As Republican leader in the House of Representatives I have worked closely with the other House and Senate leaders to present a conservative alternative to the failed direction in which the Democrats have led us.
We stood united against the Democrats decision to make permanent temporary taxes which were overdue to expire. We stood united against another runaway budget that increases state spending by $1.8 billion – a 9.5% increase (after last year’s 9.7% increase)! We spoke out against the excesses of the Democrats and highlighted that they actually reduced funding for highways.
We forced House Democrats to take a stand on private property. We will encourage the Senate to take up the challenge in 2008. We spoke out against Speaker Hackney’s burial of legislation to protect traditional marriage, and against his violation of House rules by allowing provisions to be secretly inserted into the final budget. We beat back an attempt by Democrats to rig elections in North Carolina by altering the Electoral College. Recently we protested the Democrats’ amazing idea to admit illegals to community colleges.
But we were not just in opposition. We presented an alternate budget that addressed critical shortfalls in transportation. And our program did not require raising tax rates.
Corruption in state government has reared its ugly head. In 2007 the long time Speaker of the House, Jim Black, went to federal prison for taking and giving bribes. Another member of the House, Rep. Thomas Wright, was recently indicted by the Grand Jury of Wake County for obtaining property by false pretenses and felony obstruction of justice. Reforms that I supported in 2006 and 2007 will take some of the profit out of this type of crime. But only continued vigilance by law enforcement and the House will root it out.
This website can take you into the world of public policy. You can make this your first-stop portal to the Internet. The articles section will introduce you to some of my thoughts on education, economic development, tax policy and many other issues.
You can also use this website to find out more about Southwest Wake County (District 37 through links to the three towns – Apex, Holly Springs and Fuquay-Varina.) *This section includes vote totals by precinct.
A new feature of this website is information on the 2007-2008 House Republican Caucus. This section will feature my own statements as leader of the caucus. The audio section will let you hear real floor debates. And the video section features a comprehensive interview with former UNC President Bill Friday on WUNC-TV.
Sincerely,
Paul Stam