoop farm labor). In fact, it makes it easier for the illegal aliens to get to those jobs, by giving drivers' licenses (permits) to all illegal aliens in NC!

2) It exempts the employers from prosecution if they hire them, as long as the illegal alien has one of these state issued drivers' licenses (permits) or a state issued ID card.

3) It wipes out our current e-verify law. Currently, the employer does not have to check for legal status of his employees IF they are classified as a seasonal worker (90 days or less). This bill redefines a seasonal worker as anyone who works less than one year! That means, employers need not verify the immigration status of seasonal, intermittent, temporary, or day laborers. Not only is this provision patently unfair to employees who do not fit this description, but it creates an exception for the worst violators of federal law who employ scores of illegal aliens. Also, the bill creates a huge loophole and perverse incentive for employers to manipulate the terms of their employees’ employment so as to avoid complying with North Carolina’s E-Verify law.

In light of the recent bombings in Boston, it is unconscionable to be issuing licenses and ID's to illegal aliens, especially if you can't prove who they are. There is NO DATABASE in Mexico, to check the validity of the records that are required, to get one of these licenses or ID's. Our NCDMV employees will have to simply accept what they are handed as being truthful and continue with the process of creating a brand new identity for a possible terrorist who is intent on killing us!

PLEASE contact the Finance Committee members listed below with the following message:

Rep. Harry Warren is touting HB786 as a law enforcement assistance bill, NOT an illegal alien assistance bill! Let's ensure that it lives up to his vision.

• Remove Section 8(f) that redefines the term employee,
• Remove Section 8(g) that redefines a seasonal worker from 90 days to "less than one year",
• Remove Section 8(h) that exempts employers from prosecution if the employee has one of the state issued restricted licenses or ID's and
• Remove Section 9, (the license language) ENTIRELY!

Justin.Burr@ncleg.net

Julia.Howard@ncleg.net

Mike.Hager@ncleg.net

Linda.Johnson2@ncleg.net

Bert.Jones@ncleg.net

Mitchell.Setzer@ncleg.net

Edgar.Starnes@ncleg.net

This is extremely important to all of us in North Carolina! Please take 2 minutes to contact these Representatives.

James Johnson
President-NCFIRE
North Carolinians For Immigration Reform and Enforcement
www.NCFIRE.info
NCFIRE Hotline: 1-888-885-0879

CCTA Watchdog Report

North Carolina Legislative Report- May 1, 2013

Dear CCTA Members and Friends,

Last week, I spent a couple of hours reading, and underlining and highlighting House Bill 589 (Edition 4), the photo ID bill which passed the North Carolina house last Wednesday.

To say I found it distressing is to practice British understatement.

First of all, Part II, Section 4 provides for way too many forms of photo ID (I think I counted about 13), and they can be as much as 10 years out of date. It is easy to imagine illegal aliens and out-of-state college students having access to some of them. It's also easy to imagine poll workers having a hard time remembering all the possibilities.

Then, there are exceptions for voters who vote curbside and for "a registered voter who has a sincerely held religious objection to being photographed." (Older parts of the code are quoted for how to handle the exceptions, and quite frankly, I did not look them up.)

I had hoped and expected that we would get something simple and straightforward. We did not.

Then, I got to Part III, Section 22 that provides for effective dates of various parts of the bill, and that was a bummer. The beginning of implementation is July 1, 2013. Great. However, it mainly applies to voter and poll worker education, and not much else.

Part II, the main photo ID part, is effective January 1, 2016. Well, at least people can voluntarily use photo IDs when voting in 2014; however, this doesn't give me much sense of security of voter integrity.

I sent off an email to Senator Norman Sanderson, Representative Michael Speciale, and Representative John Bell objecting to the sorts of things I've just been mentioning. I got a reply from Michael that makes a lot of sense even though I don't like much of it. I gather Michael doesn't really like it either.

I'll paraphrase a little, but here is what Michael told me.

North Carolina, like six other states, is saddled with the requirement to get Justice Department pre-clearance before we can change ANYTHING to do with elections. (Personally, I now think of it as the Department of In-Justice.)

Michael says that things are incorporated into the bill that were in the bills of other states whose voter ID laws have held up to scrutiny by the Justice Department and the Supreme Court.

