Representative Paul Tine Votes Against The Budget and Issues the Following Statement | Eastern North Carolina Now

News Release:

    Representative Paul Tine Votes Against The Budget and Issues the Following Statement

    This week I voted against a budget that would set North Carolina and the northeast back. The budget was a statement about priorities. The priorities dictated by this budget do not match up with what is best for our District or the people of North Carolina. While there are many areas of concern, the two main issues center on education and economic development in rural communities.

    Specifically, on education, there were major policy decisions that used the budget as a vehicle for implementation. Vouchers, a program that will take public money to fund private schools, is a policy decision. In our rural communities there is limited access to private accredited schools and I do not see how moving money out of public schools, at a time when we need to reinvent our education system, helps make us the best in the world at educating our children. Other negative provisions include the increase of class sizes, the defunding of teacher assistants and undercutting teachers who are currently in the process of getting their masters at their own expense who will no longer receive a pay raise.

    Instead of investing in retooling our education system and empowering our teachers, we made cuts and abdicated our state's constitutional responsibility to provide an education to private schools.

    This budget does not support job growth in our region. A well trained workforce, ready for jobs in the 21st century, cannot be achieved unless we focus on and actively support modernizing our education system. Investment in transportation infrastructure which is necessary to move the northeast forward is curtailed when we remove $166 million from our regional transportation budget to make room for statewide prioritized projects. As a result of these changes the funding for Currituck Bridge was also eliminated. The budget removes funding from the Golden Leaf, meant for rural economic development, and puts it in the general fund. In short, resources for infrastructure and investment in our rural communities are being redirected to our urban areas.

    I am pleased to let you know that the budget contains some corrections that I was able to negotiate. Ferry tolls will not see new tolls or an increase. Decision making will be brought out of Raleigh and put in the hands of our local officials. The NC Academy of Teachers in Ocracoke will stay open for at least one more year and the Roanoke Island Festival Park will maintain some funding. Finally the small county schools will keep their funding for 1 year while we work out a new formula. This saved Hyde County from a million dollars in cuts having to lay off 20% of their staff. These positives do not outweigh, however, the devastating affects to education and jobs development in our rural communities.

    Recently I and other legislators voted for a tax decrease in the state. This obviously puts additional strain on the budget. Creating balance between a healthy business environment and providing the necessary services for growth is the goal that I was seeking with this vote. When our revenue is reduced, however, we have choices in which programs we will treat as priorities. This budget still has the room to make the right choices but instead rural North Carolina's education and infrastructure were unfairly attacked. Again, this budget is about priorities and they simply did not match with our region's needs.


Office of Representative Paul Tine

District 6- Beaufort, Dare Hyde, Washington Counties
(919) 733-5906

Contact: Paul Tine (252) 305-5133    paul.tine@ncleg.net

Go Back


Leave a Guest Comment

Your Name or Alias
Your Email Address ( your email address will not be published)
Enter Your Comment ( no code or urls allowed, text only please )




Senate Panel Adds Sweeping Provisions To Voter ID Bill Press Releases: Elected office holders, Op-Ed & Politics, Bloodless Warfare: Politics Conservative Republican Club to Meet in August


HbAD0

Latest Bloodless Warfare: Politics

Glenn Beck: 'When the United States government can come after individuals, that's when you know our republic is crumbling.'
Washington, D.C. — Congressman Greg Murphy, M.D. issued the following statement on the latest continuing resolution:
WASHINGTON – Today, as Joe Biden continues his Bankrupting America Tour in North Carolina, Republican National Committee (RNC) Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel released the following statement:
Former President Donald Trump dominated the North Dakota Republican Caucus on Monday as he continues to inch closer to officially securing the party’s presidential nomination.
RALEIGH: Today, Governor Cooper visited a bus facility in Durham to highlight the recent significant federal funding for electric school buses in North Carolina.
The White House unveiled a new term on Thursday for the millions of illegal aliens who have flooded into the U.S. under President Joe Biden, which came just shortly before Biden took a trip to the border for a photo op at a spot that has had few illegal aliens cross.
Washington, D.C. — Congressman Greg Murphy, M.D. issued the following statement after voting in favor of S.J. Res. 38, to overturn the Federal Highway Administration’s rule relating to ‘Waiver of Buy America Requirements for Electric Vehicle Chargers.’
House Homeland Security Committee Chair Mark Green (R-TN) announced this week that he is reversing his decision to retire after receiving calls from former President Donald Trump and others.
Former President Donald Trump slammed President Joe Biden on Saturday after Biden apologized for calling the illegal alien who allegedly murdered a young woman in Georgia an “illegal” during his recent State of the Union speech.

HbAD1

RALEIGH: Lynddahl Telecom America Inc. (LTA), a duct solutions company for fiber optics installations, will create 54 new jobs in Gaston County, Governor Cooper announced today.
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) said this week that the media and Democrat politicians are doing everything they can to hide the fact that the man who is accused of murdering a Georgia college student last week is an illegal alien
Illegal immigrants 'effectively left in legal limbo without any way to pursue asylum,' says non-partisan data analytics group
Former President Donald Trump called on 81-year-old President Joe Biden to take a cognitive exam Thursday morning, just hours after the commander-in-chief’s doctor said he was “fit to serve” following his annual physical exam.
RALEIGH: Today, Governor Cooper joined Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Administrator Chiquita Brooks-LaSure to highlight the positive impacts of Medicaid expansion in North Carolina and record Affordable Care Act enrollment numbers.
Sen. Katie Britt (R-AL) tore into President Joe Biden during an interview over the weekend for creating the catastrophe on the U.S. southern border.
Speaking at the White House on Wednesday on his “actions to fight crime and make our communities safer,” President Joe Biden boasted, “we beat the NRA,” adding, “We’re going to finish the job.”

HbAD2

 
Back to Top