Chuck Edwards Senate Desk | July 2019
FROM MY SENATE DESK
This year's legislative session is nearing its close, with the exception that we are now entering the budget negotiation phase with the Governor. Below are some of the most recent news stories on which I though you might have an interest.


Happy 4th of July!
Wishing you a joyful and safe celebration of this remarkable day in our nation's history.

Budget Highlights for Western North Carolina
The 2019-2021 state budget proposal was recently passed by both the North Carolina Senate and House of Representatives. As a whole, the budget prioritizes raises for teachers and state employees, an investment of $1.5 billion in public education, and state tax reform. Additionally, Representative Chuck McGrady and I worked together closely to ensure that the interests of Western NC were well recognized in the budget. Although the budget has subsequently been vetoed by the governor, I am confident that the provisions outlined below will withstand the next phase of budget negotiations. 

Following are a few of the highlights from this biennium's budget that will provide funding for programs and initiatives that will have a substantial impact on Western North Carolina.  

Education -
  • The Henderson, Transylvania, Buncombe, and City of Asheville schools systems would receive $42 million towards school construction and capital projects.
  • Blue Ridge Community College would receive $2.9 million for capital improvement projects for new construction or rehabilitation of existing facilities and repairs and renovations.
  • Asheville-Buncombe Technical Community College (AB Tech) would receive $8.27 million for capital improvement projects for new construction or rehabilitation of existing facilities and repairs and renovations. 
  • Montreat College would receive a $20 million grant for an innovative Cybersecurity Regional Training Center that is expected to bring an advanced technology focus to the western region.
  • Muddy Sneakers, a program that takes fifth graders outdoors to study science and ecology, would receive $500 thousand that would now become an annual recurrence instead of being funded year-to-year. 
  • Transylvania County would receive an additional $25 thousand grant for the Early Childhood Education Initiative.
  • Henderson & Buncombe County Public Schools would receive $100 thousand each towards expanding their “Leader in Me” Education Initiative.

Environment -
  • The DuPont State Forest would receive $100 thousand towards the development of a master plan that will look at how to grow the outdoor attraction in a way that incorporates numerous outdoor activities and interests.
  • The French Broad River Paddle Trail would receive $100 thousand to expand fishing and camping tourism with improvements in Transylvania, Henderson, Buncombe, and Madison counties.
  • $150 thousand would go towards the Green River Game Lands to improve public access to a popular recreation area in Henderson and Polk counties. 
  • Mountain True would receive a $100 thousand directed grant for recreational water quality testing.
  • A $200 thousand fund would be established to address hazardous spills from unknown sources. This program fills a void that would have helped address recently oil found leaking into a popular WNC river. 

Agriculture -
  • Farmers from Buncombe, Transylvania, Haywood, Polk, and Rutherford counties could receive desperately needed financial assistance after experiencing significant crop losses in 2018 that resulted from severe flooding. Reimbursements could reach as high as $10 million. 
  • The Agricultural Development and Farmland Preservation Trust Fund will receive $3.5 million.
  • The Future Farmers of America would receive a directed grant of $500 thousand to the NC Future Farmers of America Association expansion of the NCFFA center.

Cultural Resources -
  • The newly enacted Pisgah View State Park would receive $2 million to help fund Phase I of property acquisition.
  • The Asheville Arts Museum would receive a directed grant of $200 thousand to help fund its recent relocation.
  • The Flat Rock Playhouse, N.C.’s official state theater, would receive a directed grant of $50 thousand to help remodel its main stage. 

Economic Development -
  • The Asheville Regional Airport (AVL) would receive $4.8 million to help fund continued infrastructure improvements.
  • Hendersonville Downtown would receive $100 thousand for downtown revitalization projects.
  • $2.5 million would go to Affordable Housing Grants for nonprofits for the planning and construction of affordable housing.
  • The Watauga River Paddle Trail would receive $100 thousand to expand camping and fishing tourism

Health and Human Services -
  • The Western School of Medicine, Asheville Campus would receive annually recurring funds of $4 million per year for a joint program between the UNC School of Medicine, other UNC System universities, and the Mountain Area Health Education Center.
  • Pisgah Legal Services would receive $50 thousand to provide services for area veterans.
  • First Contact Ministries in Henderson County would receive $25 thousand that would go towards a drug and alcohol treatment facility.
  • First Step Farm of Western North Carolina in Candler would receive a $250 thousand grant to support their licensed residential supervised living center for substance dependent adults, serving all 100 counties of North Carolina. 

