Dear Friend of Senate District 10,

I hope you had a great week thus far. This week, the Senate published its proposal for our state's budget. I had the chance to speak with Michael Highland of CBS 17 about the different details and plans for the budget as we continue to move through the budget process.

Also, I had the chance to meet Lanie Norris, who is serving as pages in the Senate this week. Lanie is come to Raleigh for the week from Four Oaks. I hope she has a great time and gets the opportunity to learn all about our state's legislative process.

As always, please do not hesitate to contact me if I can assist you in any way possible.

Get to Know My Legislative Team Here!

Legislative Recap

2019 Senate Budget

This week, the Senate released our budget for the 2019-20 biennium. This bill represents many hours of work by both members and staff and we are proud of what we have come up with. Here are some highlights:

Pay raises of 3.5% for all teachers over two years.
Pay raises for correctional officers.
Funding for school psychologists so that every school district will have a psychologist
Increased the standard deduction to $21,000
Over $1 billion to the Rainy Day Fund.
$15 million for the expansion of broadband capabilities in rural NC through the GREAT Program.
$15 million to increase access to substance abuse treatment and recovery options to fight the opioid epidemic.

Each of these priorities, we believe, is vital as we move forward towards a healthier and more successful North Carolina.

From the District

Duplin Winery Expands Operations

Duplin Winery has new equipment, allowing them to produce more bottles of wine than ever before.With the addition of a new bottling line in its Rose Hill, N.C. production facility, Duplin Winery now has the capability to bottle 9,000 bottles of wine per hour. The Winery’s previous bottling line bottled 6,000 an hour.
The new bottling line, built in Italy by GIA, was delivered in February. It’s technology and programming take months to set up and tailor to each bottle, label, and specifications. It was purchased through Prospero Equipment in New York and shipped by boat in three sections. The three sections each provide specific functions in the bottling process.

JCC Dedicates Fire Tower Training Facility

Johnston Community College celebrated the opening of a new fire tower training facility during a dedication and ribbon cutting ceremony last Wednesday.

Named in honor of longtime college supporters Donnie E. and the late Linda V. Lassiter of Selma and their family, the fire tower training facility is located near the Public Safety Services Complex on the JCC main campus.

Consisting of 17 shipping containers assembled to create two different training buildings, the structures will serve as a regional training facility that will assist departments in training for large structure fires. The towers will serve as a regional fire training resource.

District Honors Music Students

Local students from Sampson County Schools were honored for representing the district with their musical talents.

Sixth-grade students from Midway Middle School (MMS) were recognized for competing in the Small Ensemble music event in the category of Master Performance Adjudication. During the event at Jack Britt High School in Fayetteville, the students earned superior first-place rankings in sight reading and superior first-place in music performance.

The students are Nayeli Antonio, Sarah Autry, Kaydin Brown, Arieance Cameron, Jordyn Christopher, Bricela Espinoza, Brian Diaz, Keller Godwin, Tamia Gwynn, Addison Jackson, Alice Jackson, Everett Jackson, Nicholas Jackson, Hannah Jones, Jania Luna, Alyssa McKinley, Molly McLamb, Ke’Mari McNeil, Stephanie Medin, Allison Pate, Zada Poper, Brady West, Gracie Williams, Grant Williford, and Jaquelin Gomez.

Jessica King of MMS, also recognized students for being selected to perform at the All-State Chorus, held April 27, in Greensboro. The participants were West, sixth grade; Jaylan Barbour, seventh-grade; Mira Melvin, seventh-grade; Jerrod Wise, seventh-grade; Ashley Scott, eighth-grade; and James Pulley, eighth-grade.

Midway High School students, Dylan Hickok and Cullen Faircloth, were also recognized for making the North Carolina All-State Band. Principal Monty Strickland said the honor is only given to a few students in the state. Students are required to make All-District band to qualify. Hickok and Faircloth recently participated in a clinic at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro.

District Spotlight

CTE Health Science Education Student Winner

Gianna Pettit, a CTE Health Science Education student, was recognized at the May meeting of the Johnston County Board of Education.

Pettit presented an award-winning submission in this year’s Fight the Bite poster contest sponsored by the NC Department of Public Health. Her illustration will be utilized statewide to educate others on the prevention of vector-borne diseases in North Carolina, specifically those spread by ticks and mosquitoes.

She was recognized in an awards ceremony recently at the NC Department of Public Health Building in Raleigh.