Issues
Creating Private Sector Jobs
Beth Dawson understands that the best way to stimulate our economy is to create an environment in which entrepreneurs and small businesses can grow, prosper and create private-sector jobs. Unfortunately, government growth is now outperforming private sector growth – and that is not the path to strong, sustainable economic growth.
Small businesses create the majority of jobs in America. According to the Small Business Administration, small businesses:
- Represent 99.7% of all employer firms in America
- Employ just over half of all private sector employees
- Pay 44% of the total U.S. private payroll
- Have generated 64 percent of net new jobs over the past 15 years
- Hire 40 percent of high-tech workers.
Beth Dawson understands that the best economic incentive is to lower taxes and reduce burdensome government regulations that weigh our small businesses and entrepreneurs down.
Quality Education for our Children
Today’s children are tomorrow’s future parents, educators, business owners, civic leaders, volunteer workers and government leaders. We must equip our children with the tools they need to be successful.
As your State Representative, Beth Dawson will work to ensure that every child has the opportunity to receive a quality education. Beth understands that a high-quality education is delivered by teachers in classrooms, not in administrative offices. As your State Representative, Beth Dawson will fight to cut the administrative bureaucracy and put our education resources where they belong: in the classroom. Beth supports performance pay for teachers and believes teachers must be given the resources they need to teach.
Beth Dawson supports raising or eliminating the cap on public charter schools to ensure that all students – including those who do not have the resources to attend a private school – have options and opportunities to obtain a world-class education.
Healthcare
Beth Dawson believes that healthcare decisions should be made between you and your doctor. Beth also believes that the federal mandate in the recent healthcare reform law requiring all citizens to buy health insurance is unconstitutional. As your State Representative, Beth Dawson will support the N.C. Healthcare Protection Act to exempt North Carolinians from this mandate.
Beth supports meaningful lawsuit reform to put an end to frivolous lawsuits that drive up our healthcare costs by forcing doctors to practice defensive medicine.
Training our Workforce
When businesses are looking for a place to open a new operation and create jobs, they look for a location that offers a well-trained, skilled workforce. Unfortunately, many workers who have lost their jobs now find that their skill set is obsolete. That’s why Beth Dawson supports worker retraining programs at our Community Colleges.
Fighting Wasteful Government Spending
When times get tough, responsible individuals, families and business owners tighten their belts. Beth Dawson believes government should do the same.
As your State Representative, Beth will put her years of business experience to work fighting wasteful spending and pushing for common-sense fiscal policies in Raleigh.
Beth supports a Taxpayer Protection Act to limit the growth of state government spending.
Beth also supports Zero-Based Budgeting, which requires that the existence of every government program be justified in each budget, as opposed to simply basing budgeting decisions on a previous funding level.
Reducing Your Tax Burden
North Carolina’s individual and business tax rates are the highest in the Southeast. Our tax burden stifles job creation and weighs down our hard-working families, many of whom are already struggling to make ends meet.
As your State Representative, Beth Dawson will work to reduce taxes on our hard-working families and small business owners.
Fighting Government Corruption
Beth Dawson understands that transparency throughout the legislative process is essential for the General Assembly to govern ethically.
Beth Dawson supports:
- Posting budget bills online at least 72 hours before the first vote.
- Posting detailed state spending information online.
- A strong audit function in state government, including investigative audits and performance audits.
Fighting Forced Annexation
North Carolina is one of only a handful of states in which municipalities have unlimited power to annex citizens. Unfortunately, those being annexed have no say in the matter. As your State Representative, Beth Dawson will fight to reform our state’s antiquated annexation laws by pushing to give those being annexed a voice in the process.
Meaningful Eminent Domain Reform
In 2005, the U.S. Supreme Court’s now infamous Kelo v. New London decision gave local governments the green light to use eminent domain to seize a citizen’s private property for economic development purposes.
In the Kelo case, the town of New London, CT had used eminent domain to condemn private homes owned by Susette Kelo and others, tear them down and use the land as part of a “comprehensive redevelopment” plan being pushed by a large corporation.
States all across America have enacted Constitutional amendments or strong laws to protect their citizens’ private property rights against this kind of eminent domain abuse. Unfortunately, North Carolina is not one of them. As your State Representative, Beth Dawson will work to pass eminent domain reform that offers meaningful protection to our citizens’ private property rights.
