BRIDGE funding restored! Please call or write NOW

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YOu can watch wral.com (http://www.wral.com/news/state/nccapitol/video/9662539/) the Senate Appropriations Committee
meeting and they have put the Mid-Currituck Bridge funding back into the
budget!!!! Please call the Senators below and ask why! The bridge
DOES NOT alleviate congestion as the statute that created it requires.
That alone should strike the bridge from the statutes. We are going to
have to fight to the end!!

Called	Senator Name	Number	Against/For/???
	Phil Berger (President Pro Tempore)	919/733-5708
	Peter Brunstetter (co-chair Approps)	919/733-7850
	Neal Hunt (co-chair Approps)	919/733-5850
	Bob Rucho	919/733-5655
	Richard Stevens (co-chair Approps)	919/733-5653
	Martin Nesbitt (member Approps)	919/715-3001
	Don Vaughan (member Trans Approp)	919/733-5856
	Jerry Tillman (member Trans)	919/733-5870
	Jim Forrester (co-chair Trans Approps and Trans)	919/715-3050
	Tom Apodoca (vice-chair Approps)	919/733-5745
	Linda Garrou (vice-chair Approps)	919/733-5620
	Malcolm Graham (member Trans)	919/733-5650
	Brent Jackson (member Trans)	919/733-5705
	Clark Jenkins (member Trans Approps)	919/715-3040
	Gladys Robinson (member Trans)	919/715-3042
	Dan Soucek (member Trans)	919/733-5742
	Stan White (member Trans)	919/715-8293
	Don East (member Trans)	919/733-5743
	Harris Blake (member Approps)	919/733-4809
	Warren Daniel (member Trans)	919/715-7823
	Rick Gunn (member Trans Approps)	919/301-1446
	Louis Pate (member Approps)	919/733-5621
	Michael Walters (member Approps)	919/733-5651
	Ellie Kinnaird (member Approps)	919/733-5804

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SAMPLE TEXT:



[size=12]I would like to
understand why the Mid-Currituck Bridge funding has been restored? The
General Statue that created the Mid-Currituck Bridge states that it MUST
alleviate congestion, and according the studies in the DEIS, it will
make traffic worse not better. Although, the NCTA would have you
believe otherwise.

This is a wishlist project not a NEED
project, and the NC voters & taxpayers can't afford it! This
project is purely for the convenience of tourists 13 weekends per year!
The majority of residents on both sides of the proposed bridge are
opposed to it, even though theoretically they have the most to gain.
But yet you want to charge NC taxpayers who live & work in remote
places like Ocracoke a toll when it's there only way there?



§ 136-89.183A. Accelerated Pilot Toll Bridge Project.


(a) Findings. – The General Assembly finds that there is a need for
a bridge connecting the Currituck County mainland to the Currituck
County Outer Banks; that the bridge should be implemented as a toll
bridge; that the bridge should be implemented in a manner that protects
the natural environment and quality of life on the Outer Banks; and that
the character of the existing road system in Currituck County and Dare
County Outer Banks should be preserved.


(b) Contract to Construct Accelerated Pilot Toll Bridge Project. –
The Authority shall contract with a single private firm to design,
obtain all necessary permits for, and construct the toll bridge
described in G.S. 136-89.183(a)(2), known as the Mid-Currituck Bridge,
in order to provide accelerated, efficient, and cost-effective
completion of the project.


(c) Preconstruction Participation. – In addition to the authority
granted by G.S. 136-89.191, the Department shall participate in the cost
of preconstruction activities related to the project described in this
section, if requested by the Authority.


(d) Environmental Protection. – The Authority shall ensure that the
Mid-Currituck Bridge is implemented in a manner that accomplishes all
of the following:


(1) Ensures the preservation of water quality in Currituck Sound.


(2) Mitigates the environmental impact of the bridge on the Currituck County mainland and the Outer Banks.


(3) Reduces traffic congestion and vehicle miles
traveled, and preserves the character of the existing road system, in
Dare County and Currituck County on the Outer Banks.


(e) Report on Project. – The Authority shall report to the Joint
Legislative Transportation Oversight Committee on December 1, 2005, and
each December 1 thereafter until completion, on the progress of the
accelerated pilot toll bridge project described in this section.
(2005-275, s. 3; 2008-225, s. 11.)

[size=9][size=12]
I look forward to hearing from you and sincerely hope you do the right
thing for all the people of NC and remove this funding once & for
all!