To view more highlights, see my recent press release on NC48.com
Breaking Ground on NCSSM - Morganton
I re cently had the privilege of participating in the ceremony to break ground on the new North Carolina School of Science and Math (NCSSM) Morganton campus. 

In 2016, North Carolina voters passed the Connect NC bond package that included $58 million to develop a second campus for NCSSM in Morganton.  

The nation’s first public residential high school specializing in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics curriculum, is creating a second campus in Burke County and is scheduled to open in 2021. The western campus known as NCSSM-Morganton will be located on the eastern ridge of the NC School for the Deaf (NCSD). The new 211,000 sq. ft. campus plans to demolish four former NCSD buildings for new construction while renovating the former deaf-school buildings of Goodwin Hall, Joiner Hall, Jeter Hall, and the old NCSD barn. Initial enrollment will serve 150 Juniors and 150 Seniors annually with potential unique curricular opportunities in Ag and Bio-Tech, Data Science & Technology, Engineering & Advanced Manufacturing, Environmental Science, and Renewable Energy. 

NCSSM-Morganton immensely contributes to the prosperity of our state by allowing students to apply their learning experiences working with data through partnerships with national institutions and industries. To our state's advantage, this new campus will invite the next generation of local, state, and global leaders in science, engineering, entrepreneurs, and innovators to North Carolina.
UPDATE: Sheriff Cooperation ICE Detainer (H370)
Without a doubt, the largest piece of legislation that I have worked on this year is S637/H370 requiring sheriffs to cooperate with ICE. Last week, my Senate colleagues and I passed our committee substitute version of the ICE Detainer Bill ( H370). The bill has been sent back to the House for concurrence. The committee substitute, which was introduced by myself, Senator Sanderson, and Senator Perry, addressed some of the concerns with the initial bill while effectively responding to the small handful of sheriffs who no longer honor detainer request from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Our compromise legislation has subsequently gained the endorsement of the North Carolina Sheriff’s Association. 

The legislation would require arrestees with an outstanding ICE detainer to appear before a magistrate judge, who could then issue a warrant. The bill also requires sheriffs’ offices to track and report the number of queries they make to federal officials. 

Under the proposed law, the process for detainer requests would be as follows:
  • An arrestee would be asked to prove citizenship;
  • If he or she cannot prove citizenship, the police officer would contact ICE to check if there is an outstanding detainer request;
  • If there is an outstanding ICE detainer request, the officer will take the arrestee to a magistrate judge within 24 hours;
  • The magistrate judge would authenticate the arrestee’s identity and issue a warrant;
  • Local law enforcement will permit ICE to interview the detainee if ICE requests it.

ICE issues detainer requests for a reason: those present in this country unlawfully who have committed serious crimes should be deported. This legislation bridges the divide to resolve the sanctuary cities issue. We’re hard-pressed to find anyone who believes dangerous criminals should be allowed to stay in the United States.

The revised proposal supported by the state’s Sheriffs’ Association and ICE field offices was a collaborative effort with both the Senate and House bill sponsors..

HB370 passed the Senate by a vote of 25-18 and has been sent over to the House for concurrence 
Spotlight on Staff
I would like to introduce you to our intern, Ali Ruvolis. Ali joined my Raleigh office in January 2019 and is a sophomore at North Carolina State University. She is majoring in Political Science with a minor in Criminology and is a member of the University Scholars Program. Ali is from Winston-Salem and attended Mount Tabor High School. After graduating from NC State, Ali plans to attend law school in North Carolina and hopes that the skills she learns at the General Assembly will help her in her future endeavors. She has a passion for helping others and ensuring that they are represented equally and fairly.

