The Robesonian from Lumberton, North Carolina • Page 7

The 1973 Session of the North Carolina General Assembly Page 7--The Robesonian. Lumberton, N.C., Tuesday, June 5,1973 What Robeson Did 'Double Voting'. Where Will It End? REP. GUSSPEROS Speros, the senior member of the Robeson delegation and chairman of the local caucus, chaired the i a Conservation and Development committee and feels his work there and on the calendar and ruies committees were his best accomplishments this session. "I did a lot of floor work, working with the leadership this session," said Speros, adding that he enjoyed the work immensely.

Speros did not do much headline-making this session since he says, his behind-the- scenes work occupied much of his time and effort. As chairman of CD he introduced a bill to allow public hearings to be held on scenic rivers and paved the way for introduction of i a legislation next session. Bills had been submitted to set aside land for portions of eight scenic rivers, the Lumber not included, and the a will be spearheaded by the Dept. of Economic Resources. He introduced successful legislation to eliminate the need for barbers to have health He cosponsored the million school and'supported most of the public education measures including the public kindergarten bill.

Estimates of what Robeson will gain from a successful school bond issue have varied from $5 to $7 million. -Alone of Robeson's delegation, Speros voted in favor of the liquor by the drink referendum. The single biggest issue for Robeson this session, which resulted in giving the county the first school board in the state with a non-white majority, was the controversial "double voting" bill introduced by Rep. J. J.

Johnson and later supplanted by a bill from Sen. Luther Britt Jr. At least two of the four local legislators are still not satisfied i that compromise legislation which added two blacks and two Indians from the county school district to the Robeson County Board of Education. Though Johnson and Rep. Henry Ward Oxendine had said they expected to introduce further legislation when the 1974 session convenes in January, the question remains as to whether Britt and Rep.

Gus Speros would support that legislation. In the meantime, local Indians have taken the matter to federal court, deciding 1 to risk whatever decision the judge, in this age of integration, may wish to render. One result could be greater Indian control of county schools. Another could be further desegregation of schools now predominantly Indian. It seems the "double voting" question is also not resolved on the man-in-the-street level.

Indians have contendeed that the practice of city dwellers voting for their own city school boards and the county school board as well forces the Indian majority in county schools to succumb to the influence of the city voters. City dwellers feel they are entitled to vote because part of their tax dollar goes to county schools. Looking back, Johnson feels that although he did not succeed in getting "double voting" abolished, less would have been accomplished without the introduction of his bill. With the introduction as a catalyst, and repeated Indian visits to Raleigh as consistent pressure, the Robeson delegation arrived at its compromise decision on the last day for filing local legislation. Speros and Britt agree that the action did not satisfy many, but regard it as "a giant step forward" and add that it needs to be given time to work.

Oxendine has said he may not introduce new legislation on the subject in January since he would not allow it to be defeated in the Senate. The heated issue was chock full of politics and included an unusual discrepancy from the state attorney general's office as well. One member of that office opined it would be unconstitutional to abolish "double voting" and another said it would be constitutional. The latter opinion was later altered and Robeson Indians were informed that the attorney general's office was sticking by its unconstitutional adviso. Factors in that opinion included that the county board runs all buses, has veto power over bond issues, and the question of "taxation without representation" for city dwellers.

While Speros kept Johnson's bill in House committee, the county commissioners at home adopted a hands-off policy and only one Indian member of the county school board went on record as being in favor of changing the method of election. The issue saw the question of merger also raised and again found opposition among city school officials. In retrospect, everyone agrees the issue is not over. What they do not agree upon is how it will end. --Elimination of Welfare Lien i 1 i --Committee Leadership --Sickle-Cell Pilot Program A Death In Office SEN.

LUTHER J. BRITT JR. REP. H.W. OXENDINE REP.

FRANK WHITE Three Races In The House, New Nomination Methods The death in March of Frank White, freshman representative, resulted in a tri-racial House delegation from Robeson and the first use of a new ruling on how legislative vacancies will be filled. White died after undergoing surgery for cancer at Memorial Hospital in Chapel Hill. His replacement is Henry Ward Oxendine, an Indian who intends to take up residence in Pembroke in August. Oxendine has been a i lodged in Durham where he just obtained his law degree from N.C. Central University.