It appears that a majority of our North Carolina House members believe that if they limit acceptable voter IDs to just U.S. passports, U. S. military IDs, and IDs issued by the state of North Carolina, our new law would not pass muster. (Seems totally unreasonable to me, but a lot that goes on in our country today is totally unreasonable. Michael tried to get an amendment with that kind of limitation passed, and it failed.)

The 2016 effective date for much of the bill is also for the purpose of avoiding having it thrown out.

Michael pointed out that the Supreme Court is considering whether to end Title V (the thing that requires us to get pre-approval from the Justice Department before we can make any changes to NC election law). He expects the Court to announce the decision in June.

Election laws were used for inappropriate discrimination when I was young, but I haven't been young for quite some time, and that sort of inappropriate discrimination is just as far in the past as my youth. If the Supreme Court is about justice, Title V will go.

Michael ended by pointing out that several states have had their voter ID laws thrown out because they were too restrictive, and said we don't want to go there. I agree, but I surely hope we can get a little closer to the edge.

The bill has now gone to the NC Senate. Let's hope some of our truly conservative Senators can put their heads together, have some additional research done, clean the bill up a bit, and still have it pass muster.

Yes, I'm impatient. I'm ready to be not just "a little less bad," I'm ready for us to be "great!"

Sincerely,

Raynor James, Watchdog Sub-Committee Chair for NC Legislature

North Carolina: Critical Right-to-Carry Reform Bill Advances to House Floor

Contact your state Representative in support of House Bill 937!

Yesterday, the NC House Judiciary Subcommittee A passed House Bill 937 on a voice vote, after first making a number of improvements that made this pro-gun bill even stronger. This legislation seeks to make a number of important pro-gun reforms including, but not limited to:

• Allowing Concealed Handgun Permit (CHP) holders to lawfully carry their personal protection firearm into a restaurant that serves alcohol.

• Removing the prohibition on CHP holders from carrying into a place where tickets are sold for admission and would fix the problem of anti-gun localities overstepping their authority regarding restricting CHP holders from carrying firearms into locally controlled parks.

• Addressing some issues regarding firearms in a vehicle, as well as certain firearm issues on campus grounds.

In addition, this subcommittee added language that would bring North Carolina in compliance with the requirements set forth in the federal NICS Improvement Amendments Act (NIAA) of 2007. This legislation does not expand or create new categories of prohibited persons.

CONTINUED:  http://www.nraila.org/legislation/state-legislation/2013/4/north-carolina-critical-right-to-carry-reform-bill-advances-to-house-floor.aspx?s=&st=&ps=

CCTA ACTION ALERT--VOTER ID

ACTION REQUEST

PHOTO VOTER IDENTIFICATION

ACT TODAY!

 If you concur with those talking points, please help the cause by taking these specific action steps before 1 PM Tuesday if at all possible.
1. Call Speaker Thom Tillis at 919-733-3451 AND send email to Thom.Tillis@ncleg.net

2. Call and email your local Representative. (They say that 20 calls to a local Rep from his/her local constituents can rattle their cage.

We need them so concerned that they will go to Tillis and ask for amendments.

3. Forward this to as many like-minded friends as you can by early Tuesday, 4/23. We need calls and emails to be received Monday afternoon and evening and Tuesday all day (preferably before the House meets at 1 PM).

TALKING POINTS - READ BEFORE CALLING OR CONTACTING REPRESENTATIVES!  

The problem with using expired licenses is discussed in detail in the document that follows these points:

1. Homeland Security regulations require an unexpired ID for financial transactions and for air travel. The ballot box deserves the same level of security.

2. Proof of US citizenship is required for all NCDLs issued after February 2006, but any license that expired before then and was not renewed is probably tied to an undocumented alien who has no right to vote in this country. The law should prevent that type of voter. This law would encourage them to return to NC and to vote.

3. While we could support expired licenses for elderly people who never intend to drive again, granting the same exception to every person invites fraud.

4. A simple solution would be to eliminate all forms of ID other than an unexpired NCDMV product, a US passport or a military ID card and let all other voters file an affidavit with a biometric (photo or fingerprint) just as larger banks already require.