In her free time, she likes to attend NC State football and basketball games, as well as spending time with her dog Roo. Ali also enjoys going to the beach and spending time with her family when on break from school.
Pisgah View State Park

Earlier during this session, I filed Senate Bill 535 , which would authorize the Department of Natural and Cultural Resources (DNCR) to add a new park unit, Pisgah View State Park, to the State Parks System. As a child, I visited the Pisgah View Ranch many times and I have enjoyed revisiting it during the contract negotiations to establish the new state park. I am thrilled to be able to help preserve this beautiful piece of history. These lands provide essential habitat for species needing large, undeveloped land areas, and offer opportunities for healthy and enjoyable outdoor recreation.  Additionally, this park will present a remarkable economic opportunity for WNC. With its proximity to Asheville and I-40, as well as to the Pisgah and Great Smokey Mountain National Forests, this could be one of the most visited attractions in our state. The varied topography provides beautiful scenic views and existing/potential trails could host hiking, camping, and horseback riding. 

The 1,600 acres of Pisgah View Ranch in Candler, N.C. has been family owned since 1790 and was opened to the public in 1941 by Ruby and Chester Cogburn. The Ranch will be restored and remain open to the public once it becomes the newest state park. We should all be thankful to Cogburn family for allowing the citizens of North Carolina to continue to enjoy this incredible property. It is also important to recognize the significant contribution made by the Southern Appalachian Highlands Conservancy as they have spearheaded the negotiations alongside the NC Dept. of Parks and Recreation, and they have already raised $1M from private donors. 

In addition to authorizing the creation of the new state park, SB 535 names the park and permits it to receive donations of appropriated land or purchase other needed lands with existing funds from the Clean Water Management Trust Fund (CWMTF), the Parks and Recreation Trust Fund (PARTF), the federal Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF), and other available sources of funding. It is expected that land for the park would be purchased for approximately $18.2M over a span of five years with the first phase beginning after the contract closes at the end of 2019, soon establishing the first state park facilities in Buncombe County.  

Read the full article on NC48.com under the News section
OP-ED: U.S. Supreme Court Decision

Last week in a landmark ruling, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that redistricting is a firmly legislative and political matter outside the scope of the courts.

While most of the media coverage surrounding the decision has taken the sensationalist route, with hyperbolic headlines that scream, “Supreme Court Refuses to Outlaw Gerrymandering,” I think it’s important that we take a look at what the opinion of the court actually said.

The North Carolina congressional maps were previously redrawn to comply with a federal court’s order, but since Democrats still didn’t win a majority under those maps, they once again challenged the districts. This time they invented a completely new argument, claiming that legislative Republicans illegally used political considerations when drawing maps and argued that the districts in North Carolina were a “partisan gerrymander” that clearly violated the First Amendment’s guarantee of freedom of speech.

The Supreme Court disagreed. The founders of this country made it very clear in the US Constitution that state legislatures are the bodies in charge of drawing congressional maps. Legislatures are inherently political entities, and to make the argument that political considerations cannot be used at all in the redistricting process directly contradicts the intentions of our founding fathers.   
                      
In their opinion, the Supreme Court said, “plaintiffs inevitably ask the courts to make their own political judgment about how much representation particular political parties deserve— based on the votes of their supporters—and to rearrange the challenged districts to achieve that end. But federal courts are not equipped to apportion political power as a matter of fairness, nor is there any basis for concluding that they were authorized to do so.”

I have to applaud the Supreme Court for exercising judicial restraint here. Siding with the plaintiffs in this case would have resulted in absolute chaos and it would make unelected judges legislative and congressional kingmakers.

I would like to think this decision would be the end of Democrats attempting to subvert the democratic process but as the Democratic Party moves further and further left and alienates voters in rural and suburban areas there is no doubt in my mind that Democrats will continue their “sue til blue” campaign and try to get liberal activist judges to give them the power they are unable to achieve at the ballot box.

You can read the entire Op-Ed on NC48.com