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Ministry and Politics

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When Ministry and Politics Merge Into Something Good

by Sen. Steve Goss

Whether it is a 23 year old resident of our Senate district who has tried unsuccessfully for several years to retrieve an original of his birth certificate, or a middle-aged resident who suddenly finds his home-since-birth threatened by a third party lien from the state of North Carolina as a result of Medicaid expenses incurred through his deceased mother’s long illness, I have discovered as a North Carolina Senator the exact moments when ministry and politics intersect, and the result becomes something good.

With almost 30 years of experience as a Southern Baptist minister and missionary before I entered the public realm of politics, I believed from the first day of filing for the office that I would have a unique opportunity to serve the district and state as a whole. But I was completely unaware of the extent to which I would be able to help our folks individually. Obviously, every inquiry is different, each circumstance is unique, and I cannot succeed on behalf of every constituent. Yet, in my past experience as a pastor and my present role as a senator and preacher, I have learned time and again that genuine effort counts in the end. It is possible to accomplish good things privately, and on a personal level. We are a democratic society, and our people deserve to be heard and helped, if possible, at every level of government.

On the public, legislative level, every week during the more than six months the General Assembly is in session legislators in the Senate and House of Representatives filed, discussed, debated, and passed bills into law (hopefully) for the greater good of the 8.5 million residents of North Carolina. And in the midst of the history and power politics that were played out day after day in Raleigh during the session, I often reminded those colleagues who would listen that we must never forget the single mother or father who simply desires an opportunity for their child to succeed, or the developmentally disabled adult or child who wants to be respected as the special person he or she is in God’s world. In committee meetings I would often mention our senior citizens who should never have to make a choice between buying medication or food because of spiraling costs or lack of insurance coverage. Frequently, I spoke about the families faced with a mentally ill relative who deserve to be served without the fear of something unthinkable happening to them or their loved one. The list is lengthy and includes any number of circumstances such as lack of ability to afford childcare, rapidly rising costs of a college education, and the cost of gasoline and heating for many of our citizens. We can never lose sight of why we are in office…to serve the public and the best interests of the citizens.

Simply stated, politicians - if they are to be really effective for their constituents - must come down from the ivory towers that so often separate them from the very people whose voices need to be heard. In other words, politicians at all levels of government will be more respected when they show compassion for the people rather than passion for power. After only a short time in office, I am convinced that our people just want to know that their voices are heard and that they have an advocate when the bureaucracy seems to be overpowering them. It is at this point that ministry and politics can merge into something good.

I am always heartened when you take the time to write or call me to let me know how I can help. Whether you are sending information about a piece of legislation you’re interested in, offering your opinion about public policy and bills you would like to see me introduce or support, or letting me know about a personal issue negotiating the maze of state rules and offices in which you need my help, I am always glad to hear from you. You make this service worthwhile.

The Senate and House have both passed the state budget, and Governor Perdue has signed it into law — on time and in place for the start of the new Fiscal Year for the first time since 2003. I believe the budget is a thorough blueprint for our state as we come out of this awful recession and keeps us on track for the recovery. It helps small businesses, protects classroom teachers, supports our community colleges and universities, and prepares us for the future.

First, let me tell you what’s not in it: no pay cuts or pay raises, no mandated furloughs, no mass layoffs, and no new tax increases. In the aftermath of the Great Recession and historic budget shortfalls, that was quite a feat.

CUTTING SPENDING
This budget takes us back to 2006-2007 levels at under $19 billion. We have made difficult cuts — we’ve cut spending by $800 million in this budget and we’ve identified another $518 million in cuts if Congress does not come through with their federal health care matching funds. In all, the budget has been cut by around $3 billion over the last two years without even taking into account the federal recovery funds that helped us protect education and health care for the needy.

SUPPORTING SMALL BUSINESSES AND CREATING JOBS
The budget includes a tax credit for 125,000 small businesses (most of which have less than 10 employees) that employ 500,000 people in our state. It lowers the cost of maintaining and adding jobs in North Carolina for the next two years by allowing a refundable income tax credit to a small business equal to 25% of the amount it paid in unemployment insurance tax on wages paid to employees.

The budget also includes:
• Loans to help small businesses keep their doors open and funds to help small businesses leverage federal entrepreneur grants
• Restores funds for Small Business Centers at 58 community colleges, which supports the development of new businesses and the growth of existing businesses by being a community-based provider of training, counseling, and resource information
• Builds the “In-source NC” database to help NC companies find and use other NC companies for supplies and services

PROTECTING EDUCATION

The budget works to protect classroom teachers and minimize cuts to K-12 education. We were able to protect an estimated 1,700 teaching positions by adjusting the Education Lottery receipts budgeted for classroom teachers.

It also:

• Provides funding for handheld diagnostic devises, giving teachers a high-tech tool for measuring student progress.
• Preserves recurring funding for dropout prevention grants
• Fully funds enrollment growth at community colleges, which has grown by over 30,000 students this year alone
• Fully funds enrollment growth at universities, and removes any proposed cap on enrollment
• Provides $33 million for community colleges to purchase vital health, science, engineering, and technology equipment

PROVIDING FOR THE PEOPLE OF OUR STATE
• Helps working families with health insurance costs; adds 2,750 more kids to Health Choice for a total of 137,789 children
• Restores damaging cuts to the mental health system
• Continues North Carolina’s landmark per year investment in cancer research
• Statewide expansion of CJLEADS, a new data system to track probationers

We have worked well with our counterparts in the House, and this is truly a compromise budget where, in most cases, we met in the middle. In North Carolina, we have a long tradition of being a state where people want to live and work, to raise their families, and to retire. The priorities we fund help shape that quality of life. Even in the toughest of times, we have come together to craft a budget that is, I believe, a strong and appropriate plan to lead our state into brighter days.

The full budget is here:
http://www.ncleg.net/Sessions/2009/Bills/Senate/PDF/S897v8.pdf

The spending and reduction summaries:
http://www.ncleg.net/sessions/2009/budget/2010/SB897_Joint%20Conference%20Committee%20Report%2006-28-10.pdf

As always, please don’t hesitate to let me know your thoughts on the budget or any other issue you feel is important and thank you for the opportunity to serve you in the Senate.

Authorized and Paid for by Steve Goss for NC Senate