April 12, 2024

The Office of

Representative Mike Clampitt

House District 119

View as Webpage

Latest Economic Development in Action

Conservative legislative policies and a business friendly environment are helping folks all across our great state.

Bobby N. Setzer State Fish Hatchery Renovations

1. Why is the Setzer SFH shutdown and rebuild necessary?

a. The Setzer SFH has been in operation since the late 1950s, originally as the Pisgah Forest National Fish Hatchery.

b. The WRC has operated it as a state fish hatchery since 1983 and it is the WRC’s largest trout hatchery.

c. The aging and failing infrastructure require replacement.

d. The renovation of the hatchery will result in an efficient state-of-the-art facility that will better ensure consistent trout production and stockings of Public Mountain Trout Waters into the future.

2. Does the Setzer SFH need to be completely shut down for renovations in 2025 and 2026?

a. Most of the existing infrastructure (hatchery building and all raceways) will be demolished and replaced in their current footprint, which requires the entire facility to close during construction.

3. What should anglers expect prior to the Setzer SFH shutdown?

a. Normal operations during 2024

b. The 2024 trout stockings including Hatchery Supported (Spring 2024), Delayed Harvest (Spring and Fall 2024), and Winter Small Impoundments (Winter 2024) will be conducted per a normal schedule.

c. Any remaining trout after the 2024 stockings will be transferred to other WRC hatcheries in preparation for the shutdown in 2025.

4. What should anglers expect during the Setzer SFH shutdown?

a. Trout angling opportunities will be provided at all Public Mountain Trout Waters locations while renovations are being conducted.

b. There will be at most a 65% reduction in the number of trout available to stock.

c. Reductions in the number of trout stocked at Hatchery Supported and Delayed Harvest locations will be spread out equitably.

d. While all Hatchery Supported (Spring 2025 and 2026) and Delayed Harvest (Spring and Fall 2025 and 2026) locations will be stocked within the year, each location will be stocked on a reduced schedule.

e. The number of trout stocked and frequency of stockings by location will be announced annually in advance (in early 2025 and again in early 2026).

5. Are there measures being taken to minimize the reduction in the number trout stocked during the Setzer SFH shutdown?

a. Staff have and continue to investigate purchasing trout from private facilities.

b. Based on our contacts with local trout facilities, there is limited availability of trout for purchase at a scale that will substantially mitigate the needed reduction of stocked fish.

c. Staff will obtain trout from other states if available.

6. Are there plans to conduct outreach with the angling public?

a. Staff have developed and are implementing a communication plan to share information regarding the project before and throughout construction.

10 Little-Known NC Traffic Laws

Here are some traffic laws in North Carolina you may not have thought of in a while. Good reminder. https://shorturl.at/mwJL5

What value do NC community colleges bring?

For individuals ready for career transformation, or workforce sectors desperately in need of qualified workers, North Carolina’s community colleges continually rise to the occasion. In fact, North Carolina hosts the nation’s third largest community college system with opportunities close by in every community. https://shorturl.at/gopw7

NC #4 in Economic Outlook Rankings

North Carolina still ranking well as our state's economy continues to benefit from sound legislative policy and prudent tax-reform. https://shorturl.at/iwBIU

Fujifilm Announces $1.2 billion, 680 Jobs Expansion

Fujifilm plans to expand its North Carolina operations with a new $1.2 billion investment and promise of 680 more jobs in Wake County. Very positive news resulting from prudent legislating fostering a business-friendly environment! https://finance.yahoo.com/news/fujifilm-pledges-680-more-jobs-152317231.html

The 2024 Update on Bringing the Woolly Mammoth Back from Extinction

Article: https://www.newsbreakapp.com/n/0rrFBFsY?pd=06YzecED&lang=en_US&s=i0&send_time=1712920944

North Shore Cemetery Schedule 2024

Commissioner Causey announces new ranking for captive insurance companies in 2023 

RALEIGH – North Carolina Insurance Commissioner Mike Causey announces today that the state of North Carolina is now the third largest domicile for captive insurance companies in the U.S., trailing only Vermont and Utah.

A captive insurance company is a type of self-insurance that businesses use to manage their own risks. A ‘domicile’ is the country, state or territory that licenses a captive insurer and has primary regulatory oversight over that insurer. The captive's primary jurisdiction, be it a state, territory or other jurisdiction, is known as its “domicile”.

