What Sen. Smith missed

Submitted by ryanteaguebeckwith on August 13, 2007 - 9:30am.
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Sen. Fred Smith missed more than 300 votes this session.

The Clayton Republican, who is running for the Republican nomination for governor, was listed in a survey by the Greensboro News & Record as having missed about a quarter of the votes, or 318 out of 1,238.

Some were minor, such this bill to honor Independence High's football team, or this one to honor the founder of Peace College. Others were procedural moves on bills that he eventually voted on.

A few were high profile decisions, however. Smith missed votes to change billboard setbacks, divest state money from Sudan, allow judges to carry handguns and create a pilot program for publicly financed campaigns.

Two bills tie into his gubernatorial campaign theme of stopping illegal immigration. Smith missed votes on a bill that would help jailers determine the legal status of prisoners, and another that would require fingerprinting of drunk drivers who don't have valid ID.

He also missed a vote that ties to his theme of Democratic corruption. That bill will limit legal defense funds like the one created for disgraced former House Speaker Jim Black.

A complete list of his votes is online here. Missed votes are listed as "excused absence." The News & Record's spreadsheets: Senate and House.

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Re: What Sen. Smith missed

Submitted by ryanteaguebeckwith on August 13, 2007 - 2:38pm.

Welcome to the edge of propriety. Please make your stay a brief one.

Thanks,

— RTB

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Re: What Sen. Smith missed

Submitted by SneakyFRED on August 13, 2007 - 2:02pm.

Fred Smith, you make me want to puke. And anyone that knows anything about you, or has any dealing with you, your recently felony convicted Riverwood counsel, or your company knows exactly what I am talking about. Furthermore, why must you repeatedly kill the beavers in the lake in Riverwood?

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Re: What Sen. Smith missed

Submitted by kimkim on August 13, 2007 - 10:16am.

Wow - Smith missed a lot of votes. Smith talks the talk but he does not walk the walk.

I found this from April of this year:

Goldsboro News Argus - April 11, 2007 (excerpt)

Smith: Work in N.C. Senate won't suffer from campaign

State Sen. Fred Smith, R-Johnston, is campaigning for governor, but that doesn't mean he is ignoring his duties in the Senate.

"I think I'm meeting the needs of the people in my district," he said Tuesday after leading a devotional at the Tuesday Morning Men's Prayer Breakfast at Wilber's. "It just requires long days, but that comes with the territory.

"I'm working hard to be a good senator in the 12th senatorial district."

Link: http://www.newsargus.com/news/archives/2007/04/11/smith_work_in_nc_senate_wont_suffer_from_campaign/index.shtml

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