As we enter the final weeks of the primary campaign, I wanted to take a few minutes and share with voters in Halifax County my priorities if you re-elect me to serve in the North Carolina House of Representatives.

Defend Medicaid expansion

I was a primary sponsor for Medicaid expansion.  

I was proud to work with Governor Roy Cooper and the Legislative leadership to get Medicaid expansion passed into law.  

Here’s the impact it had on our district:

Nearly 17,000 patients got access to affordable healthcare coverage.  

Our doctors and hospitals in rural NC got much needed financial relief.  

With pending federal budget cuts coming, it’s imperative that we work to protect the healthcare benefits so many were able to access through Medicaid Expansion.

Support a 21st Century education system 

My wife is a public school teacher. I see all the hard work she does on a daily basis to help her students succeed.  

It’s critical that we invest in our public schools — making sure our students have a 21st century school system.  

We must make sure our children are learning the skills they will need to be successful in today’s competitive economy. We need to overhaul the NC Education Lottery to reduce administrative costs and increase the amount of funds from the lottery going to education.

Focus on economic development and job creation for rural North Carolina

During my tenure in the NC House, I worked with our local elected officials identifying critical needs they faced to help recruit new industry and new jobs to our areas.  

I worked with our Community Colleges to fund workforce training programs. I worked with the NC DOT to get road improvements to access retail shopping outlets and work places.  

I will continue those efforts to bring new jobs and new opportunities to our district.

Support our state Highway Patrol and corrections officers  

I will work with the colonel of the state Highway Patrol to increase salary schedules and to add new state troopers to our roadways.  

I will work with the secretary of corrections to raise salaries for our corrections officers and work to make sure open positions are filled so we can protect the public. 

With three prison units in our district, it’s critical to support these brave men and women working every day to keep our state safe.

Advocate for our state employees, teachers, and retirees  

We have structural financial problems in our State Employee Health Plan and in our State Employees, Teachers, and Retirees Retirement fund.  I will work with the state treasurer to address these funding issues and work to strengthen both programs. I will support pay raises for our state employees and teachers.  I will support increases in retirements and pensions for our state retirees.

Improve mental healthcare in rural regions of the state 

Our state’s mental healthcare delivery system needs legislative attention.  

We have too many patients and not enough resources to help.  

It’s time to overhaul our community based mental health programs and look for new solutions that will provide better access to patients and their families.  

A 90-day waiting period to get an appointment to a mental healthcare professional isn’t acceptable.  

We can do better. We must do better.

Help our farming and timber industry  

Our farmers are facing tough times due to the volatility in the commodity markets impacted by trade tariffs. Agriculture is our state’s leading economic driver – over $100 billion.  We need to look at innovative ways to support our agribusiness and timber industries. I will always stand tall with our farmers and agricultural community.

Those are the starting points.  

I hope that helps you when deciding on the candidate you would like to support for NC House in District 27.

Michael H. Wray

Gaston