Rep. Graig Meyer, candidate for NC House District 50, 2014 People's Alliance PAC Questionnaire

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Graig Meyer
People’s Alliance PAC 2014 Questionnaire
for NC House of Representatives Candidates
Candidate’s name ______Graig Meyer_________________ House District ___50__
Residence address ____9603 Leslie Drive, Chapel Hill NC 27516_________________________
Cell-phone Number ___919-824-4180_______ e-mail ___graig@graigmeyer.com_______
1. What is your understanding of the relationship between the NC DENR and Duke Power?
Who should pay for the cleanup of the Dan River coal ash spill? - the Duke Power ratepayers,
the Duke Power shareholders, the NC taxpayers, others?
DENR is trying to position itself as a “customer service agency” to industry, but I believe that
government regulators should work to regulate industry on behalf of the public. DENR has its role
reversed. Duke should pay for the coal ash cleanup. Their profits are enough to cover the cost, and
those profits were obviously made based on inadequate investments in environmental
conservation.
2. In what circumstances it would be appropriate for North Carolina’s state and local
governments to enact environmental regulations that are stricter than minimum federal
environmental regulatory standards? Please explain.
I believe that Federalism allows for states to enact regulations that are not specifically prohibited by
the U.S. Government. Therefore, there is ample room for North Carolina to legally enact
regulatory standards beyond those of the Federal government.
3. Please explain your views on state preemption of local regulatory authority, including
stormwater regulatory matters and hydraulic fracturing.
In the case of stormwater and hydraulic fracturing regulation, the state is currently trying to create
“pro-business” regulations that allow for significant threats to environmental conservation. It’s
admirable that local government organizations have tried to provide regulation for environmental
conservation, and I believe that local governments should have zoning control that includes the
ability to protect natural resources. That said, the real issue is here is the agenda of the Republican
General Assembly, and we need to change that.
4. What is your position on public funding for vouchers/charter schools/private schools? Do
you support the McCrory administration’s current proposal related to teacher salaries?
As a public school educator, I have extensive thoughts on this subject, I’ll try to be brief here. I
oppose voucher funding as an unconstitutional use of public funds for private schools. I support
high functioning charter schools that have to meet the same standards as public schools. I do not
support the rapid expansion of charter schools that threatens the financial stability of local school

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districts, as in Durham. I support the effort to raise base teacher pay, but all of our teachers need a
raise. Under the governor’s plan, teachers would not receive a raise until their 10th year of teaching.
That’s an untenable position for most professionals. We need an across-the-board raise for all
teachers this year and a plan to raise teacher pay to the national average or above.
5. Would you support strengthening the state watershed protection rules to protect drinking
water supplies even if it meant restricting the density of developments in proximity to the
water supplies?
Yes. No one wants contaminated drinking water. I live in Orange County’s rural buffer and support
the use of methods like ours that spread development to protect water and other resources.
6. The McCrory administration refused Federal funding to extend Medicare Funding in North
Carolina. Do you agree with this? In light of this, what can be done to extend health care
funding to North Carolinians?
I do not agree with this. Today, the Department of Health and Human Services also released a
Medicaid reform plan. Health care for poor and working class North Carolinians needs to be a
major issue for discussion in the legislature, but I’m afraid there is not much we can do until more
legislators believe that the government should play a role in ensuring public health. I would support
accepting the Federal funding and creating better health networks that provide all North
Carolinians with easy access to primary care.
7. What type of revenue/tax structure would you support for North Carolina? How can the state
best balance the need to raise revenues with tax fairness and a desire to minimize the impact of
taxes on economic decisions?
Taxation structures are always going to be a complex issue for North Carolinians. I support
progressive taxation that asks those with the largest wealth and income to pay more than those who
are working class or poor. I am also very interested in loosening state control of local taxation so
that counties and municipalities could experiment with revenue generating techniques beyond the
property tax.
8. The 2009 Racial Justice Act (RJA) uncovered statewide racial bias in jury selection in death
penalty cases. The evidence of bias remains, though the law has been repealed. Will you work
to make sure no person is executed with evidence of racial bias as determined under the 2009
RJA?
Yes. My career working for racial equity in schools is evidence that I am willing to fight against
racial bias in our governmental institutions.
9. What is your position on the Affordable Care Act and how it will affect North Carolina health
care consumers and the medical care system?
I support the Affordable Care Act as an effort to provide adequate health care to all people living
in the United States. My belief is that it will eventually reduce our overall health care costs by
providing better primary care and reducing the use of highly expensive hospital services. It’s going

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to take a while to work out the kinks of ACA, and it can be improved upon. In the meantime, we
need to support its implementation.
10. What are your views on the rights (including whether any such rights exist) of homosexual
persons to marry? Did you vote for or against Amendment One?
I support marriage equality. I voted against Amendment One.
11. Are you conservative or liberal? Please choose one and then explain your answer.
I consider myself to be liberal. I’m not a fan of the term “progressive”, because I believe it has
connotations of progressives as being ideological when I consider myself pragmatic. I am
comfortable with the term liberal, because I believe in personal liberties and the traditional
principles of U.S. liberalism.
12. Please describe how your religious and philosophical beliefs may affect your conduct and
decision making if you are elected.
My core values are integrity, intentionality and inclusion. I believe in spending time discerning what
the right thing do to do is and then acting on it intentionally. I believe in being willing to defend
your choice and action publicly as an act of integrity. And I believe that my life’s work is to build a
more inclusive society that values all of its members for who they are as individuals and members
of multiple cultural groups.
13. Where were you born and where have you lived?
I was born and raised in Cleveland, Ohio. I went to college in Wooster, Ohio. I lived in Chicago,
Illinois while attending graduate school. In 1998, my wife, my daughter, and myself moved to
Orange County and we have lived here ever since. We don’t plan on moving.
14. Have you ever been convicted of a criminal offense other than a minor traffic offense (such as
speeding)? If the answer is yes, please describe the circumstances and the outcome.
No.
15. Who did you vote for in the 2008 and 2012 presidential and gubernatorial elections?
I voted for Barack Obama in both elections, and I was an Obama delegate to the 2008 Democratic
National Convention. I voted for Beverley Perdue in 2008. In 2012, I voted for Walter Dalton.