TRANSCRIPT OF REMARKS DELIVERED BY REP.

THOM TILLIS UPON HIS REELECTION AS SPEAKER OF THE NORTH CAROLINA HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES ON JANUARY 9, 2013 Thank you. Madame Principal Clerk, Governor McCrory, Lt. Governor Forest, Justices Martin, Edmunds, Newby and Jackson, state officials, and other distinguished guests, thank you for honoring us with your presence here today. Governor McCrory and Lt. Governor Forest come to us today in their new capacities in the top 2 Constitutional offices, but they have come to me many times in the past simply as good friends. To the returning members of the House, welcome back. I look forward to continuing the work we started two years ago. To the freshman class, 40 strong and fully one third of this body, thank you for your willingness to serve and welcome to the People's House. We are thrilled to have your expertise as teachers, small business owners, business executives, engineers, doctors, and school board members. To the spouses of all members - thank you for sharing your loved ones with the people of North Carolina. You, too, are public servants, and your sacrifice is to be commended. I am blessed to be joined today by my greatest supporter, my chief advisor, and the love of my life - my wife, Susan, along with our daughter, our son, my momma and many other family members. Two years ago, I stood before you and accepted the highest honor of my professional and political career. I am deeply moved and doubly honored by the unanimous support given to me today. To Minority Leader Hall and the Democratic Caucus, thank you for your statesmanship. I pledge to you and to all members of the Democratic Caucus that we will work together. In times when we disagree, I will ensure civil, respectful discourse. To the freshmen members of the Democratic Caucus, I was sitting where you are just six years ago - a freshman member in the minority caucus. I was a so-called back bencher with what is considered one of the worst offices in the legislative building. When I received my office and my back-row seat assignments, I uttered two wordsthank you. I focused on legislation that could gain the support of the leadership, and I worked within the political realities of the time. Four years later, I was blessed to be elected Speaker. I tell you this not to brag, but to demonstrate that you have tremendous potential and that you will have many opportunities to do great things. You have my personal commitment to work with you on legislation consistent with our policy direction. I owe it to you because it was help from then Democratic majority members like Representative Wilkins, Representative Lucas, and former Representative Grier Martin that helped me have an impact early in my tenure. Though our approaches may vary and our views are driven by differing ideologies, I firmly believe we have a common goalto improve our great state. Our mission is to make our great state even greater - in fact - to make North Carolina the greatest state in the Union. Over the past two years, we have made significant progress but there is much more to do. We have made hard choices in the face of economic uncertainty, and we have governed responsibly despite heated rhetoric and political battles. The doomsday predictions of those who opposed our decisions

have not come to pass and there are clear indications that the state's economy is moving in the right direction, yet we have much more work to do. So, how do we make North Carolina the greatest state? We will do it by continuing to implement policies that position us to deliver the best possible service to our constituents in a professional, business-like manner. The best-run businesses have the best products and services, the best paid employees, and the best employee morale. While the democratic processes of the General Assembly are not a business, there is the business of government and there is substantial room for improvement. We simply must commit to advancing an agenda that will transform our business, our State, with the goal of being the very best at everything we do. We must be willing to make tough decisions and we must embrace forward-thinking policies that result in better education outcomes, better healthcare outcomes, improved public safety, reduced tax burdens, and responsible regulations. We must continue our work on sound fiscal management by passing responsible budgets that force us to live within our means and that minimize the tax burden on citizens and businesses. We must fully exploit North Carolina's position with the best workforce in the nation. North Carolina workers are experienced, diverse, and dedicated. They are our greatest asset, and their success will secure our future prosperity. We must protect our workers and their right to work and we must send the very clear message to businesses already in North Carolina and those considering expanding here that North Carolina will continue to be the least unionized state in the nation. We must place a priority on securing our leadership position in higher education and we must step up our efforts to improve traditional K-12 education. Education accounts for almost 60% of our state budget, and therefore it deserves the lion's share of our time and our best efforts. North Carolina's higher education system is a national standard. Our community colleges and universities are second-to-none, and they produce some of the brightest minds in the nation. But we cannot rest on our laurels. Our community college and university systems must preserve their leadership position in the nation, and we must put even more distance between North Carolina and the rest of the pack. We must redouble our focus on traditional K-12 public education. The problems with our K-12 system did not begin a year or so ago. The problems have existed for decades and the State and the Federal Government have made it even more difficult for education professionals to pursue their passioneducating North Carolina's youth. We must open our minds, our eyes, and our ears. We must reach out to the hardworking teachers, principals, and superintendents and implement policies based on their training and practical experience. We can and must give teachers and principals more flexibility to run their classrooms and schools as they see fit. We must continue a tradition started in 2011 to give local school districts budgeting certainty by passing our budget well before the end of June. We must encourage cost-efficient innovation in our schools by focusing on new technologies such as digital learning. We must reward school

