North Carolina Legislator Profile

Transcription

1 North Carolina Legislator Profile Jonathan Jordan: House District 93 Ashe, Watauga If you think I m going to short-change education, you re crazy. Jonathan Jordan (Watauga Democrat, 10/30/16) In this Real Facts Legislator Profile, we focus on Rep. Jonathan Jordan, the Republican Representative from District 93. He was first elected in 2010 in a victory decided by fewer than 800 votes. He currently chairs the committees on Education, Homelessness, Foster Care and Dependency, the House Select Committee on Administrative Procedure Laws, and House Judiciary III. Jordan, an attorney, spent two years as the first research director at the conservative John Locke Foundation from , a 501(C)(3) research institute that espouses conservative ideals. He also served as the director for a tax-exempt pregnancy care center in Ashe County with the primary purpose of pseudo-science anti-abortion counseling. When he ran in 2010, Art Pope and outside groups flooded money into his campaign in a Koch-sponsored effort to flip the state legislature. Since his election, Jordan has pushed Pope ideals at the expense of working people in North Carolina. House District 93 Rep. Jonathan Jordan Summary: Jordan is pushing a Pope agenda at the expense of working North Carolina families o Art Pope-associated outside groups Americans for Prosperity, Civitas Action, and Real Jobs NC spent a combined $76, benefitting Jordan during the 2010 campaign. o Jordan voted for a Republican budget that substantially decreased support for NC Public Schools, the second largest employer in Ashe and Watauga Counties. Jordan voted to gut environmental regulations for businesses, allowing Duke Energy to avoid coal ash cleanup. Jordan was one of the sponsors of HB2, costing North Carolinians over $600 million dollars. Jordan was the director of a tax-exempt crisis pregnancy center and supported Republican budgets that fund these deceptive organizations, including his.

2 Jonathan Jordan is pushing a Pope agenda at the expense of working North Carolina families. Ø NOTE: Jordan voted for the 2015 and 2016 Republican budgets which raised taxes on middle class families, cut funding for public schools and gave tax breaks to millionaires. (H97, signed 9/18/15; H1030, signed 7/14/16; S257, veto overridden 6/28/17) Poverty is high in Jordan s district with median household income falling below state levels. Median household income is lower in Jordan s district than it is at the statewide level and the poverty rate remains much higher. (US Census State Income and Poverty Estimates, 2015) Median Household Income(2015) Poverty Rate (2015) Ashe $35, % Watauga $41, % Statewide $47, % (US Census State Income and Poverty Estimates, 2015) Jonathan Jordan was elected in the 2010 election cycle through the financial backing of Art Pope. Art Pope is the director at the Koch funded-americans for Prosperity and founding board member of Civitas Action. 72 percent of the money Civitas Action has raised comes from Variety Wholesalers, the retail company Pope owns. The rest is from Americans for Prosperity, where Pope is a director and a leading donor to its sister AfP Foundation. (Facing South, 10/14/2010) Art Pope and three of his relatives individually contributed $16,000 to Jordan s 2010 campaign. Art Pope, his wife, Katherine, his sister, Amanda Joyce, and mother, Joyce Pope each contributed $4,000 to Jordan s campaign committee. (NCSBE, retrieved 11/28/2017) Art Pope-associated outside groups Americans for Prosperity, Civitas Action, and Real Jobs NC spent a combined $76, on electioneering communications benefitting Jordan during the 2010 campaign. $77, was spent by outside groups on electioneering communications benefitting Jordan. Art Pope-associated outside groups Americans for Prosperity, Civitas Action, and Real Jobs NC spent a combined $76, on electioneering communications benefitting Jordan during the 2010 campaign. (North Carolina Free Enterprise Foundation, Spending by Outside Groups in North Carolina General Assembly Races, 2010 Election Cycle, retrieved 6/21/12) House District Candidate (Support/Against) Support Jonathan Jordan Amount $12, Outside Group Americans for Prosperity EC or IE* EC Party Benefitting GOP Against Cullie Tarleton $13, Civitas Action EC GOP Support Jonathan Jordan Support Cullie Tarleton $ Grass Roots NC Forum for Firearm Educations Political Victory Fund IE GOP $28, Real Jobs NC EC Democrats Against Cullie Tarleton $51, Real Jobs NC EC GOP (NCFEP, Spending by Outside Groups in North Carolina General Assembly Races, 2010 Election Cycle, retrieved 6/21/12)

