This meeting will be in the form of a 10 a.m. breakfast/brunch at Longleaf Country Club. The cost will be $9 per person.
COX — State Rep. Leslie Cox says he too is disappointed that the House of Representatives failed to pass a bill limiting the length of legislative sessions.
“It has become clear that we need deadlines to maintain a part-time, citizen legislature in North Carolina,” Cox said. “We need more lawmakers who hold real jobs and spend time in their communities. The last thing we need is a full-time, professional legislature.”
Cox, a Sanford Democrat, will represent Cameron, Vass, Little River precincts and part of Carthage precinct when the new legislative districts go into effect.
The proposed constitutional amendment bill defeated by the House would have limited odd-year sessions to 180 days and even-year sessions to 90 days. Sessions could be extended for limited periods upon agreement by both chambers.
However, the measure needed 72 votes for passage. The bill failed 54-59.
“We have deadlines in our daily lives,” Cox said. “The General Assembly needs deadlines too, and a constitutional amendment would be the most powerful deadline. I’m sorry it is not going to happen.”
Legislative sessions have been unusually long for the past two years, largely because of such issues as the recession and redistricting.
LEE — “Smart Growth” principles could help communities stave off future drought problems through better plans for development and water use, State Sen. Howard Lee says.
The Orange County Democrat on Tuesday announced plans to introduce Smart Growth legislation.
“Communities and families are struggling because of severe drought conditions,” said Lee, who co-chaired the Smart Growth Commission last year. “Giving communities the tools they need to grow better and smarter can help alleviate some of these problems in the future.”
Senate Bill 717 creates a state Growth Management Commission to facilitate communities’ efforts to improve growth planning. Lee said the legislature, among other things, also needs to require local governments to conduct a minimal level of planning with periodic local audits to evaluate progress in implementing these plans and to make state grants subject to local planning standards. About half of the local governments in North Carolina lack land-use plans, according to Lee.
“Our state has grown by a million people in the last decade,” Lee said. “With this growth have come new challenges, and we must make sure our communities are not choked off by traffic congestion, crowded schools and sprawl.”
Moore County and some of its municipalities have land-use plans. However, the county and most other water systems were severely hit by this summer’s drought.
Lee represents Moore County in the 16th senatorial district. Moore County will be in a different district next year.
AIR POLLUTION — Congress should stop the Environmental Protection Agency from instituting changes in emission regulations that would worsen air pollution, U. S. Sen. John Edwards says.
He told a Senate hearing that Congress should use its power to control the purse strings of federal agencies to block the EPA from implementing a proposal that would make it easier for power plants to expand old generating stations without installing new equipment to control emissions.
In his presentation, Edwards called air pollution “one of the most pressing health issues in our country today.”