NAME
Address
Phone


[/size][/size]

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FROM THE DAILY ADVANCE

Owens, Spear help broker budget deal

By Reggie Ponder

The Daily Advance

Tuesday, May 31, 2011

Two Democratic House members from northeastern North Carolina have
joined three others from their party in brokering a budget deal with
Senate Republicans that restores state funding for thousands of teacher
assistant positions, Museum of the Albemarle’s operations and the
Mid-Currituck Bridge project.
State Rep. Bill Owens, D-Pasquotank, said Tuesday afternoon that he is
trying to avoid “an absolute train wreck” by working with state Rep. Tim
Spear, D-Washington, and three other Democratic House members to
negotiate a deal with the GOP leadership in the Senate.
A state government shutdown would be disastrous, he said, but is
possible since the current budget dilemma goes beyond the governor and
the General Assembly leadership simply thinking their positions are
right.
“I just see that both sides know they’re right,” Owens said —
pronouncing the word “know” for emphasis — “and when you have that
that’s when you have a train wreck.”
Owens, Spear and the three other Democrats have worked with Republicans
on a $19.7 billion budget plan that would preserve funds for 13,000
teaching assistant positions while letting temporary taxes expire on
June 30.
The plan also addresses a number of regional issues that Owens and Spear pushed for. For example:
• The Currituck Mid-County Bridge stays on schedule;
• Museum of the Albemarle remains open;
• Tolls will not be imposed on the Knotts Island or Ocracoke ferries;
• Money for “virtual schools” programs in Currituck, Tyrrell and Hyde counties remains intact;
• The N.C. Seafood Industrial Park at Wanchese is continued at 85 percent funding; and
• Regional economic development partnership money is continued at $4.4 million.
Owens said the plan also maintains $8 million in special funding for
small school systems, funds the One NC economic development initiative,
restores $50 million a year for the Golden LEAF Foundation, funds public
universities at $100 million more than the House budget, and provides
an additional $5 million in Rural Center funding for emergency water
grants.
But the reinstating of teacher assistant positions was the most crucial
issue for the group of House Democrats who negotiated the plan with the
Senate leadership, Owens said.
According to The Associated Press, the potential deal spends $300
million more on the public schools than the House budget approved in
May. The deal restores funding for 13,000 teaching positions in grades
1-3 that had been eliminated in an earlier Senate plan. The deal also
adds money to hire more than 1,100 new teachers for those early grades.
It also spends $100 million more on the University of North Carolina
System than the House budget would.
Leaving out the teacher assistants would have been an “absolute deal breaker” for the Democrats, Owens said.
Senate leader Phil Berger told The Associated Press Tuesday that the
Senate budget bill could be voted on his chamber today and Thursday and
returned to the House, which could finalize the measure by Saturday and
send it to Gov. Bev Perdue’s desk for her signature.
Senate Minority Leader Martin Nesbitt, D-Buncombe, told The AP Tuesday
that the new version of the Senate budget was released too quickly and
would still harm public education. He pointed out that the new plan
requires local school districts to find another $124 million in
additional cuts, with the areas to be reduced made at their discretion.
Perdue said in a prepared statement Tuesday that the education funding
in the new Senate plan “appears to be a charade” that could lead to
thousands of layoffs. The governor has said she would veto any budget
that didn’t preserve education spending.
Owens said Tuesday that the Democrats who plan to support the budget deal have offered to meet with Perdue to discuss it.
Asked if he would vote to override a veto if Perdue were to veto the
budget, Owens said he won’t say he will until after he has met with
Perdue. He said he knows the teacher assistant positions were important
to Perdue and he hopes that will help her support the Senate GOP’s plan.
But when pressed on the question of a veto override, Owens acknowledged
it’s possible that he might vote for an override if Perdue vetoes the
Senate’s budget plan.
He said his more immediate concern right now is that the budget plan might not pass.
State Rep. Jim Crawford, a Granville County Democrat who worked with
Owens and Spear on the budget compromise with Republicans, said he had
not yet decided whether he would vote to override a veto by Perdue.
“I hope she won’t veto it,” Crawford said. He said he, Owens, Spear and
the other House Democrats who worked with the GOP on the budget plan
tried to put back some key education pieces and other things important
to the governor.
“That’s a little further down the road,” Crawford said of the veto question. “We’ve got to get the budget passed first.”
Crawford said Owens and Spear had fought hard for northeastern North
Carolina during the budget negotiations with Senate Republicans.
“They’ve done one hell of a job for your folks,” Crawford said.
Owens acknowledged that northeastern North Carolina seemed to be
singled out for cuts in earlier versions of the budget. He said that
might have a plan for payback to the region because of things that
happened in the past when former Sen. Marc Basnight, D-Dare, and Owens
were key budget players and brought significant funding to the
northeast.
But Owens said he and Spear were able to move the discussion beyond a focus on the past.
He acknowledged that the group of House Democrats did not get everything they wanted.
“We fought as many fights as we could fight,” Owens said. “There’s only so many things you could take on.”
Owens said Republican lawmakers campaigned in the last election on
allowing the 2009 sales tax increase to sunset. He said he understands
that the GOP feels like it can’t go back on its word on the tax issue.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Contact Reggie Ponder at [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

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