Minutes 09-16-2014 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Orange County's 2014 Resolution Regarding Legislative Matters (Statewide Matters) is provided for reference purposes at Attachment 3. This Resolution was approved by the Board on April 15, 2014 for the 2014 General Assembly Session. A copy of NCACC's 2013-14 Legislative Goals document is also provided for reference in Attachment 4. These documents may provide some insight on potential goals to propose to NCACC for 2015-16. Commissioner McKee said the work group used previous goals as guidelines, and these were goals that the group thought would align with the NCACC's priorities. Chair Jacobs asked about the Orange Alamance line. Greg Wilder said the Orange Alamance line is a local issue, not a statewide issue, and this will be a part of their local legislative package. Chair Jacobs said the Board received an email from a member of the Chapel Hill Carrboro City School Board requesting inclusion of language that more specifically supports the state's role in providing sufficient funds to support quality education. He asked where this could be incorporated. Greg Wilder said this could be incorporated into Item 3, and language could be incorporated to support the state re-instating adequate funds for quality education. He said an additional item could also be added if that is the Board's desire. Commissioner Gordon suggested an item titled "Increased State Support for Public Education." She read the following suggested wording: "Support legislation to increase and insure secure and stable funding for operating and capital expenses for quality K-12 education in public schools." Commissioner McKee and Commissioner Price said they are fine with the addition of that language being added as item #6. Chair Jacobs said he prefers the use of the word "re-instate" in place of"increase." He said Commissioner Gordon's wording is fine though. Commissioner Gordon re-read her wording, and said she suggested this become Item #6. Commissioner porosin said this is more of a discussion item for the Board collectively. He said this process is gone through each year and the same language is used. He thinks the Board should consider staking out a more progressive political position with these goals. He said these are public documents that state the County's public legislative priorities, and they should include issues such as restoring early voting, same day registration, and issues related to the social justice act. He would like to see some of the policy issues the Board has spoken of consistently, like living wage and the County's authority that has been taken away in so many areas. He said to him this should be a statement of the Board's policy priorities. Commissioner McKee said this is a collective document from all 100 counties, and the work group tried to work within the framework that was presented. He agreed with Commissioner porosin about the idea of stating their goals more vividly, but he said it might be better to work on that in the coming year, given the September 19th deadline. Chair Jacobs said the issues brought up by Commissioner porosin's may be better served if directed at their local legislative delegation in the spring. Chair Jacobs said these are things that the Board wants to resonate with other counties. Chair Jacobs said he would like to come back to the issue of voting rights, as this would be a good conversation for NCACC. Commissioner Price said many of these issues are already being worked on by NCACC staff. She said this is more about being realistic than expressing "our wish list," which would be more appropriate for our local delegation.