White's death caused some confusion among those usually charged with i a i a replacement, a the Democratic i Committee of Robeson County. A new piece of legislation as interpreted by the attorney general, gave the power to the House of Representatives District Committee established by the Democrats at their May convention under the party plan of organization. For a few days, until that interpretation was received things were rather up in the air. The two Robeson members of that committee, one Indian and one black, have twice as many votes as the Hoke and Scotland members, and their nomination of Oxendine on March 15 carried easily. He was subsequently appointed by the governor.

Oxendine spent most of his brief i i to the legislature "learning the Most of the major legislation had already been introduced and Oxendine lent his support to such measures as aid to i education and requiring the revocation of a driver's license if a driver refuses to take a breathalizer test. He voted against the liquor by the drink referendum, saying -he feels legalization a i such safe i i measures a would increase consumption of alcohol. He is looking forward in January to pursuing his business as legislator full time, getting a political education as quickly as possible. White's service did not go unrecognized. Rep.

Gus Speros i a i memorializing White and it was adopted by the assembly. Britt headed up the-important Senate Judiciary Committee Two which he described as "one of the most active if not the most active committee in he legislature." A main accomplishment, he feels, is that 197 bills were submitted to committee and 140 of them were acted upon and gotten back to the floor of the legislature. Most of the bills bearing Britt's name pertain to the finer points of law and criminal justice. Locally, he introduced the bill to add four new minority members to the Robeson County Board of Education and achieved the annexation of a tract of land in South Lumbertoi i into the city, (see other stories this page. He is particularly proud of a Senate bill which permits the clerk of the court to commit inebriates or incompetents to a proper state facility if the local clinical unit is full, and a related bill which changes the method of a and forced commitment, insuring the rights of the person involved.

He was a sponsor of the controversial "shield law" which was defeated by the Senate and which would have protected the newsman against having to reveal his source of information. He voted in favor of the Equal Rights Ammendment for women which was also defeated in the Senate, and voted against the liquor by the drink referendum because he felt it was "an escape from reality to do it that He stands to be a busy legislator during the interim since his committee is one of 10 standing committees in the Senate and will be considering such major issues as complete election reform, criminal procedures including the no- knock provision, highway safety and the rules and operation of the Senate. Britt supported much of the school legislation including the $300 million bond issue and funding for public kindergartens. He endorsed the auto insurance reform acts and was one of the sponsors of the North Carolina Drug Education Program bill. Among the bills introduced by Britt and ratified was legislation to broaden the number of acceptable mental health facilities to which mentally ill criminals can be referred, to remove the necessity of a jury trial in all divorce cases and permit action by a judge (which Britt regards as significant legislation) and a i reduce a a i penalties from 10 years to life to four months to 20 years.

A bill to provide a two-year penalty for a case of aggravated sexual assault where the crime did not go far enough to qualify for assault with intent to commit rape (10 years) but was greater than a straight assault case (a six month crime) is being held in House committee until the 1974 session. Legislation to provide for warrantless auto arrests where drunk driving is obviously involved will be studied during the interim as will a bill to bring optometrist services closer to services now limited to op- thamologists. Other bills such as raising the punishment for assault with a deadly weapon, giving credit for pre-trial psychological exams, and increasing the punishment for the drug pusher were not enacted per se, but were incorporated into broader bills which were ratified. By Toni Goodyear REP. J.J.

JOHNSON Johnson brought a sickle-cell anemia study and testing program into Robeson County, and eliminated the lieu against property owned by welfare recipients. His attempt to allow local government to pick up part of the tab for -public service agencies like Tri-County Community Action, cut off from a sizable amount of federal funds, was thwarted by opposition from city and county governments which obviously feared for their budgets. The Robeson County Commissioners were among those on record against the bill. Johnson's sickle-cell anemia bill, introduced early, underwent substantial change from its initial 100-county, $2 million form. A total of $100,000 was finally appropriated to begin pilot programs, probably two in the state, for anemia research and testing and to establish a 14-man council to make recommendations on future legislation.

