THE ACTION: Attend the Town Hall meeting (just your presence is important) and politely demand that Jamie Boles add his sunset provision and get the bill to the General Assembly floor for a vote.

WHEN: Tonight, Thursday, June 23, at 7 p.m. 

WHERE: Commissioners' Meeting Room, 2nd floor of the Historic Courthouse, 1 Courthouse Square, Carthage (map)

THE GOAL: Get SB 727 out of committee and to the NCGA for a vote.

NOT THE QUESTION (this week): Should Moore Co. approve a .0025% sales tax to fund school construction? This is a necessary and important debate but we have four months for that. Right now the issue is getting it on the November ballot.

DETAILS: According The Pilot, Representative Jamie Boles is holding up SB 727 because it doesn't contain a "sunset" provision that would cause it to expire at a future point. This is an arguably good idea but Sen. Tillman, the bill's sponsor, told us Jamie can easily add a sunset amendment and allow it to continue through the process. 

Note: There are two, separate but interlaced questions, here:
   1. How much and what kind (frugal or extravagant) of school construction do we actually need?
   2. How do we pay for it, regardless what we build?

The second question is the only issue addressed by the sales tax. Most of us have many questions, but here are some of the reasons it's looking like the wise, conservative way to go:

• It's locked-in, by law, for new construction so future Boards of Commissioners (BoE) can't reallocate it
• It's transparent and accountable so we'll know how much there is at any given time
• It will greatly reduce the amount we'll have to borrow, thus avoiding a huge amount of interest debt
• It will avoid a hike in property taxes to fund school construction
• It will give everybody "skin in the game" (rather than just property owners) which will make responsible fiscal decisions of interest to more citizens
• Outsiders who visit Moore Co. will help pay for our school (vs. just property owners)
• It obviates the need for more massive bonds which always dearly cost the taxpayers

MTC favors a tax increase?? No! In fact, many of our members want government out of the school business, but that won't happen anytime soon, will it? In the meantime, Moore Co. will build and will fund it. Funding it wisely or foolishly is the immediate decision we taxpayers must make. If a miracle happened next year and NC handed over all schools to the private sector, we can repeal a .0025% sales tax. If not, it's a idea with merit we need to hash out, but it must get out of committee before it can get on the ballot.

On the March 15th ballot will be a bond referendum titled "Connect NC". This was originally intended to be a transportation infrastructure bond, but has been gutted and refilled with a grab bag of goodies from the Christmas wish lists of our State Legislators.

Most of the largesse will go to UNC facilities across the state; none of the earmarked projects appear to be dire emergencies, and all should have been addressed within the normal budget making process.

The Connect NC bond is a $2 Billion pork barrel give away, that will cost NC $100 million in annual principal payments plus additional hundreds of millions in interest over its 20-year life.

We encourage everyone to vote "NO" to this list of luxury items at a time when we are struggling to pay teachers and care for our veterans.

​S. 1177, the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), became law on Dec. 10. It calls itself "An Act to reauthorize the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to ensure that every child achieves." – As if Congress could achieve its aim by words alone.
 
Have you heard of the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB)? That was the previous version of the law, enacted in 2002. ESSA extends K-12 authorizations through 2020. It doesn't eliminate or significantly roll back NCLB's annual testing mandates. It allows K-12 spending to continue its rapid growth. It retreats on school choice. It lacks an opt-out provision for states. It contains new programs that represent new federal encroachment on parents and local communities. It is a betrayal of America's families. The Department of Education is celebrating its passage. Secretary of Education Duncan wrote a Dear Colleagues letter praising the bill for accomplishing a number of key administration objectives.
 
It is another "conference committee" bill, produced on Dec. 1, approved by the House on Dec 2 and by the Senate on Dec. 9. How can our representatives read and comprehend and intelligently vote on such a huge bill in such a short time? How can we get them to stop this madness?
 
Senators Burr and Tillis voted for the bill, which passed 85 to 12. Rep. Ellmers voted for the bill, which passed 359 to 64.
 
Remember these votes in the March 2016 election primary.