Senator Bill Cook Legislative Update: III | Eastern North Carolina Now

    The Senate passed a ($21.16 billion) bipartisan budget last week on Friday and Saturday. We adjourned Saturday morning at 12:24 a.m., and will reconvene tomorrow, Wednesday, June 4, at 6:00 p.m. The budget was sent to the House and hopefully the Senate will see their changes in the next few days.

    Bipartisan Senate Budget

    The responsible budgeting decisions and pro-growth economic policies have enabled Senate Republicans to offer the largest teacher pay increase in state history as part of proposed adjustments to the 2014-2015 state budget.

    The adjustments provide public school teachers an average of $5,800 permanent pay raise beginning July 1 – more than an 11 percent increase on average. The $468 million investment boosts North Carolina twenty spots in national rankings – from 47th in overall teacher pay to 27th – and from 9th to 3rd in the Southeast, propelling the state ahead of Virginia, Tennessee and South Carolina.

    The budget includes a prudent 2.6 percent overall spending increase to keep pace with inflation and increases funding for the state's K-12 public schools by $66.5 million, for community colleges by $22.2 million and for the University of North Carolina system by $17.7 million.

    Schools in Hyde and Tyrrell Counties Receive Additional Funds

    I filed legislation to appropriate additional funds for small Local Education Authorities (LEA's) in Hyde and Tyrrell Counties. The proposal was incorporated in the budget. Hyde and Tyrrell Counties Schools will each receive $1.71 million in small school allotment funding for the 2014-2015 Fiscal Year. Any LEA with a daily membership of less than 600 students shall receive a small school system allotment of $1.71 million. The average daily membership in Hyde County is 566 students and Tyrrell County is at 579.

    Elizabeth City State University

    Last Friday, I prepared an amendment that deleted the budget provision which would have affected Elizabeth City State University. After my discussion with Senate leadership they agreed to support the elimination of the provision completely from the budget. I was pleased that my fellow Senate members stood with me in deleting this budget provision. The Board of Governors of the University of North Carolina does not need legislative prompting to study and correct declining enrollment. Elizabeth City State University has been a significant center for learning in the Northeast for many years. I want to see it continue to provide higher learning opportunities for our students for many more years to come.

    I enjoyed meeting with officials from the tourism industry of Chowan, Pasquotank, Camden and Dare Counties in Raleigh on Wednesday, May 28. Pictured above (Left to Right) Nancy Nicholls of Chowan County Tourism Development Authority, Charlotte Underwood of Elizabeth City Convention and Visitors Bureau, myself, Donna Stroud of Dismal Swamp Welcome Center, Lee Nettles and Aaron Tuell of the Outer Banks Visitors Bureau.

    State Employees Receive a Raise

    In the Senate budget we include a raise for state employees at an increase of $809.00 beginning June 30, 2014. I greatly appreciate and honor everything that our state employees do for North Carolina. We are blessed to have state employees who are truly second to none.

    Outer Banks Land Management Fund

    The Senate budget provides a total of $15 million for the creation of the Outer Banks Land Management Fund which is a reflection of the legislation that I introduced. It will authorize a special revenue fund in the Department of Administration to purchase or exchange land with the federal government around Oregon Inlet. A dependable and safe waterway passage through the Oregon Inlet for commercial and recreational boats is of paramount importance.

    The revenue will come from the following resources: $3.5 million from the DMF's Advance License Sales Fund cash balance, $3.5 million from the Utility Account cash balance, $5 million in nonrecurring General Fund support, and $3 million in a capital reserve. The Department of Administration shall in accordance with applicable law and terms reserved in any relevant deeds authorize condemnation proceedings on all federally owned property that is necessary to manage existing and future transportation corridors on the Outer Banks.

    No New Taxes

    Although we have included a substantial raise for both teachers and state employees, North Carolinians will not bear the burden through higher taxes. When Republicans took the majority of the General Assembly in 2011 for the first time since Reconstruction, the former Democrat leadership left the state with a budget deficit of $2.5 billion.

    Since that time, we have worked tirelessly to put the state back on solid financial footing by closing the budget deficit, reining in wasteful state spending and giving North Carolina families and businesses the largest tax cut in state history.

    As a result, today more North Carolinians are going to work than ever before. In the three and a half years since Republicans were elected to the majority, over 220,000 new jobs have been created in the state and the unemployment rate has fallen by 4.2 percentage points – from one of the highest in the nation at 10.4 percent in January 2011 to 6.2 percent in April 2014, a figure below the national average.


Contact: Jordan Hennessy
     jordan.hennessy@ncleg.net, •  (252) 619-3606


     300 N. Salisbury Street
     Room 525 • Raleigh, NC 27603

    Phone: (919) 715-8293  •  Fax: (919) 754-3296  •  bill.cook@ncleg.net