Mike Williford, a prominent Fayetteville lawyer and long-standing Cumberland County resident was recently appointed by the North Carolina Senate to the North Carolina Board of Governors. The NC Board of Governors oversees the seventeen public universities in North Carolina under the UNC system. The UNC system’s mission statement is as follows: “The University of North Carolina is a multi-campus university dedicated … Read More

Gov. Pat McCrory announced last week that North Carolina will be extending a truck driving program that helps military members find jobs. Paul Woolverton of the Fayetteville Observer wrote an article on this program with some additional information. This program, and others like it, are effective in helping our military more effectively find jobs as civilians. The extension of this … Read More

Last Monday, I had the pleasure of attending a dinner with representatives from the Cumberland County fire departments, the North Carolina State Fireman’s Association (NCSFA) and the North Carolina Association of Fire Chiefs.  At this dinner, I was honored by the NCSFA as a “Friend of Fire Service.” I very much appreciate being presented this award and have thoroughly enjoyed … Read More

  As the owner of a landscaping business, I have remained environmentally conscious throughout my tenure as your state senator. I have done this through supporting sensible policies that make sense for this state from both an economic and environmental perspective.  Things like the Renewable Energy Investment Tax Credit and the Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Portfolio Standard, which mandates … Read More

The most recent budget that I worked to help pass includes for North Carolina public school teachers an average 7 percent permanent pay raise – without requiring them to make a choice on whether to keep tenure. This $468 million increase would be the largest in state history and would boost North Carolina from 47th in overall teacher pay to the middle … Read More

The Senate and House announced Tuesday evening they have reached a compromise agreement on coal ash mitigation that would give North Carolina the strictest regulations on coal ash in the nation and make it the first state to force the closure of all coal ash ponds. The bill sets a firm 15-year deadline for de-watering and closing all unlined coal … Read More

    Tomorrow, August 16th is National Airborne Day; there will be a celebration at the Airborne and Special Operations Museum from 10 AM to 3 PM. Here is a flier for the event. Fort Bragg is of course home to the biggest installation of airborne soldiers, commonly referred to as the “Home of the Airborne.”  Airborne forces are a very versatile group of soldiers capable … Read More

The North Carolina Senate tentatively passed a $21.25 billion bipartisan state budget yesterday that provides public school teachers the largest pay raise in history – averaging 7 percent. The $282 million investment propels North Carolina from near the bottom to 32nd in national rankings.   The budget includes a prudent 2.2 percent overall spending increase to keep pace with inflation. The … Read More

On July 10th, Governor McCrory signed into law the Credit for Military Training Bill. This bill was primarily sponsored by myself and Senator Ronald Rabin. Senator Ronald Rabin, like me, is an Army veteran. This bill was also co-sponsored by Senator Clark, who is a veteran of the Air Force and serves the other senate district in Cumberland County. This is … Read More

Lawmakers, business owners and municipal leaders have agreed for years that business privilege taxes — which are paid for the “privilege” of doing business in a locality — are too complicated and need change. Similar businesses in adjoining towns can end up paying wildly different bills because the cities calculate their respective taxes differently. Since privilege taxes are almost entirely … Read More