Robeson stands to begin its pilot program, conducted by the Health Department, in August or September, says Johnson. Robeson and many other counties in the state were wholly in favor of Johnson's bill to eliminate the welfare.lien which, the legislator refers to as "one of the most viscious" laws to have been on the books in the past 20 years. Previously, the government put a lien on the property of persons receiving welfare to be foreclosed after their death to repay or partially repay the amount of welfare received. Most county officials agreed it was more trouble than it was financially. The bill as passed eliminates all future liens and all those not yet foreclosed and Johnson regards it as his prime accomplishment of the session.

The minister introduced three bills relating to prisoners and achieved automatic restoration of citizenship for ex-convicts. Though his bill to provide absentee registration and voting privileges for misdemenants who are in jail at election time did not pass per se, its concept was included in a broader.bill which was ratified. His attempt to establish a minimum wage for prisoners working inside the camp failed, because, he says, "some were afraid the public would think we were trying to make the in- stitution more glamorous than the outside world." What was accomplished was that a $1 a day payment for prisoners, always on the books but never appropriated, was actually included in the state budget this year. His bill to give policemen more leeway in their handling of public drunks was not enacted. According to Johnson, some felt the option to take a man home, or to jail, or to a detox center, would result in unequal treatment for the same crime.

His "act of God" bill, introduced after the barrage of bad weather at the beginning of the year, was killed because, he says, the eastern section of the state had not supported the west in this regard in past years so the west would not support the east this time. The bill provided for up to 10 days of absence with pay for government and school employes if an act of God preventing their working. His bill to establish a Fair Employment Practice Commission to make recom- a i i discrimination in government facilities was left in committee for lack of time, says Johnson. The legislation will be brought the 1974 session. His introduction of legislation for increasing salaries and expenses of legislators is technically held over until 1974.

A citizen's study committee is to be appointed by the governor to make recommendantions at the next session. Johnson lent his support to other pieces of legislation, including raising the minimum wage from $1.60 to holding a $300 million school bond vote in November and providing funds for the public kindergarten program. He supported a boost in aid to recipients of Aid For Dependent Children from 80 per cent to 100 per cent, and an increase in the homestead tax exemption for senior citizens from $3,000 to $5,000. He regards as a great breakthrough increased aid to qualifying students who attend private colleges since it will a i a benefit small colleges including many black colleges. As expected, the minister voted against the liquor by the drink referendum and says he will work to defeat it in November.

Lumberton Annexation The size of the City of Lumberton was increased during the 1973 legislative session by a bill introduced by Sen. Luther J. Britt Jr. to annex a tract of land south of Lumberton which Lumherton City Council would not act to do. By very informal estimates, 1000 people were added to Lumberton and a highly disputed cost figure of a quarter of a million dollars was reported as what it would cost to furnish complete services to the largely undeveloped area.

A question exists as to whether the bill was pleasing or displeasing to a majority of city council. Britt did confer with Dr. E.B. Turner before submitting the bill which took the burden of decision off local shoulders. Other city officials showed no advance knowledge of the bill but did not come forth with any negative reaction after it was ratified on March 9.

Council had, in Nov. 1971 delayed action on the annexation until, it was stated, financial conditions permitted provisions of facilities. It was later decided to hold a referendum in the area to let the people decide. Britt said this was not proper procedure for a city with a population over 5,000 and felt legislation in Raleigh was the best way to handle it. By March, 1974, at least the main water and sewer feeder lines must be provided.

Many of the streets are of dirt and need grading before garbage service can begin. It is expected that some kind of appropriation for the area will be recommended in the city's budget for the upcoming fiscal. The annexed tract straddles N.C. 41 from Old Stage Road to Weaver Court, from the city limits to rural road 2501. Britt introduced other local bills, most of which passed without problem.

They included codifications of the St. Pauls charter and method of school board election, Lumberton school board elections, and revising the charter of Fairmont. A bill to provide that fortified wine could be sold only in the ABC store in St. Pauls was killed when the attorney general advised against the limitation. He also introduced successful legislation to require out of comity residents to apply for a marriage license 72 hours before issuance, and set limitations on bondsman fees in the county..