North Carolina has become an award-winning domicile in the 10 short years since the passage of the state’s Captive Insurance Act. North Carolina has licensed or approved more than 1,500 risk-bearing entities after licensing just three captives in its inaugural year.

“North Carolina’s competitive premium tax rates and laws provide us with a lot of discretion in the regulation of captive insurers, which helps us remain attractive to captive owners and captive managers alike,” Commissioner Causey said. “Laws drafted over the years designed to meet insurance needs of North Carolina businesses have had a positive economic impact, attracting new businesses to our state.”

North Carolina is now home to 311 captive entities, up from 294 in 2022, with Utah holding 439 and Vermont licensing 659.

“To ensure our captive law remains relevant and current, the North Carolina Captive Insurance Association and the Department continue to collaboratively propose legislative changes as necessary to meet the emerging needs of industry,” Commissioner Causey said. “We expect North Carolina’s captive insurance program to continue to respond to these needs with expansion to diverse industries and businesses of all sizes.”

North Carolina's captive insurance program, with support of Commissioner Causey, offers a combination of consistent regulation in a business-friendly environment with a domicile committed to responsive customer service and strong service provider relationships.

To learn more about captive insurance companies in North Carolina, visit www.nccaptives.com.

Voter ID Information

This is the recent updates to North Carolina State Board of Election's Voter ID Page. They have published a lot of new content on our Voter ID page. They also just published a new page: FAQ: Voter ID.

Press Release from NCSBE.

No-Fee ID Card:

Anyone who is 17 or older can get a “No-Fee ID Card” from the NC DMV. Information on this ID card is available on the DMV website: Official NCDMV: State IDs (ncdot.gov).

We will keep you updated when new information is available.

What happens when kids cross the US border alone? Could they end up in NC?

by Danielle Battaglia/N&O

The opening of a facility to house migrant children in North Carolina has raised concerns about what happens to minors once they cross the U.S. border without an adult.

Known as an influx care facility, the campus is in northwest Greensboro on the 100-acre site of the former American Hebrew Academy, which closed in 2019 after 18 years as an international boarding school.

For years, politicians from the local to the federal level have been asking U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra to explain how his agency will keep Greensboro safe and look out for the safety of the children under his care. They say they’re frustrated by the lack of answers.

“If everything they were doing was above-board, and there’s no concern for the community and there is no concern for those minors, then why not share that information with the duly elected representatives or the people that live in that area?” said Rep. Richard Hudson, a Republican from North Carolina, during an interview with McClatchy

Link for the article

District-offered driver ed wait times, quality frustrate families

by AP Dillon/North State Journal

The North Carolina Department of Motor Vehicles has been the subject of at least two legislative oversight committee hearings in the last six months. Most recently, lawmakers focused on contract issues during a March 7 hearing but also covered customer satisfaction problems, including teen driving license processes.

Frustration with booking teen license appointments was brought up at that hearing by Sen. Michael Lazzara (R-Onslow), one of the Joint Legislative Transportation Oversight Committee’s co-chairs, who wants to see the NCDMV privatized.

Lazzara gave an example of a law enforcement officer having to make “multiple trips” and “wait in line for hours” to get his teenagers their driving tests.

Link for the article

NC Republican lawmakers plan to increase private school scholarships funding to meet demand

by Dawn Baumgartner and T. Keung Hui/The Charlottes Observer

Republican House Speaker Tim Moore said Wednesday that the General Assembly plans to fund more money for the Opportunity Scholarship program.

The program uses taxpayer money to fund private school scholarships, and it was expanded to nearly all families this past year. However demand has exceeded supply.

Moore said that Republican lawmakers, who hold a veto-proof supermajority in the legislature, want to allocate more funding.

Moore said that both an additional $300 million for the private school scholarships and $400 million for Medicaid expansion are being discussed as lawmakers begin budget conversations and get ready for the legislative short session that begins in two weeks, on April 24.

He said that leaders still need to get revenue numbers after the upcoming Tax Day to determine how much money they could add to the scholarship program, but that $300 million would be needed to fund vouchers for all those who have applied.

“I think there’s still money there to make sure we take care of our teachers and state employees as well,” he said, though not saying how much those raises might be.

Link for the article

Smokies' first dispensary to open: Cherokee's long-awaited marijuana venture to finally generate some green

by Kyle Perrotti/Smokey Mountain News

The path to cannabis legalization on the Qualla Boundary has been riddled with roadblocks, some of which the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians painstakingly navigated around, some of which it has bulldozed.

