Lewis Announces Vision For 2007 General Assembly

Representative David Lewis, like most North Carolinians, embraces the values of personal responsibility, limited government, traditional values and low taxes. I have a vision for North Carolina that encompasses these values, moves us forward to meet the challenges, ensures that we can meet our obligations and prepares us for the future.

Under Democrat leadership for over a decade, North Carolina has the highest tax burden in the Southeast, poor performing public schools, scandal-ridden government, escalating healthcare costs, and liberal government policies that have failed. North Carolinians are tired of broken promises, shortsighted plans and campaign rhetoric.

Our State needs leadership with vision. I wont make promises just to win an election. We need long-term solutions to secure the future of our state. Our state must adhere to responsible fiscal policies that enable us to offer tax relief, not further obligate the taxpayers of North Carolina.

I am committed to addressing the pressing problems that affect all North Carolinians: jobs, healthcare, the impact of illegal immigrants, education, property rights, defending marriage and the shame of government scandals.

With new direction in the State House, North Carolina will be ready for the next decade, to compete, excel and flourish.

1. Help Business Create Jobs and Protect Current Jobs

North Carolinians value an honest days work and search for opportunities that enable them to provide for their families and enrich their communities. We should expand those opportunities by strengthening worker training programs within our Community College system and will continue the long-standing tradition of excellent universities to provide the best trained, most employable work force in the country.

I recognize that business, not government, creates jobs.

I am committed to lowering the tax burden on businesses and providing a well trained work force.

I know that family owned and small businesses are the backbone of our economy and pledge to protect their interests. I also know that new business and industry revitalizes our economy and pledge to encourage their growth. All businesses and industries will be given a fair and even playing field to ensure open competition and free enterprise.

I am committed to providing the best economic development tool to attract businesses to North Carolina and keep them here with a well trained workforce, a robust economy, well maintained roads, good schools and safe communities.

2. Stop subsidizing illegal immigration

North Carolina has the 8th largest illegal immigrant population in the country with estimates of over 500,000 living in our state today. National reports indicate that we have the fastest growing illegal immigration population in the country. I recognize the financial impact on our schools, healthcare, government services and economy.

Rather than ignoring the problem or simply paying lip service to solutions, we are committed to controlling this problem. In order to eliminate North Carolina from being a haven for illegal immigrants entering the United States, I will work to restrict the issuance of North Carolina drivers licenses to legal residents of this state only.

Recognizing that much of North Carolinas economy is dependent on workers in agribusiness, the hospitality industry and landscaping, I believe everyone who lives in North Carolina and reaps the benefits of our great state should pay their fair share of taxes. I pledge to work to ensure that all applicable taxes are paid by all workers in North Carolina. I support enacting and enforcing fines and penalties for employers who knowingly employ illegal workers.

I pledge to restrict the benefit of paying in-state tuition rates at our community colleges and universities to only legal residents of North Carolina.

3. Lower healthcare costs for everyone

With the costs of healthcare and health insurance escalating, we must have the vision to enact changes that will contain these costs while maintaining the highest standards of care of all North Carolinians.

We must work to end frivolous lawsuits and excessive judgments that drive up the costs of healthcare for everyone.

We must enact sweeping reforms to eliminate fraud and waste in the states Medicaid program that drive up the costs of healthcare and insurance payments.

The costs of an individuals healthcare insurance should be tax-deductible for individuals and small businesses. In the spirit of free enterprise and believing that competition fosters better care at a better price; North Carolinians should be able to buy insurance from out of state insurers. I will work to will make opportunities available to small businesses so that they can pool resources to provide affordable health insurance options to their employees.

I will spearhead studies of successful options in healthcare from around the country and world such as Health Savings Accounts and other portable insurance programs to explore every possible option in ensuring that the very best and most affordable healthcare is available to North Carolinians.

4. Get tax dollars out of the bureaucracy and into the classroom

Education dollars must be directed into the classrooms where students and teachers benefit and kept away from central offices and statewide bureaucracy.

Spending on public Kindergarten through twelfth grade has increased $2.4 Billion in the last ten years with millions of dollars spent on new programs that promised improvements in education. Yet North Carolinas high schools graduates only 66 percent of those who enter the 9th grade. I am committed to making meaningful changes in education; changes that improve education, not line the pockets of bureaucrats. In our global economy, we recognize that students will compete for jobs and careers all over the world. In order to effectively plan and implement long term education goals, we must have clear indicators of how our students compare with others. I will work to formulate methods to test and calculate how our students are performing, not to inflate results and mislead. Only with an honest and accurate assessment of how our students compare with others can we enact changes that are effective, meaningful and measurable. I will work to insure that an education provided by the state of North Carolina enables our students to excel in todays world.

The current method of funding school construction in North Carolina is inadequate and we intend to fix it. Under our leadership state money will not go into slush funds; it will be dedicated to building schools. We must re-visit promises made when the Education lottery became law and allocate more of the proceeds from the lottery to build and maintain our school buildings.

I will work to prioritize education spending so that every dollar goes to benefit the student.

It is the duty and responsibility of public education to offer options and choices that best benefit students. Parents are in the best position to determine what is best for their children. I support lifting the cap on Charter Schools, allowing them to grow and expand. I am committed to offering more public school choices to North Carolina families.

5. Defend marriage

Since 1871, the law of North Carolina says marriage is created by the consent of a male and female person to take each other as husband and wife. A recent court ruling in Massachusetts, granting marital status to same-sex couples, has brought North Carolinas definition of marriage into question.

The only way to permanently protect and defend traditional marriage is to amend our Constitution, as nineteen other states have already done.

During the 2005 session of the General Assembly, I co-sponsored a Defense of Marriage bill. This Bill had wide bipartisan support. Our effort to defend marriage in North Carolina was stopped cold by the Democrat leadership.

I will continue to fight to pass legislation and continue to fight to defend our traditions, promote families and protect the sanctity of marriage in North Carolina.

6. Protect private property:

One of our most fundamental rights is the right to own property. I believe that current North Carolina law does not adequately protect property owners in North Carolina.

In light of the US Supreme Court Kelo decision, government can use its eminent domain powers to take private property, not for public use or benefit, but for economic development.

I have filed legislation that would protect private property rights and are deeply concerned that the Democrat leadership has refused to address this issue. Recognizing that laws can be changed at the whim and in the self interest of legislators, we pledge to lead the fight to amend the Constitution to forever protect private property rights in North Carolina.

7. Clean up state government

Scandals involving campaign finance, lobbying and election laws have undermined public trust in our state government.

Elected officials should be held to high standards and play by the same rules as every other citizen in North Carolina. I support reforms to clarify, strengthen and reinforce ethics laws.

In spite of all the rules and regulations, the key to ethics lies not only in the rules, but in the ethics of those who serve.

I pledge to continue to work to govern well and responsibly.

Waste and reckless spending of taxpayer money must stop. Under many years of Democrat leadership, government spending has increased each and every year, almost 10% just this year.

Every government program will be evaluated during the biannual budget process to weed out all duplication and waste and make sure every tax dollar is effectively and efficiently spent. Every government agency should use Zero Based Budgeting in formulating its annual budget requests. Funding will be increased or deceased based on each programs real need and proven success.