April 2007 - 50 Day Progress Report

How am I doing on our district's priorities?  Let me know what you think.  Send an email to:  thomtillis@thomtillis.com

When I ran for the 98th District seat last year, I told the citizens of the 98th District my priorities would be improving Education and Transportation and holding the line on Taxes and providing tax relief.  I also committed to working with the Towns of Cornelius, Davidson, and Huntersville.  I am proud of the steps I have taken to deliver on my commitments.  CLICK any underlined link to see more information on a specific topic. 

Education

The issue of education is very complex with Federal, State, and Local governments playing a role.  My efforts on education have taken several different forms in terms of direct and indirect efforts to improve education for all of our citizens.  The following is a summary of activities.  Click the underlined links for more details. 

• Appointed to the House Committee on Education (University Subcommittee).  This is a very important appointment in order to be positioned to influence education policy.  Most policy gets established in committee and if you are not a member of the committee you are not likely to influence policy.

• The following is a list of "education friendly" bills where I have either been primary Sponsor (bold) or co-sponsor.

  Bill #	Title and Description
  H15	Textbooks & Assignments on Short-Term Suspension. This bill ensures that students who have been suspended have no excuse for failing to complete their homework while on suspension.
  H30	Raise Cap on Charter Schools. This bill would raise the cap on Charter schools (public schools whose capital/building costs are paid by private funds) from a maximum of 100 to a maximum of 125.  This provides expanded opportunities to increase our capacity and to reduce the pressure on overcrowded school districts.
  H388	Tax Credits for Children with Special Needs. This bill would provide tax credits to families who seek private options for their children when their needs are not being met by public school options.
  H416	Remove Cap on the Number of Charter Schools. This bill would completely remove the cap on Charter schools.  See note on H30 above.
  H421	Tax Fairness in Education. This bill would support "school choice" by providing a tax credit to families who send their children to private schools.
  H615	UNC-Charlotte Lateral Entry Program Funds. This bill request funding for a program at UNC Charlotte which helps address our critical teacher shortage.
  H891	Reinstate LEA Sales Tax Refund. This bill exempts local school districts from State sales taxes (why were they every taxed to begin with you ask?).  It stops money from being sent to Raleigh and frees money to be put back into the local school systems.
  H1304	Student Loan Repayment for NC Guard Members. This bill will allow Guardsmen who have two years or more remaining on their obligation to apply for repayment of student loans for courses they have successfully completed.
  H1390	Pay Teacher Assistants at Salary Grade 56. This bill provides for long-overdue increases in pay for assistant teachers and helps in recruiting and retaining classroom instructors.
  H1424	Medicaid County Share Reduced. This bill caps the amount of the cost that must be paid by counties to support Medicaid programs.  Why is this an education friendly bill?  Because reducing or hopefully eliminating the County contribution to Medicaid frees up funding for the single largest budget item for counties (Education).

Transportation

Unlike education issues, Transportation tends to be driven mainly by the appropriations/budgeting process which will ramp up quickly in the next 50 legislative days.  The main focus early in the session as been on eliminating the past practice of using funds intended for road improvement and maintenance for non-transportation projects.  Click the underlined links for more details. 

• Actions in support of local requests:

  • I contacted the NC Department of Transportation to request completion of signaling at the intersection of Highway 115 and Bailey Road.

  • I sent a letter to the head of NC DoT requesting no delays in the completion of the West Catawba widening project

  • I requested formal notification prior to the start of any major projects in the district that affect traffic flow (trying to avoid surprises like the intersection of West Catawba and Sam Furr Road)

• The following is a list of "transportation friendly" bills where I have either been co-sponsor.

  Bill #	Title and Description
  H1004	Highway Trust Fund Transfers Eliminated. This bill eliminates the past practice of "robbing" the Highway Trust Fund to fund non-transportation related projects.
  H215	Ensure Integrity of Highway Trust Fund. This bill is similar to H1004 in proposing to eliminate the use of Highway Trust Fund money for non-transportation related projects.

Taxes

As the budget debate progresses, I expect a variety of challenges to preventing the democrat majority from increasing our taxes.  As long as waste, special projects, and inefficiencies exist in State government, I will continue to fight taxes imposed on the hardest working and most productive citizens in North Carolina.  Click the underlined links for more details.

• Appointed to the House Finance Committee.  Like my Education Committee appointment, the finance committee if very important because this committee makes recommendations for "revenue laws" or taxes.  Learning how the State imposes taxes is a critical first step in trying to identify unfair or inappropriate tax policy. This is the committee the place to be to debate tax policy and to reduce the tax burden on NC citizens and businesses.  Most policy gets established in committee and if you are not a member of the committee you are not likely to influence policy.

• I have published a formal position statement on a major corporate income tax policy likely to come before the 2007 General Assembly.  CLICK this link to read more.

• The following is a list of bills where I have either been primary Sponsor (bold) or co-sponsor.

  Bill #	Title and Description
  H99	Taxpayer Cost Recovery. This bill calls for the repayment of citizens for cost incurred in connection with appealing tax rulings by the state where the citizen is able to prove the State's ruling was invalid.
  H109	Firefighter/Rescue Squad Tax Deduction. This bill provides added tax deductions for State income tax for Fire and Rescue workers.
  H132	Conform Personal Tax Deduct and Exempt to IRC. This bill calls for removing most costly North Carolina limits to conform with Federal standards.
  H193	Law Enforcement Tax Deduction. This bill provides added tax deductions for Police and Public Safety workers.
  H539	Homestead Exclusion Expansion. This bill calls increases the amount allowed for homestead exclusion on income taxes.
  H1384	Repeal Rule Against Perpetuities. This bill calls for the elimination of a law, which prevents citizens from establishing trusts that reduce tax burdens.

Local Issues / Town Support

The most rewarding part of being the 98th District Representative is helping Town officials and individual citizens.  The following is a summary of activities.  Click the underlined links for more details. 

• Appointed to the House Local Government II Committee.  This committee appointment is key for a district like ours with 3 towns within the district limits.  All bills come through one of two committees established to review proposals limited to "local" jurisdictions.  As a committee member, there is the added benefit of seeing measures that could benefit our community.

• The following is a list of bills where I have either been primary Sponsor (bold) or I requested amendments to another local bill for the benefit of our community.  Three of the four bills have already passed the House and are expected to pass the Senate before the end of April.

  Bill #	Title and Description
  H217	Cornelius/Davidson Public Nuisance Ordinance. (Ratified) This bill provides the Towns of Huntersville and Davidson with added authority to address problems with public nuisances.
  H305	Funds/Mecklenburg VFD and Rescue Squads. This bill requests funding to support local volunteer fire and rescue organizations, which serve the 98th District.
  H1136	Davidson Police Allowed to Use ATVs on Public Streets  (Passed House) This is a classic example of the benefit of committee appointments.  Davidson had requested legislation to allow this, but the bill filing deadline had passed.  I was able to request the addition of Davidson to a similar bill intended for another town through a committee amendment.
  H509	Cornelius/Davidson/Huntersville Junked Vehicles. (Passed House)  This is a another example of the benefit of committee appointments.  Ayden had requested legislation to increase the value of what defines a junked vehicle from $100.00 to $500.00, but the bill filing deadline had passed.  I was able to request the addition of Cornelius, Davidson, and Huntersville through a committee amendment.