LEGISLATIVE NEWSLETTER

June 4, 2014
The short session of the General Assembly convened on May 14
th

and the pace around the Legislative Building has been fast and
hectic. Short sessions are supposed to be just that, short, and we
intend to keep it that way.
During the long session in odd-numbered years, legislators pass a
biennial budget to operate our state in two fiscal years. Obviously,
its difficult to plan what the economy and what revenue will look like
a year in advance, so the main purpose of the short session is to
tweak the budget we passed in the previous fiscal year to reflect the
needs of this current fiscal year.
As co-chairman of the Senate Appropriations/Base Budget
Committee, I have spent most of this short session helping to write
the revised state budget. Weve had our challenges this year due
mainly to the rising cost of the runaway federal entitlement program,
Medicaid. However, we released and passed a budget last week
that not only fully funds Medicaid and our states core priorities, but
also provides the largest raises for our public school teachers in
state history!
HISTORIC PAY RAISE FOR NORTH CAROLINAS TEACHERS
Since 2009, the salary step plan, an archaic 37-step system
guaranteeing an increase in pay for each year a teacher serves the
state, has been frozen. This means teachers have not seen an
increase in compensation since 2009, with the exception of a 1.2%
raise Republicans gave teachers in 2012 during our first term in the
majority.
This plan will replace the archaic 37-step system with an entirely
new base pay scale designed to attract and keep the best teachers
in the classroom. More importantly, the $468 million increase will

SENATOR NEAL HUNT
Proudly Representing Wake
County in the North Carolina
Senate
15
th
District

LEGISLATIVE OFFICE
300 N. Salisbury Street,
Room 309
Raleigh, NC 27603
(919)733-5850
Neal.Hunt@ncleg.net

DISTRICT OFFICE
2600 Fairview Road
Raleigh, NC 27608
(919)781-3464
provide an average 11.2% permanent pay raise. This increase will
boost North Carolinas teacher pay from 47
th
in the nation to the
middle of current national rankings and from 9
th
to 3
rd
in the
Southeast, boosting the state ahead of Virginia, Tennessee, and
South Carolina.
Under this new bipartisan plan, teachers will have a choice: keep
their tenure or pick the new pay plan. It is my hope that this choice
will weed out the least effective teachers by ending tenure for those
choosing the higher pay plan.
In addition, the education budget:
Offers supplemental pay for teachers with Masters degrees;
Keeps the doors open at the NC Center for the Advancement
of Teaching;
Provides $39 million for pay raises for other public school
employees;
Offers a two percent raise to principals and other school
administrators, and
Provides a $500 flat raise to non-instructional public school
employees.

Chairing the Senate Appropriations Committee meeting on May 29
th
as members debated
SB 744 Appropriations Act of 2014
THE SENATE BUDGET
Let me take this opportunity to highlight some other sections of our
info@nealhunt.com



STANDING COMMITTEES
Appropriations, Co-Chair
Commerce
Finance
Health Care
Program Evaluation
Redistricting
Transportation

VOTING RECORD

BILLS INTRODUCED


revised state budget passed last week. This Senate budget not only
raises the pay for public school teachers, but it also:
Fully funds our states core priorities without a tax increase;
Provides a flat $1,000 salary and benefits raise to most state
employees;
Takes the politics out of the State Bureau of Investigation
and the State Crime Lab by moving both to the Department
of Public Safety;
Provides $200 million in additional tax dollars for Medicaid,
bringing the total to over $2 billion in extra state funding for
this runaway federal entitlement program (see chart below);
Provides a challenge grant to the NC Museum of History to
begin planning a building expansion;
Avoids using one-time funds to pay for recurring expenses
for the first time in recent memory; and,
Continues to add to the states reserves, more than doubling
them since 2011.

The above chart shows that Medicaid spending has indeed increased under
Republican leadership, despite those on the left citing cuts to Medicaid
NORTH CAROLINAS DECLINING UNEMPLOYMENT RATE
In 2010, our states unemployment rate was the fourth highest in the
nation at 11.2%. This embarrassing fact launched a new voter
mindset of changing course, so they elected a new Republican
majority to fix the problems that ailed our state.
Fast forward to today after the implementation of our responsible
economic policies, our unemployment rate has fallen to 6.2 percent,
the lowest it has been since March 2006. Since Republicans took
the majority in 2011, over 200,000 jobs have been created and our
unemployment rate has dropped 4.2%!
Month, Year Employment Unemployment Rate
April 2014 4,387,118 6.2%
January 2011 4,165,815 10.4%
Total Net Jobs: 221,303 -4.2%
*Source: Bureau of Labor and Statistics
http://data.bls.gov/timeseries/LASST370000000000003
Critics on the left will contend that the national unemployment rate
has also dropped. This is true. However, our state unemployment
rate, which used to be well above the national average, now falls
well below the national average. In fact, North Carolina is the
second highest in job creation nationwide.
Our states success certainly cannot be credited to the excellent
work of the federal government (joking). Our states success can
only be attributable to our new lower tax rates, less burdensome
regulations, and an overall improved business climate that the
Republican majority has implemented over the past four years.

During a meeting at the NC Museum of History, the museum staff found one of my old
campaign signs from their archives and asked me to sign it.
CONCLUSION
I look forward to serving the people of the 15
th
Senate District during
my last short session in office. Thank you for allowing me the
opportunity to serve you in the North Carolina Senate.
As always, please contact my office with any concerns you may
have.
Sincerely,

Neal Hunt


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