Jan 22, 2007
Clodfelter: Keep an eye on legislature
David Ingram - Charlotte Observer

Since his election to the N.C. Senate in 1998, Charlotte lawyer Dan Clodfelter has led a powerful judicial committee, working on ethics laws, anti-crime measures and business issues. Staff writer David Ingram spoke with Clodfelter, a Democrat and former City Council member, about the upcoming legislative session, which starts Wednesday at noon. 
 
Q. Should people in the Charlotte area follow what happens in the legislature this year?  
 
Sure, they should. This is Charlotte, comma, North Carolina. It's not like you can take a great big chainsaw and cut an outline around the county line and tow it out in the ocean and stick it someplace else. 
 
And folks who move here -- and there are just zillions of them -- come from a political culture which is far different, and that is one in which local government has much more responsibility for things than is true here. It's the state, and local governments are absolutely and totally derivative of the state power. Well, that's just not common elsewhere. 
 
Q. You spent a lot of time last year on new ethics laws. What's changed in Raleigh? There will be probably some more tinkering and adjusting on the lobbying and ethics legislation from last session. 
 
Most of the feedback I've been getting is that they're having a rather severe deterring effect on the willingness of people to serve on appointed boards. 
 
Beyond that, until the session starts I think it's going to be really hard to know. 
 
Q. Several states -- Massachusetts and others -- are moving toward universal health insurance. Do you see North Carolina doing the same? We put in place in '05 a major study about what we ought to be doing to encourage an expansion of health insurance coverage. Although we did do a small tax credit item last year, the fundamental decision was to see what kind of recommendations we got from the consultant and then really crank that up. 
There is a great interest in taking some action on the issue this year of trying to expand access to health care coverage. I don't really always know what "universal" means, so I stay away from those kinds of tag words. 
 
Q. We have divided government in Washington since Democrats took back Congress. Is it healthy for one party, the Democrats, to control the governor's office and the state House and Senate? 
 
I certainly think so (laughter). I haven't observed a lack of checks and balances between the governor and the legislature and between the House and the Senate. It's a pretty vigorous sort of bargaining that goes on, as much so as anything that would go on in Washington. 
 
I don't see that, "Well, we're all Democrats and we just roll over for any idea that any one of us rolls out." It doesn't happen that way.