By By JONATHAN CLAYBORNE
jonathan@wdnweb.com
Staff Writer
Stan White has endured a whirlwind couple of weeks.
In mere days, the Dare County Democrat went from being a former county commissioner to a state senator representing Beaufort County and seven other northeast counties.
In an interview last week, White, the Senate’s newest freshman, said he got that body’s last available office space.
“Last week and this week has been so hectic, being the last guy in the Senate,” White said.
On Jan. 21, a Democratic Party committee nominated White to replace retiring Sen. Marc Basnight, D-Dare, the longtime Senate president pro tempore.
This left the senator-to-be little time to prepare for his role in the Legislature.
White is getting up to speed, though.
He’s a member of the Senate finance and commerce committees, among others.
One of this first votes was in favor of electing Sen. Phil Berger, R-Rockingham, Senate president pro tempore. Berger was elected by a vote of 48-1, with one senator absent.
White now has a legislative assistant to take phone calls and do clerical work, and is reaching out to his constituents in hopes of identifying their priorities.
“We have been sending out some messages, telling the constituents to let us know if they have any bills they might want us to introduce or any questions or concerns they might have,” he explained.
White said he has met with some groups, including economic developers, and is getting accustomed to the responsibilities of his job.
White served on the N.C. Board of Transportation, and every county in Senate District 1 — the district he represents — was in his transportation district, except Beaufort County.
“I really, really have got to spend some more time in Beaufort (County),” White commented. “I feel like I know the other seven counties in the district.”
According to Mark Johnson, a spokesman in Gov. Beverly Perdue’s press office, White resigned from the board in a letter dated Jan. 24. The governor is considering possible replacements who can represent the interests of the transportation district White served, Johnson said.
White is boning up on issues relevant to his district, but he seemed skeptical about his ability to move legislative mountains.
The Republicans have a 31-19 advantage in the Senate, and the first-term senator was forthcoming about his standing.
“Quite honestly I’m a Democrat,” he pointed out, “and Democrats are in the minority and we’ve just got to convince these folks to compromise on some of the issues and push our programs forward, or at least not hurt our programs to the extent they are in this last bill.”
White was referencing a Senate bill that would move money away from state programs, including economic-development programs, to help plug a $3.7 billion budget hole.
White voted against the bill last week.
“Certainly today was — I don’t know if I want to call it a dramatic day, but there was a bill introduced today which certainly myself and some other folks thought was really damaging to the rural areas, and we voted against it,” he said Thursday.
He took particular exception to a portion of the bill that would shift more than $67.5 million from Golden LEAF, a foundation set up with money resulting from a tobacco lawsuit.
Golden LEAF funds have been used in many economic-development projects in the east, including some in Beaufort County.
“I’m a little concerned at why they targeted these things and why they targeted them this early,” White said. “They say they’re only going to take this one time. Certainly there’s a fear with a lot of us that if they get by taking ($67.5 million) from Golden LEAF, they’ll take it the next year.”
In a Thursday interview, Berger, the Senate president pro tempore, said shifting around the economic-development funds was “intended as a temporary measure,” and that debate over economic incentives probably would be addressed later.
“The outcome of that — I don’t think you can assume that because somebody voted for this bill that that person wants to eliminate incentive programs,” Berger said.
White highlighted the fact that millions of Golden LEAF dollars had been used to help rural communities hurt by the tobacco-industry decline.
White indicated he didn’t oppose the Senate bill in its entirety.
“There’s really some good stuff in that bill, but there was so much in there that I felt hurt the rural parts of the state, and especially rural eastern North Carolina, that I just couldn’t vote for it,” he said.
Asked for his solution to the budget gap, White offered a few ideas, among them leaving in place a 1-cent sales tax increase and letting Gov. Beverly Perdue achieve savings through $400 million in cuts to state agencies.
“There’s still going to have to be some cuts, I just think there’s going to have to be some real serious discussions about where those cuts take place,” White remarked.
He added these cuts shouldn’t harm job-creation programs or public education.
“I don’t know the answer,” White acknowledged. “I don’t think anybody does. I do know there’s going to have to be some cuts, I know some folks … are going to be in worse shape later than they are now. None of us wants to make those cuts.”