Promises made, promises kept
It has been a wild ride as we have seen the first Republican state
legislature in 140 years fundamentally change the direction of North
Carolina government. Keeping our campaign pledges, our achievements
have been many with respect to creating a more job friendly state,
protecting our rights and our families. National commentators have
labeled us the most effective conservative state legislature in the
country.
We overcame a $3.5 billion deficit to balance the budget without
raising taxes; we enacted medical malpractice reform, tort reform, and
workers compensation reform, all of which aid in job creation and
supporting our economy. This business empowerment is already
displaying results. From June 2011 through December 2011, North
Carolina businesses created 11,100 jobs as opposed to job losses of
3,400 in 2010, 26,500 in 2009 and 69,700 in 2008.
We strengthened our laws protecting our second amendment rights and
enacted annexation reform. We passed laws strengthening and
protecting our families with the Women's Right to Know Act and gave
voters the opportunity to vote on a constitutional amendment defining
marriage as between one man and one woman.
However, we still have much work to do. We must still fight to bring
greater confidence to our election process with photo voter ID, we
must pursue the best methods of energy production in our state and we
must stay firm in our beliefs in tax reform and fiscal responsibility.
Through it all, I have been honored with a leadership position in one
of the most important areas of our state: education. As Co-Chair of
the Senate Education Committee as well as an appointed member of the
North Carolina Public School Forum and the national Education
Commission of the States, I will continue to work to fight a broken
education bureaucracy and empower teachers to help give all our
children the brightest possible future.
As we look forward to the short session in May and the years to come,
our priorities will remain the same: fiscal responsibility, the
protection of rights and preservation of the values that have made and
continue to make this country and state great.
Thanks again for all your support and God bless,
Dan Soucek
dan@fansofdan.com | Become a fan on Facebook
