Touting progress in the past year that, he contended, has been under-reported or omitted by much of the news media, state Sen. Tom Apodaca, R-Hendersonville, presented a highly positive North Carolina legislative update Dec. 5 to the Council of Independent Business Owners in Asheville.

State Rep Nathan Ramsey, R-Fairview introduced Apodaca, noting that as chairman of the Senate Rules Committee, “Nothing gets passed in the General Assembly without his (Apodaca’s) approval. … He’s done a lot for Western Carolina,” including for Western Carolina University, UNC Asheville and other educational institutitions. “If we didn’t have Sen. Apodaca, it would be much more difficult for Western North Carolina.”

Ramsey added a touch of levity to an otherwise serious session when he noted, “I went to UNCA and he went to WCU. So we joke with each other... I (once) said we shouldn’t merge UNCA and WCU because it would lower UNCA’s academic rating.”

As the crowd laughed, Apodaca quipped that he disagreed with Ramsey’s assessment of the relative academic merits of UNCA and WCU, “based on your performance” in the legislature. He then grinned and said Ramsey actually has been a highly effective legislator, but that he and Ramsey nonetheless enjoy ribbing one another.

The “Power Lunch,” held in the CIBO meeting room at Asheville’s Biltmore Square Mall, drew about 100 people.

Apodaca began his talk by asking if anyone from the press was present. It was noted that the Daily Planet was represented, along with Carolina Public Press.

“Any teachers present? No. Good. I can handle the press... I’m in trouble with teachers right now.”

He noted, “I don’t see (state Rep.) Tim Moffitt (R-Arden) here. He does a good job....” Apodaca then added, “He asked me to say good things about him.”

Turning serious, “Thank God, things have gotten better” for North Carolina residents as the results of the legislature’s actions in Raleigh. “I’m happy to report that this year the budget was balanced. Our pension plan is rated one of the top five in the country. So, for our retirees, that is very important. Those are the ‘little things’ you don’t hear about” in the news media.

Several times during his address, Apodaca touted Buncombe County’s November jobless rate of 5.6 percent — lowest of any locality in the state.

Among 2013’s state legislative highlights, Apodaca cited tax reform “We did extensive tax reform. From now (2013)until the end of next year (2014), it’s really taking effect. One woman complained to me that you have to pay sales tax now when you go to a movie. If you have a child in college, you have to pay taxes for their food service....

“We found an antiquated tax system. Our goal was to simplify the tax system and go more to a consumption tax… This is nothing new. Since I’ve been in the General Assembly,” tax reform has not had joint support. This time, “we’ve had a bipartisan effort to do this…. Every time it failed. … This time, we got it started....

“On the personal side, the tax rate will drop each year, if revenues rise.... 

“On corporate side, 6.9 to 6.0 percent in ‘13 and then to 5.0 percent in ‘15 and a possible 3 percent in ‘16, if we meet revenue projections. This is huge, folks. This is a game-changer. Before that, we had one of the highest corp taxes in the United States.

“We are on the map. The Wall Street Journal has written that up. I know we hear a lot of what The New York Times said... But, as I’ve said many times, I prefer what The Wall Street Journal says, in that it’s  read and respected in the business community... So, when you hear all the talk, that’s the truth.”

Further, Apodaca asserted, “Another thing we don’t hear much about… is the overall unemployment rate in North Carolina — it’s 8 percent now. We used to be about the highest in the United States ... now we’re 10th-lowest. The trends are right,” thanks in part to the efforts of the legislature.

As for education reform, he said, “I think we’ve heard a lot about that…. We’re trying to make a difference. We’re not writing off education. So we’re devoted to the public education system. But it’s time to change it. … This is a national trend, this is not just North Carolina. The Obama administration has been a key in education reform — they’re pushing the charter schools…. So we’re not reinventing the wheel here. This is part of a national push to get our education system up to par.”

Later, Apodaca said, “So our ultimate goal here is to increase the performance of the students. Whatever we have to do to get that… A big goal is to get people to be able to read after they leave the third grade.” 

He noted that “prisons predict how many beds they need, based on third-grade literacy. So it is crucial. As Sen. (Phil) Berger (R-Eden) liked to say: ‘From K-3, you learn to read. After that, you read to learn…. We’re training our teachers more and more” to deal with the literacy situation… Tenure, we want to do away with, and go with performance…. A good teacher is going to make more money — that’s the bottom line. A bad teacher is going to have to change careers….”

