A Severe Blow to Economic Recovery In her last batch of vetoes, Governor Beverly Perdue dealt a massive blow to the job-creating businesses that ultimately will lead North Carolina out of a grueling recession. At 9.7 percent, unemployment in North Carolina remains higher than the national average, and the state’s economy has shed more than 100,000 jobs over the past two years. Still, on Thursday, the governor vetoed several bills designed to provide certainty for businesses in the private sector. And not so long ago, Perdue claimed to champion several of the issues she rejected. An indecisive, politically-desperate politician trying to cater to her base, she now stands squarely with fringe environmental groups and liberal special interests in opposing the job-creating sector of our state’s economy. She tried to hide behind constitutional concerns over the bills, which curiously were never voiced to the General Assembly. One of the important bills the governor vetoed is SB 709, the Energy Jobs Act. The Energy Jobs Act directed the governor to begin negotiating a tri-state pact with the governors of Virginia and South Carolina to encourage President Obama to allow offshore energy exploration. It also directed her to work with North Carolina’s Congressional delegation to advocate for state revenue-sharing for resources off the coast, and directed how that money would be spent. Nearly half of the funds would have gone to jobs training, energy research and conservation. North Carolina’s offshore energy reserves are thought to be mostly natural gas – the cleanest fossil fuel. The state has 64 million federal offshore acres, the most on the East Coast and the fourth largest acreage in the country. At a time when North Carolina families and businesses are struggling with outrageous energy costs, Gov. Perdue rejected a golden opportunity to develop affordable and clean energy alternatives that would create thousands of new, good-paying jobs. Once again, she caved to her liberal political allies instead of doing what’s best for our state. Another of the vetoed bills is SB 781, Regulatory Reform Act. It’s a common-sense bill that passed the Senate unanimously. Regulatory Reform clarifies and simplifies some of North Carolina’s confusing and outdated regulations, making it easier for citizens and businesses to attain permits and rely on more predictable guidelines. State agencies have added or changed more than 15,000 rules over the past decade. Those burdensome and confusing regulations are creating uncertainty in the private sector and crippling job-creating businesses. Among other important improvements, the bill: · Prohibits any state environmental rules that are more restrictive than federal regulations · Requires the state to review and eliminate burdensome rules annually · Gives judges, not agencies, the final say in disputed cases · Provides more time and opportunity for public input on crafting and changing rules, making the process more transparent We will keep fighting to reform the bloated bureaucracy Gov. Perdue helped create. She has now vetoed 15 bills, signaling she’s not serious about working across the aisle or doing what’s best for North Carolina. She’s concerned primarily with one thing: her re-election. More Promises Kept An important bill became law without the governor’s signature Friday that will keep cities and town from forcing residents to connect to expensive services and pay higher property taxes. North Carolina’s annexation laws had not been reformed in more than 50 years, and residents have had enough of municipal governments trouncing on their private property rights. The Annexation Reform Act is a huge victory for personal freedom and responsibility.
Have a wonderful Independence day weekend. | 
