State of the State Address
24 views · Published 19 February 2013 · 2:05 · Indexed 23 September 2026
Channel: WLOS News 13 · 2013 · News & Politics
Newly elected Governor Pat McCrory laid out his plans tonight in his first State of the State address in the Raleigh House Chamber. McCrory centered the speech around the three Es: fixing the economy, reforming education and improving the efficiency of state services. Efficiency, he said, would mean streamlining Medicaid and stopping up the state's $2.5 billion debt. We are not going to borrow money from Washington with no idea on how to pay it back, said McCrory. Talking about education, he stressed working-training programs that would begin in high school, in school partnerships with community colleges. He also emphasized the importance of computers in classrooms, and offered a plan to finance the technology. I'm recommending that we persue legislation to reallocate a portion of money away from the bloated and frankly annoying advertising and the large administration costs of the lottery commission and we will use that money to help our students directly with technology, said McCrory. Economy will likely be the biggest issue the former Charlotte mayor will face, with unemployment stubbornly sticking around nine percent. He bulleted solutions: lower personal income and small business tax rates, invest in exports, explore offshore drilling. I think right now our biggest challenge is to develop a strategy for the small towns around North Carolina that have been hit so hard by this recession, said McCrory. Speaking to the first Republican-controlled legislature in decades, rather than stressing working together, he emphasized that the work can't be done while divided. None of this can be about politics, power, legacy, turf, or who gets the credit, said McCrory, nearing the end of an approximately 40 minute address. Who cares. The Democratic response to the address, given by House Minority Leader Rep. Larry Hall, offered a look at the divide that'll characterize this next term for the legislature. With the key issues the parties will need to come together on including tax reform and how exactly to tackle education reform. _______________ Follow WLOS on social media: WLOS ABC 13 News on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/News13/ WLOS ABC 13 News on Twitter: https://twitter.com/WLOS_13 WLOS ABC 13 News on Instagram: https://instagram.com/wlos_13 Subscribe to WLOS on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/ABC13Channel/?sub_confirmation=1 Listen to AnchorMOMS, the Podcast: https://wlos.com/news/anchormoms/anchormoms-the-podcast Watch more top local news stories: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kk8Ge6UXHJs&list=PLkVbaoT-aYbIvnEpR0Ct5QQQqYaORUSUH For all of the day’s top local and national news, visit http://www.wlos.com Watch our live newscasts and other live video at https://wlos.com/watch Have a news tip? Send it directly to us: Email us: [email protected] Call the Newsroom: 828.684.1340 WLOS ABC 13 News serves the Asheville, NC area and the rest of western North Carolina and Upstate South Carolina. We keep our audience informed through local news, weather forecasts, traffic updates, notices of community events, sports and entertainment programming since 1954.