systems for becoming more efficient by allowing them to reinvest savings into areas they believe will improve education outcomes. I recently had a discussion with the superintendent of one of our largest school systems in the state. He said that he and many of his colleagues are considering seeking approval to set up a charter school within their systems. I asked him what would motivate him to do that and he said that the added flexibility would provide more opportunities for innovation. I asked him rather than simply giving him flexibility at a single school, wouldn't it make more sense to provide the school systems with broad flexibility enjoyed by charter schools. Thousands of children are receiving educations that do not live up to the high standards our educators are capable of achieving because traditional K-12 public schools are inundated with regulations, controls and other impediments that get in the way of teaching. We must find meaningful ways to deregulate K-12 public schools and we must do it now. Of course, we will continue to advocate for charter schools and parental involvement in where their children go to school, but I firmly believe North Carolina can build on many promising efforts already underway in our traditional public schools. There are many success stories that have received national and international attention. Exciting projects like Mission Possible in Guilford County, Project Lift in Mecklenburg County, Project K-Nect in Onslow County, and Digital Conversion in Mooresville Graded School District are examples of great ideas born out of the innovation and the hard work of our education professionals. We must encourage and reward innovative ideas like these and we must find ways ensure every student has similar opportunities in the future. To lay the groundwork for long term success in education and all other areas of government, the importance of responsible and reliable budgeting cannot be overstated. Over the last two years, we passed the state budget well before counties and schools were required to finalize their budgets which provided certainty local governments have not seen in years. It may sound like a minor point but it is not if you have ever been in a position where you had to make assumptions about state spending weeks or months before you knew how much the state was actually going to provide. We were confronted with a multi-billion dollar structural deficit yet we passed a budget in record time. We managed to live within our means, and we lived up to our promise to cut taxesreturning nearly $1.5 BILLION a year to the private economy. By confronting the fiscal challenges, we now face a more stable foundation and the challenges of this year's budget pale in comparison to the challenges we faced just 2 years ago. But we must continue to find ways to increase the efficiency and reduce the cost of government. We must eliminate waste and protect against abuses of the system. We must fight efforts to raise taxes and, in fact, we must find ways to reduce taxes. Most importantly, we must pass budgets that put the interests of taxpayers ahead of the interests of those who want to expand the scope and the cost of government. We must also make progress on major issues that have been ignored for far too long. North Carolina's tax system is outdated and is built for a world that existed decades ago. The high level

of taxes and the complexity of our taxation system weaken North Carolina's competitive position. We must implement common-sense reforms that are fair, that provide relief to North Carolina's citizens and businesses, and that stimulate our economy rather than hamper its expansion. We must proceed pragmatically and we must be sensitive to the implications of broad-based tax reform. But reform we must by considering both simple and complex approaches - from streamlining tax returns to restructuring the tax codeall options must be on the table. Like so many other issues that we have tackled thus far, I know we are up to the task and I know we will come up with a solution. We must continue to build on the progress we made during the last two years on regulatory reform. In fact I believe it is the key for increasing our competitive position for job creation and economic development. Some regulations are necessary but many are burdensome and represent nothing more than bureaucratic red tape. We must eliminate unnecessary regulations that stifle growth and job creation. Right-sized regulations will also make for right-sized regulatory agencies. Think about itfewer regulations will require fewer regulators. Through these efforts, we will make North Carolina an advocate - not an adversary - to small business owners and job creators. Over the next two years, this House will face many difficult choices, some of which are unforeseen to us now. In this chamber, no matter the weight, importance, or partisan flavor of the issue, we will remain civil and courteous while we maintain an efficient and effective pace of government. As the Speaker, I will work hard to ensure that the North Carolina House of Representatives is a house of reason, rationale and respectability. All stakeholders will have a seat at the table. All voices will be heard. And as all 120 of us confront issues great and small over the coming biennium, I am confident that we will make great strides towards transforming North Carolina from the great state it is today to the greatest state in the Union. Thank you for the high honor of leading this august body. God bless you, and God bless the great state of North Carolina.