As 2015 comes to an end, I am thankful for the many blessings and opportunities we’ve had this year to improve our great state. I am grateful for my constituents’ trust and support and for my colleagues’ hard work and commitment to providing families and small businesses with hundreds of millions of dollars in tax relief, reforming the state’s chronically troubled Medicaid program and strengthening public education, transportation and public safety.
In 2015, Senate Republicans:
• Adopted a balanced, fiscally responsible state budget that invests in core services, strengthens public education, shores up savings reserves and grows North Carolina’s economy. The Senate cut hundreds of millions of dollars from earlier spending proposals.
• Reduced the tax burden on North Carolina families and small businesses by close to $400 million over the next two years.
• Improved the state’s climate for job growth by lowering corporate income tax rates, moving to calculate corporate income tax on the basis of a single sales factor and expanding tools to recruit new businesses, including large companies like automobile and aerospace manufacturers.
• Increased funding for public education by more than $530 million in the next year alone, increased early-career teacher pay and continued major education reforms to reduce class sizes and ensure students receive the tools they need to succeed.
• Reformed the state’s chronically troubled Medicaid program to save tax dollars, achieve greater budget sustainability and incentivize delivering high-quality care to keep North Carolinians healthy.
• Passed sweeping changes to the state’s burdensome regulatory environment that cut red tape that chokes off economic growth.
• Protected the first amendment rights and jobs of magistrates and registers of deeds’ employees whose participation in same-sex marriage ceremonies violates their core religious beliefs.
• Prohibited ‘sanctuary cities’ in North Carolina to ensure localities enforce federal laws against illegal immigration.
I look forward to a positive and productive 2016 and wish you and your family a happy and healthy new year!