Senator Bill Cook's General Assembly Legislative Update | Eastern North Carolina Now

    Press Release:

North Carolina Announces $552 Million State Revenue Surplus

    Despite the threats from outside sources, this past week, the General Assembly's Fiscal Research Division and the Office of State Budget and Management released a report that North Carolina is expected to have a half billion dollar surplus this year - making us one of only four states in the country expecting surpluses. Moreover, the surplus is driven by more people working and earning more. Since 2011, our state's economy has generated more than 450,000 new jobs. The number of working North Carolinians has soared to historic highs, and median household income has jumped by close to $10,000 per household. North Carolina has become a model for the nation on how to attract jobs and it's fostering amazing strides in benefiting the citizens of the Tarheel state.

North Carolina Technology Rankings

    The N.C. Technology Association's 'State of Technology' report ranks North Carolina No. 1 in the nation for Information Technology employment growth and the percentage of women in the sector's workforce. Additionally, according to the 2016 "Fifty States of Broadband" report by the Strategic Networks Group, our state ranks No. 2 in the nation of state investment in broadband infrastructure. In 2013, only 22 percent of North Carolina classrooms had robust Wi-Fi. Today, nearly 65 percent of classrooms are connected, and we are committed to connecting 100 percent of our classrooms. North Carolina has and continues to be a place for innovators and new technology to thrive. During this legislative session, we will continue to work on improving North Carolina's broadband infrastructure and increase access to affordable high-speed internet, especially for small businesses and in our classrooms.

Allow County-Wide Challenges/Absentee Ballots

    During this past week, I filed Senate Bill 38 (Allow County-Wide Challenges/Absentee Ballots). This bill would make a simple change to the law governing the process of challenging absentee ballots. It changes "registered voters in the precinct" to "registered voters in the county." In other words, a voter's absentee ballot can be challenged by a voter in the county, and not just the precinct. Currently, on Election Day any voter in the county may challenge a voter in that county. Thus, I believe the same rule should apply to challenging absentee and one stop voters. This bill is the result of constituent concerns in Pasquotank County, and it will only improve confidence in our election process.

• Contact: Bill Cook
•     bill.cook@ncleg.net