Greetings from Raleigh. After a short break from the session to elect leadership, Wednesday marked the beginning of session for the 2013 year. There are so many great plans in the works and I wanted to give you a preview of what to expect from us this year. If you have anything you’d like to see be done send me an email or call my office. This will be an exciting two years for North Carolina and I’m ready to get started!

What to expect

Budget: The main task the Senate will be charged with this year is writing and passing a budget. We plan to balance the budget and continue to reduce wasteful spending like we did last session.

Tax Reform: Another high priority for us this session is tax reform. The previous administrations caused North Carolina to be one of the most taxed states in the nation and we plan to change that so that you can keep more of the money you earned. It is our goal to make sure that North Carolina can continue to recruit jobs to the area and maintain the jobs we have here now.

Education Reform: As we enter a globally competitive environment in education it has become critical we are making our children the smartest in the state, country, and world. In order to do this we need to recruit the best teachers to the classroom and make sure that students are receiving the education they need before moving to the next level.

Unemployment Insurance Reform: North Carolina currently owes the federal government $2.4 billion. This negatively impacts business in the state because business will have to pay higher taxes on each of their employees ($21/year per employee) until the money is completely paid back.

Other: The topics mentioned above are just a few areas that we plan to cover over the next several months, voter photo ID is one example. We remain focused and dedicated on moving North Carolina in the right direction and making this great state even stronger.

Town Hall updates

I’ve enjoyed my Legislative Town Hall tour so far and look forward to my final stop. There have been many great conversations at these events and it has become even more clear to me that people are ready for less taxes and regulations. I’m honored to have the opportunity to serve you this upcoming session and I promise that I will continue to do all I can to help the people of Duplin, Johnston, and Sampson Counties.

In closing

I appreciate you allowing me to serve you in the NC General Assembly and if I can ever be of service to you, please feel free to contact me at 919-733-5705 or brent.jackson@ncleg.net. You can also visit my Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/wbrentjackson. I look forward to hearing from you!