5. Could we at least set a standard as high as that of Mexico and every other developed nation when it comes to "real" voter ID?
6. House Leadership is out of touch with the voters if they are not willing to fix this bill.

Thanks again for supporting this vital issue. Other than our 2nd Amendment rights, we cannot think of anything more fundamental to our state's freedom, so the time to apply pressure is upon us.

=========================

 

This is an important message from Jay DeLancy, the head of Voter Integrity Project of North Carolina.

Thank you for your continued support and encouragement of this issue, that is so near and dear to our organization.

By now, you've probably heard news that the NC House is on the verge of passing a voter ID bill (HB 589), but we've been watching the bill and it has severe problems that need the right kind of pressure on Legislators in order to motivate corrective behavior. For example, the current voter ID bill has provisions that will facilitate fraudulent voting in two major ways.

We first need to have our State House amend the legislation to deny use of expired NCDMV products of any ID cards produced beyond DMV or the Federal government.

Specifically, the law says:

"§ 163-166.13. (e) As used in this section, "photo identification" means any of the following that contain a photograph of the registered voter:

(1) An identification card that bears either a date of expiration or a date of issuance and that is not more than 10 years beyond the date of expiration or issuance, whichever is later, issued by a branch, department, agency, or entity of the United States, this State, or any other state, such as any of the following:

a. A North Carolina drivers license issued under Article 2 of Chapter 20 of the General Statutes, including a learner's permit or a provisional license.

b. A special identification card for nonoperators issued under G.S. 20-37.7."

c. A United States passport.

d. An employee identification card.

e. A United States military identification card.

f. An identification card issued by The University of North Carolina or its constituent institutions.

g. An identification card issued by a North Carolina community college.

h. An identification card issued to a fireman, EMS, hospital employee, or law enforcement officer.

i. An identification card issued by a unit of local government, public authority, or special district, all as defined in G.S.159-7.

j. An identification card issued for a government program of public assistance.  

Jay N. DeLancy, LtCol, USAF (Ret)

Executive Director

Voter Integrity Project of NC

(Office) 919.429.9039

(Cell) 919.332.4129

Twitter: @VoteChecker

jay@.VoterIntegrityProject.com

www.VoterIntegrityProject.com

VIP-NC is a trans-partisan, volunteer organization that works for "free and fair elections" by bringing more transparency to the process in order to ensure that no voters are disenfranchised. The group uses database analysis to detect irregularities in the voting records that could suggest patterns of fraud. Their research has included embarrassing the NC State Board of Elections with a discovery of almost 30,000 deceased persons still on the voter rolls; more than a hundred people who voted in the 2008 election and then later proved to the Wake County Clerk of Courts that they were not US citizens; and (most recently) 33 people who appeared to have voted in both Florida and NC for the 2012 November election-five of whom were identified by election officials for prosecution.

    MORE CONTACT INFO: 
Governor Pat McCrory, (919) 733-4240, governor.office@nc.gov Lt. Governor Dan Forest, (980)-395-5184, Dan@DanForest.com  

House Speaker Pro Tem Paul "Skip" Stam, (919) 733-2962, Paul.Stam@ncleg.net
House Speaker Thom Tillis, (919) 733-3451, Thom.Tillis@ncleg.net
NC Rep. John Bell, Dist. 10,  (919-715-3017)  john.bell@ncleg.net
NC Rep. Michael Speciale, Dist. 3, (919) 733-5853 michael.speciale@ncleg.net
and his Legal Assistant, Hazel Speciale, specialela@ncleg.net)
NC Rep. Susan Martin, (919) 733-3023, Susan.Martin@ncleg.net
NC Rep.Brian Brown, (919) 733-5757, Brian.Brown@ncleg.net

NC Senator Norman Sanderson, (919) 733-5706, Norman.Sanderson@ncleg.net
NC Senator Bill Cook, (919) 715-8293, Bill.Cook@ncleg.net
NC Senator Don Davis (D), (919) 715-8363, Don.Davis@ncleg.net
NC Senator Louis Pate, (919) 733 - 5621, Louis.Pate@ncleg.net
Senate Majority Leader Phil Berger, (919) 733-5708, Phil.Berger@ncleg.net