Dale Folwell

Civitas: No legislators on 'A' honor roll

mbieseck — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 15:42:03 -0500

Among all the conservative politicians at the N.C. General Assembly, it appears none are conservative enough to suit Civitas Action.

The non-profit voter education group, with has ties to the conservative John William Pope Civitas Institute, released its Conservative Effectiveness Rankings for the 2009 legislative session on Monday.

Rep. Dale Folwell, a Forsyth County Republican, snagged the title of the most conservative member of the N.C. House, with a 89.8 score on the 100-point scale developed by Civitas Action. At the other end of the spectrum, Speaker Joe Hackney, a Democrat from Orange County, was awarded a score of 0.

In the state Senate, Davie County Republican Sen. Andrew Brock was rated as the body's most conservative member, with a score of 79. Three Democrats, Sens. Ellie Kinnaird of Orange, Katie Dorsett of Guilford and Martin Nesbitt of Buncombe were all scored at the bottom, tying at 2.1 on the group's scale.

Civitas Action's scale is based on the elected officials' votes on bills and amendments the group identified as demonstrative of commitment to conservative ideals as "derived from free-market economic policies, limited government, personal responsibility and civic engagement," according to the group's web site.

By that measure, the most conservative member of the state House got the equivalent of a B+, whole the most conservative senator got a C+.

UPDATE: Bill Holmes, spokesman for Speaker Hackney, points out that the Democratic leader didn't vote on 49 of the 50 bills Civitas Action graded. The speaker typically only votes to break a tie or at other points where his support is determinative, Holmes said. Sen. Vernon Malone, who died in April, also got a 0 score from the group due to his being "absent" when many of the bills came up.

GOP 'invites' Perdue into budget fray

bniolet — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 16:33:58 -0400

House Republicans want Gov. Beverly Perdue to jump into budget negotiations.

Republicans sponsored a resolution "inviting" the governor to comment on the House and Senate budget proposals.

"It sends a message that in this time of severe crisis that more hands on deck, more minds toward the problem is the best possible solution," said Rep. Dale Folwell, a Winston-Salem Republican and co-sponsor of the resolution.

The document also takes one more shot at the House budget proposal.

"The House balanced its budget with a combination of regressive taxes and taxes that make North Carolina a more expensive place in which to live and work," the resolution states.

During the House budget debate, Republicans praised Perdue's budget proposal, particularly for her plan to only budget for jobs that are filled. The accounting maneuver would have made hundreds of millions available at the start of the year. It also, House Democrats pointed out, would have wiped out a big cushion for emergencies.

"I just don't believe the governor of our state would propose something nonsensical," said Rep. John Blust, a Greensboro Republican, said during the budget debate.

Perdue, of course, hasn't been bashful about what she believes should be done about the budget. Her statewide barnstorm for more taxes continues Monday with stops in Greenville and Wilmington.

Budget heads to House floor

bniolet — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 23:35:24 -0400

The full House will get its first look today at $18.5 billion budget proposal that slashes spending across state government, but spares several programs by including $780 million in new taxes.

The House budget bill made it through a key committee late Wednesday after a contentious debate in which Republicans franticly tried to stop Democrats from using a parliamentary maneuver designed to fend off any changes to the budget proposal.

The Democrats changed the title of the bill to an unwieldy recitation of all the taxes the budget would raise. House rules say amendments can’t be contrary to the title of a bill, which means removing the taxes would be tough.

House Republicans have stood firmly against any new taxes. Democrats have been divided over the issue with supporters saying the taxes are needed to avoid painful cuts to education and social services. The state is facing a $4 billion deficit.

"We had very egregious cuts that a lot of us on both sides of the aisle had trouble with," said Hugh Holliman, the House majority leader and a Lexington Democrat.

Rep. Paul Stam, an Apex Republican and the House minority leader, protested the Democrats’ late move to cut off substantial changes.

"It spends too much. It taxes too much. We’re in a deep recession. We shouldn’t be doing this," Stam said. "It will hurt the economy of the state."

The debate gets testy after the jump.

House adopts Health Plan bill

bniolet — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 15:51:48 -0400

The House approved the State Health Plan bill.

Members voted 60 to 56 in favor of the bill. House Republicans objected to the final version.

Members cited the increased cost to state employees and the removal of a provision that would convert the plan to a calendar year.

"The only thing the House could have been proud of and stood up for is converting the plan to a calendar year," said Rep. Dale Folwell, a Winston-Salem Republican.

Converting the plan's calendar would put it in line with most other health plans and allow families to better plan for health care costs.

But the conversion would cost the state an additional $60 million over two years. It would cost employees an additional rate increase.

Rep. Hugh Holliman, the bill's primary sponsor and House Democratic leader said the compromise bill was meant to be a short-term fix that will help the struggling plan stay solvent while officials consider a long-term fix.

"I think this is a fair compromise," Holliman said.

Legislators name-check greasy spoons

ryanteaguebeckwith — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 20:16:24 -0400

Maybe they were getting hungry.