3 Jordan worked for the conservative John Locke Foundation, a group that advocated for the elimination of tax credits that benefit working families. The John Locke Foundation advocated eliminating Smart Start and other tax credits for childcare and preschool expenses in favor of refundable tax credits. Smart Start and other subsidy programs and tax credits for childcare and preschool expenses should be eliminated in favor of a refundable Smart Start tax credit for preschool children. Parents should also be able to make tax- deductible contributions into Educational Savings Accounts for use in paying preschool expenses or accumulating assets for the future educational needs of their children. For a smaller subset of desperately poor preschoolers who lack functioning parents, a carefully designed state intervention may be justified. (John Locke Foundation, 2008 Agenda: Child Care, retrieved 11/28/17) Jonathan Jordan supported Republican budgets that decreased support for public schools, hurting families in Ashe and Watauga counties. The 2017 budget prioritized tax cuts over the funding of public education at the expense of Ashe and Watauga counties. The county school system is the second and third largest employer in Ashe and Watauga Counties respectively. (NC Dept. of Commerce, Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages, retrieved 11/22/17) The Republican budget continues the trend of cutting taxes rather than raising per pupil spending. This budget will cut individual income tax rates to 5.25 percent from percent and the corporate rate to 2.5 percent from 3 percent in the second year, costing the state $900 million annually when fully implemented. This means that the legislature will eventually have cut $3.5 billion annually in all its tax cuts money that could have gone for services. North Carolina, for example, ranks 41st nationally in per pupil spending for public education. Here is a question for lawmakers: Which is most likely hindering industrial recruitment and economic development in small-town North Carolina high taxes or poor schools? (News & Observer Editorial, 6/24/17, S257, Vetoed 6/27/17, Senate Veto Override 6/27/17, House Veto Override 6/28/17) NC currently spends $3,044 less per student than the national average. North Carolina s per pupil spending in fall enrollment in 2016 was $8,954. North Carolina s per pupil spending in fall enrollment projected for 2017 was $8,940. North Carolina s per pupil spending in fall enrollment projected for 2017 was $8,940. The US Average per pupil spending in fall enrollment projected for 2017 was $11,984. (NEA Rankings & Estimates, ) Starting teacher pay remains at $35,000 under the Republican budget. Under the teacher pay plan, teachers with 17 to 24 years of experience would see some of the biggest raises. Starting teacher pay would remain at $35,000, but teachers at most experience levels would get a raise. (News & Observer, 7/1/17, S257, Vetoed 6/27/17, Senate Veto Override 6/27/17, House Veto Override 6/28/17) Jordan supported the 2015 and 2016 Republican budgets that included millions of dollars for private school vouchers that benefit urban areas over rural areas of the state. The 2015 Budget allotted $10.8 million for Opportunity Scholarship Program funding. Under the program, families can apply for annual grants of $4,200 per child per year to help defray the cost of tuition to a non-public school. Lawmakers set aside $10.8 million for thousands of such vouchers. (WRAL, 2/24/15) Ø 2016 Budget added $34M to Opportunity Scholarship Program bringing total to over $46M since program began. Establishes an Opportunity Scholarship Grant Fund Reserve in order to shift the program to forward funding. The Reserve will be used to fund scholarships for the

4 subsequent fiscal year. The revised net appropriation for the Opportunity Scholarship Grant Fund Reserve is $34.8 million. (H1030, Joint Conference Committee Report, p.f24, 6/27/16) Most Opportunity Scholarship voucher recipients live in metro areas. Most Opportunity Scholarship voucher recipients live in metro areas, with Wake County leading the list with 351 recipients in as of Jan. 4 of this year. Cumberland County accounted for the second largest number of recipients Guilford, Mecklenburg and Forsyth counties were the only other counties with recipient numbers in triple digits - 237, 237 and 157 recipients, respectively. (Fayetteville Observer, 2/25/16) The western part of the state saw very little of the money allotted by state lawmakers. While North Carolina private schools wait for the courts to sort out the future of a program providing taxpayer-funded student scholarships, or vouchers, some schools have begun receiving funding through the program. But so far very little of the original $10 million allotted by state lawmakers has gone to schools in Western North Carolina. (Asheville Citizen-Times, 11/8/14) Jonathan Jordan voted for the 2013 Regulatory Reform Act which gutted environmental regulations and allowed Duke Energy to avoid cleaning up coal ash dumps. The 2013 Regulatory Reform included language sought by Duke Energy which allowed it to avoid cleaning up groundwater near coal ash dumps. Suspicion about the measure is magnified after the 2013 law contained language sought by Duke Energy that allowed it to continue avoiding costly cleanups of contaminated groundwater caused by leaking from nearby coal ash dumps. (Associated Press, 5/25/14) Aspects of the Regulatory Reform Bill allowed trash from trucks to leak, landfills near gamelands, and eased rules on landfills containing trash and keeping liquid waste from seeping into groundwater. The provisions tucked into the 68 pages of House Bill 74 would allow trash trucks to leak, allow landfills to be built at the edges of state gamelands and ease rules regarding how landfills must cover their trash and maintain systems that keep liquid coming from the landfill from leaching into nearby groundwater supplies. (WRAL, 7/25/13; H74 Conference Report adopted, 7/26/13) Jonathan Jordan was one of the sponsors of HB2, a bill that resulted in the loss of more than $600 million to the state s economy. HB2, the Public Facilities Privacy & Security Act, reversed a Charlotte ordinance that included rights for people who are gay or transgender. The law passed by the General Assembly and signed that same night by Gov. Pat McCrory goes further than a narrow elimination of Charlotte s ordinance, which had generated the most controversy by a change that protected transgender people who use public restrooms based on their gender identity. The new law also nullified local ordinances around the state that would have expanded protections for the LGBT community. (Signed by Gov 3/23/2016, Charlotte Observer, 3/26/2016) Jordan supported HB2 at the expense of North Carolinians civil rights and economic opportunity. The passage of HB2 resulted in the loss of more than $600 million to the state s economy. There has been the loss of more than $600 million to the state s economy, and thousands of lost jobs from potential new and expanded projects. North Carolina also lost NCAA and neutral site ACC championship events, including the NCAA men s basketball tournament from Greensboro and the ACC football title game from Charlotte. (Winston-Salem Journal, 1/28/2017) The U.S. Department of Justice sent a letter to Pat McCrory informing him that HB2 violated the Civil Rights Act. The letter states that North Carolina and McCrory are engaging in a pattern or practice