Regarding the I-26 connector, proposed to improve traffic congestion through West Asheville, Apodaca said, “Instead of 2020 or 2025” for its projected construction, “we have moved I-26 connector to modern times... The other thing we need is to widen I-26 (between Asheville and Hendersonville) to six lanes” each direction.

“I met yesterday with the people from Mission (Hospital) … and health care is probably the No. 1 item we deal with in Raleigh. We put an additional $1.5 billion in the (state) budget for health care. .. We just didn’t feel comfortable expanding a broken system. Nobody’s going to be denied health care. We do a pretty job providing health care.

After briefly reviewing regulatory reform, energy policy and other issues, Apodaca said, “That, in a nutshell, summarizes what we did in Raleigh. The last item is photo ID. We feel you need to present a photo ID when you vote. Starting this week, people are going to have to provide photo ID when they apply for unemployment insurance.”

He added that, as the result of policies enacted under former Democratic Gov. Bev Perdue, “We were down $2.6 billion” which is “what we owed the federal government so we could pay unemployment benefits during the Recession.” However, with Republican Gov. Pat McCrory and the GOP-led legislature, “The businesses in North Carolina stepped up to the plate… We should have it (the debt to the federal government) paid off, hopefully by ‘16 or ‘17.”

At that point, he asked, “Anyone here from the Asheville Citizen?”

When nobody replied, Apodaca, who has had some clashes with the Citizen-Times, quipped, “I actually was going to say something good about them.… ”

Apodaco then noted that North Carolina has recorded a net migration of 2 million residents since 1990 and, that, overall, 42 percent of North Carolinians have moved into the state. “So it’s truly becoming a state of non-natives.”

He prompted much laughter from the CIBO crowd when, with a grin, Apodaca listed Mexico behind New York and Virginia as the “three biggest states,” in attracting new residents.

He then noted there are a number of North Carolina legislators and mayors who were born out of state, including McCrory, the governor. By 2050, North Carolina is expected to exceed Michigan, and by 2030, it will surpass Pennsylvania in population, Apodaca said.

“By 2025, we’re going to be short 20 (million) to 30 million in our workforce. So we need to keep that in mind when we look at immigration policy.”

After a pause, Apodaca said, “So that’s what’s going on in Raleigh. The legislature is going back into session in May, but we hope to be in and out before the U.S. Open…. That’s our goal. Nothing too big… Get cleaned up on the budget.”

In a question-and-answer session that followed, CIBO member Mac Swicegood asked, “Any attempt to improve port cooperation?”

“I know we’re building that inland facility in Charlotte that should help us with rail service” and other transportation issues, Apodaca replied. “The problem with Wilmington and other North Carolina ports is our infactructure isn’t adequate. One problem is the bridges aren’t high enough….”

On a question about moving up the I-26 connector project on the state’s priority list, Apodaca said, “The real factor in the upgrading of the I-26 connector is that it was the highest count in the state.”

Carolina Press’ Jon Elliston asked about crime lab update.

“We received $2 (million) to $3 million in planning money. Hopefully, we can get the ground broken in the next two or three year,” Apodaca said.

A man asked, “Any talk of a toll road for I-26?”

“No, I haven’t heard any talk of the ‘T’ word for I-26,” Apodaca answered.

Another man queried the legislator about the fuel tax.

“It (the fuel tax) was capped in the new tax plan,” Apodaca said. “It was 2 to 4 percent ahead of last year. Also, the death or estate tax was done away with.”

A man asked, “Our city and county are plagued with vandalism in the form of graffiti. Have you looked at the laws on the books to do something about that?”

“I haven’t heard that,” Apodaca said. “But we will look at that because it’s not only a problem in Asheville, but in Hendersonville, too.”

Another man asked, “Medicaid, mental health — any plans for raising taxes to support Medicaid?”

“I don’t think you’ll see anything being done on the state level on that,” Apodaca said. “Who knows what your county and city guys will do?”

Thirty-three state counties “are losing population every month and 70 percent of growth in North Carolina is along the I-85 corridor. About 70 percent of the folks are moving into the municipalities. As we move forward, there will be more tug of war between counties and municipalities.”