Now, everything will come to a head on 4/20 when Qualla Enterprise’s new marijuana dispensary will host its grand opening and begin selling product to anyone with a valid medicinal marijuana card issued by the tribe.

However, while many on the Qualla Boundary are celebrating this monumental step forward, there are still lingering questions over how local, state and federal officials may try to hamper efforts to grow the cannabis enterprise, as well as how quickly Tribal Council will move to finalize the legalization of recreational adult marijuana use.

Link for the article

After years of battles, NC GOP is on the cusp of requiring sheriffs to cooperate with ICE

by Avi Bajpai/N&O

After six years of trying to force local law enforcement in some of the state’s most populous counties to cooperate with immigration authorities, North Carolina Republicans are on the cusp of passing legislation to do so.

A political battle between GOP state lawmakers and sheriffs in largely Democratic counties — many of whom came into office in 2018 responding to the backlash on the left to the Trump administration’s immigration policies by vowing to limit or end cooperation with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) — could come to a conclusion during this year’s upcoming legislative session.

Legislation that passed the House last year is expected to be taken up by the Senate when lawmakers return to Raleigh at the end of April. If it becomes law, House Bill 10 will require all 100 sheriffs in the state to notify ICE if they can’t determine the legal status of a person charged with certain high-level offenses.

The bill would also require sheriffs to honor requests by ICE to hold people it believes are in the country illegally for up to 48 hours to give federal agents time to take them into custody.

Link for the article

Farm Bureau sounds the alarm on disappearing agricultural land

by Cory Vaillancourt/Smokey Mountain News

“Today we’re going to talk about something special, something different,” said Don Smart, president of the Haywood County Farm Bureau. “We’ve lost a lot of farmland. This county 40 years ago had nearly 80,000 acres of farmland. We’re down to less than 50,000.”

Smart said that Haywood County has already lost 80% of its prime farmland.

Ryan Manning, farmland preservation program coordinator with the Haywood County Soil and Water Conservation District, explained it as the price of growth in a state that’s been twice named by CNBC as the top state for business and is a perennial top-three destination for people moving to new states.

“We all know the truth, which is that North Carolina is growing and changing rapidly,” Manning said. “And that growth often comes at the expense of farmland.”

Link for the article

Congressman: Latest Biden student loan details are a 'complete scam'

by Alan Wooten/The Center Square

"Complete scam" is a North Carolina congressman's description of President Joe Biden's latest details for shifting repayment of student loans from borrowers to taxpayers.

In North Carolina, the U.S. Department of Education says 74,160 would get relief of more than $3.6 billion.

Late Monday on social media, Republican U.S. Rep. Richard Hudson wrote, “Joe Biden’s ‘student loan forgiveness’ plan is a complete scam. It forces hardworking Americans like you to bail out those who willingly took on heavy college debt and haven’t paid it off.”

Link for the article

NC teacher attrition rate lower than national average

by David Bass/The Carolina Journal

North Carolina’s attrition rate for public school teachers ticked up last school year but remains below the national average, according to a new report presented to the North Carolina State Board of Education on Wednesday.

The latest annual State of the Teaching Profession Report measured attrition and vacancies among public school teachers between March 2022 and March 2023. Teacher attrition stood at 11.5% for the 2022-2023 school year, a jump from 7.8% in 2021-2022. Beginning teachers in their first three years of the profession had a higher attrition rate, at 15.1%, when compared to more experienced teachers.

Link for the article

2024 House Page Program

The 2024 Short Session House Page Applications will be available online beginning Monday, March 4th, 2024. The Page website can be accessed by visiting the following: https://www.ncleg.gov/House/PageProgram/.

GENERAL INFORMATION:

• Pages may only serve one time in the House.
• Each Representative is allotted up to 2 Page appointments during the 2024 Short Session.
• Sophomore, junior and senior high school students will be eligible to apply.
• Direct prospective Pages to our website for Page information, including the process and the application.
• Check the House Page website for participant eligibility requirements and available dates to serve as a House Page.
• Please note, House Pages are processed on a first-come, first-served basis.
• House Page applications are accepted until all weeks are full.

Feel free to contact Sue Frederick, House Page Supervisor  Sue.frederick@ncleg.gov, 919-733-5701, with questions.

If you missed our newsletter from last week, please click the bottom down below.

Feel free to explore any nonprofit organization you're interested in donating to.

Do you want to report waste, fraud, abuse, mismanagement, or other ways state government actions fail to match their legislated goals?