5 of discrimination against transgender state employees. The DOJ cites Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, which prohibits an employer from discriminating against an individual on the basis of sex. (Watauga Democrat, 5/5/2016) Ø Jordan responded to the letter by calling it federal overreach. This is an incredible federal overreach, Jordan said. I m afraid what the federal bureaucrats are saying is you can t have separate bathrooms for males and females. (Watauga Democrat, 5/5/2016) The John Locke Foundation, which Jordan previously served as director and is funded by Art Pope, expressed support for HB2. Jon Guze, the group's director of legal studies, defended HB2 for preserv[ing] private businesses' right to make their own rules about restrooms. Sam Heib, contributing editor for its Carolina Journal, has written a number of blogposts backing the law while Becki Gray, the group's vice president for outreach, also wrote about her support for it. (Facing South, 5/6/2016) Jordan was the director of a tax-exempt crisis pregnancy center in Ashe County and voted for budgets that gave more funding to these deceptive organizations. Jordan was the director at the tax exempt Ashe Pregnancy Care Center, a group that provides pseudo-science counseling. Jordan is a past Director at Ashe Pregnancy Care Center. According to a EZ federal tax filing for Ashe Pregnancy Care Center, the Ashe Pregnancy Care Center s primary exempt purpose is Christian Abortion Counseling. Elaborating, Ashe Pregnancy Care Center lists its purpose as Services aimed at providing alternatives for families considering abortions, including counseling and educational materials. The number of persons benefited is undeterminable considering the far-reaching effects of the client s decision. Ashe Pregnancy Care Center listed its tax-exempt status as a 501(c)(3). (Jordan & Jordan, About US: Jonathan C. Jordan, retrieved 6/21/12; Internal Revenue Service, Ashe Pregnancy Care Center, 990-EZ, 2009; CPC Member Directory, retrieved 11/29/17) September 30, 2011: Jordan made a $150 office expense to the Ashe County Pregnancy Care Center for the purposes of a non-profit fundraiser. According to a 2011 Year-End Campaign Finance report filed by the Committee to Elect Jonathan Jordan, Jordan listed a $150 expenditure to the Ashe County Pregnancy Care Center on September 30, Jordan listed non-profit fundraiser as the purpose of the office expense. (North Carolina State Board of Elections, 2011 Mid-Year Campaign Finance Report: Committee to Elect Jonathan Jordan, retrieved 6/29/12) Jordan voted to fund clinics that discourage women from getting abortions for the 2017 state budget. Counseling clinics that discourage women from getting abortions would receive a big boost in state financial support in the budget the General Assembly approved this week. The money will help them buy ultrasound equipment, and launch a continuum of care pilot project in Raleigh. The groups call themselves pregnancy resource centers. They used to be called crisis pregnancy centers, and have long been the bane of abortion-rights advocates, who say they mislead pregnant women into thinking they are abortion clinics, and then try to coerce them out of the procedure. (News & Observer, 6/24/17, S257, Vetoed 6/27/17, Senate Veto Override 6/27/17, House Veto Override 6/28/17) Jordan voted to increase funding to CPC umbrella organization the Carolina Pregnancy Care Fellowship from $300,000 to $1.9 million. The Carolina Pregnancy Care Fellowship, an umbrella group of about 65 clinics in North Carolina, has received in the state budget $300,000 a year for the past several years. This year that amount shot up to $1.9 million for that group and another, paying for equipment purchase, training, a pilot program and for two specific clinics. (News & Observer, 6/24/17, S257, Vetoed 6/27/17, Senate Veto Override 6/27/17, House Veto Override 6/28/17) Ashe Pregnancy Care Center is under Carolina Pregnancy Care Fellowship s umbrella. (CPCF, member directory, retrieved 11/29/17) ###