As the night wore on, state representatives began talking less about hypothetical examples of how restaurants would fare under a smoking ban and more about their favorite greasy spoons.

Rep. Dale Folwell took the cake with references to four specific restaurants.

Toward the end of the debate, the Winston-Salem Republican mentioned three local restaurants that went smoke-free or limited smoking on their own: Cloverdale Kitchen, the Lighthouse Restaurant and Noble's Grille.

"For 43 years, I've been eating pancakes and lasagna and other things at a place called Cloverdale Kitchen," he said. "Cloverdale Kitchen a couple of years ago went non-smoking on their own and business increased."

He also noted that he liked to eat at Ted's Kickin Chicken in Winston-Salem on Thursday night for "biker night."

Rep. Cary Allred also name-checked Sharky's Grill in Burlington, while Rep. David Lewis noted that McDonald's has gone smoke-free. The Applebee's restaurant chain also came up at one point.

Recent House bills

ryanteaguebeckwith — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 13:00:04 -0400

Recent House bills of note:

H.B. 661: City Managers on School Boards, Rep. Ray Warren

H.B. 677: Require a "First in Flight" Background, Reps. Lucy Allen, Lorene Coates, Nelson Cole and Becky Carney

H.B. 691: State Contracts/Slavery Profits, Reps. Larry Womble, Earl Jones, Annie Mobley and Earline Parmon

H.B. 708: Furlough of State Employees, Reps. Ray Rapp, Rick Glazier and Margaret Dickson

H.B. 711: Sales Tax Fairness Act, Reps. Winkie Wilkins and Dale Folwell

H.B. 724: Open Records Attorneys' Fees, Reps. George Cleveland and Curtis Blackwood

Folwell: Fix ambulance scam loophole

ryanteaguebeckwith — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 17:38:56 -0500

Rep. Dale Folwell filed legislation Wednesday that he said fixes a flaw in the State Health Plan that could allow for fraud against the state and municipalities that provide ambulance service.

The flaw: Plan members are cut a check for the cost of an ambulance ride when the provider's not part of the plan's network, Dan Kane reports.

The check is in the member's name, so if he or she pockets it, the ambulance service is out of the money. Each trip costs roughly $500.

At least 24 municipal services are not in the plan's network, including those serving Durham, Forsyth, Mecklenburg and Randolph counties, Folwell said.

He presented anecdotal evidence of ambulance riders failing to pay for the service. In one case, a public school retiree from Forsyth County requested 22 ambulance trips last year, collecting nearly $12,500 from the health plan. The county has yet to be reimbursed for the ambulance service.

More after the jump.

Separate bill covers any pregnant woman

ryanteaguebeckwith — Tue, 03 Feb 2009 14:55:59 -0500

A second bill would increase the penalty for injuring any pregnant woman.

While a bill filed by Sen. Doug Berger would boost the penalties for injuring a woman more than 20 weeks pregnant, another bill covers a woman in any stage of pregnancy.

Sen. Pete Brunstetter, a Forsyth County Republican, says his bill would cover "any time from conception forward."

Although he sponsored an unsuccessful bill identical to Berger's in last year's session, Brunstetter said he wanted to give legislators an option to vote for a broader definition.

He was not optimistic that either bill would get a hearing, though similar measures have passed in three dozen other states.

"It's going to be tough to get this heard because it will get caught up in the abortion discussion," he said. "There's 36 states that have managed to get around that discussion, including some that are very liberal and some that are very conservative."

Both pro-life and pro-choice groups have expressed concern about the bills.

Bill: Felony to injure pregnant woman

ryanteaguebeckwith — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 15:55:56 -0500

A bill filed Wednesday would increase the penalty for injuring a pregnant woman.

Sen. Doug Berger, a pro-choice Democrat, and Rep. Dale Folwell, a pro-life Republican, are working together on the legislation, which would make it a separate felony charge to injure a woman who is more than five months pregnant.

"Currently, the penalties for that offense are inconsequential," Berger said.

He said he wanted to punish men who have "an interest in avoiding child support payments" and take away the choice of a woman to bear the child.

Berger said he was hopeful about the bill's chances because it was co-sponsored by a progressive and a conservative on opposite sides of the abortion issue, but so far he's heard only negative feedback from both sides of the perennial debate.

"Neither (Folwell) nor I see this as an abortion issue," he said. "We're not going to allow this to be turned into an abortion issue."

On the Budget: Dale Folwell

ryanteaguebeckwith — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 17:06:26 -0500

Rep. Dale Folwell
Winston-Salem Republican
Third Term

What two things would you cut in the state budget? He said he would look for ways to "lower the cost of doing business in the state and change the behavior of what it is your trying to fix."

Are there any taxes you would be in favor of increasing? No new taxes, but he said the state should find ways to enforce its current tax code.

"We reward people who are doing the right thing regarding taxes and punish people who aren't," Folwell said.

— Ben Niolet