Legislative Update from Rep. Frank Iler – March 12, 2018
Rep. Frank Iler
With the North Carolina General Assembly being officially out of session, all of our time is spent in committee meetings and events both in Raleigh and back in our home districts. Last week I attended plenty of both, we met with our transportation oversight committee in Raleigh, and I had meetings with groups and individuals in all parts of our district in Brunswick County.
Before leaving for Thursday meetings in Raleigh, I was privileged to attend a breakfast fundraiser in Southport on Tuesday for the Cape Fear Council of the Boy Scouts of America. It is particularly rewarding to see the support for this important youth program, having experienced it personally as an Eagle Scout and having my son and grandsons as Eagles.
On Wednesday, the Mayors from the Southeastern part of the county met in Oak Island. These local leaders share mutual concerns and ideas on a monthly basis, and I feel lucky to be able to listen to their views. Later Wednesday, one of our active citizens in the northern part of Brunswick County and I met with an engineer closely involved in solving the drinking water issue for our region. Much research work is being done on the issue of emerging contaminants, including GenX, that doesn’t always get published in the media.
In Raleigh on Thursday the Joint Legislative Transportation Oversight Committee met for three hours. As it was my turn to chair the committee, it was good to have many presentations by the Department of Transportation and others. Some of the subjects included the assistance to schools to provide safer driveways on state roads, training in the construction trades for employees to build our infrastructure, the new passenger ferry to Ocracoke, and other key topics surrounding the efficient progress of the strategic transportation plan. I also had three other meetings before heading back home Thursday night for another meeting.
Friday was initially an open day, but three individual meetings came up with the other two chairs of the River Quality committee in the morning, and later in the day with the Mayor of Shallotte, and the Chief of the Shallotte Fire Department. After a luncheon on Saturday, the total of meetings for the week was an even dozen. Even while we are not in session, there is plenty going on to keep us occupied.
This week, depending on the snow in Raleigh, we expect to meet with the Joint Legislative Task Force on Education Finance Reform. The following week will be the first meeting of the House Select Committee on School Safety.