All Things Saine w/ NC Representative Jason Saine | Representative Saine Joined By Charlotte City Councilman Tariq Bokhari

Welcome to All Things Saine, the enlightening radio show hosted by North Carolina House of Representative Jason Saine. Tune in to WSIC every Wednesday at 11am as Representative Saine takes you on a journey through the latest news, legislative updates, and insightful discussions on a wide range of topics that impact our communities.

About Representative Jason Saine

All Things Saine is hosted by Jason Saine, a dedicated public servant and a respected member of the North Carolina House of Representatives. With a deep passion for his constituents and a commitment to improving the lives of North Carolinians, Representative Saine has been an influential voice in shaping state policies and legislation. To learn more about Representative Saine and his work, visit his official website at https://www.jasonsaine.com/.

Show Format

During All Things Saine, Representative Jason Saine will explore a variety of important issues that affect North Carolina residents. Each episode provides a platform for in-depth discussions and interviews with experts, community leaders, and fellow policymakers. The show covers a wide range of topics, including:

Legislative updates and key initiatives.
Economic development and job creation.
Education and workforce development.
Healthcare and public health policies.
Infrastructure and transportation improvements.
Environmental conservation and sustainability.
Community engagement and local events.
Q&A sessions with listeners.

Engage and Participate

All Things Saine encourages active engagement from listeners. You can participate in the show by calling in with your questions, comments, and concerns during the live broadcast. Your insights and feedback are vital in shaping the conversation and ensuring that the topics covered address the issues that matter most to you and your community.

Connect with Representative Saine

For more information about All Things Saine, upcoming episodes, and special guest appearances, visit our website regularly. You can also subscribe to our podcast to catch up on past episodes and stay connected with Representative Jason Saine’s insightful discussions.

Connect with Representative Saine directly through his official website https://www.jasonsaine.com/ to learn more about his work in the North Carolina House of Representatives and stay updated on his efforts to serve the community.

Stay Informed and Inspired

Join Representative Jason Saine every Wednesday at 11am on WSIC for All Things Saine. Stay informed about the latest legislative updates, engage in thought-provoking discussions, and gain valuable insights into the issues that shape North Carolina’s future. Together, let’s create positive change and build a better community for all.

What is All Things Saine w/ NC Representative Jason Saine?

About Representative Jason Saine

Show Format

Legislative updates and key initiatives.
Economic development and job creation.
Education and workforce development.
Healthcare and public health policies.
Infrastructure and transportation improvements.
Environmental conservation and sustainability.
Community engagement and local events.
Q&A sessions with listeners.

Engage and Participate

Connect with Representative Saine

Stay Informed and Inspired

Join Representative Jason Saine every Wednesday at 11am on WSIC for All Things Saine. Stay informed about the latest legislative updates, engage in thought-provoking discussions, and gain valuable insights into the issues that shape North Carolina's future. Together, let's create positive change and build a better community for all.

And good morning, you've got
Representative S here for our show.

All Things Sane.

I'm your host and today
we are broadcasting from
the legislative building.

We had to come back up for a little
bit of session here in Raleigh today.

A few bills are going
to be on the calendar.

We're still in flux
working with the budget,

trying to get to a resolve with our
Senate counterparts. Not there yet.

Sad to say I am of course one
of the senior appropriators,

senior appropriations
chairman in the house.

And so sadly it's eating up a lot of
my summer too and not that anybody's at

home just waiting to see,

but it is a matter of discussion here
in Raleigh and we would like to get to a

state budget as soon as we can.

Budget work started way back in February.

House produced a budget
we got that passed out in,

I think it was March or right at the 1st
of April. And then the Senate took up

our budget. They were very enamored
with the work that we had done,

but had a few suggestions
and a few amendments to our
bill and we've been trying

to work out the differences since then.

So hopefully soon we'll get to resolve
on that. There are a lot of big issues,

a lot of big things in the budget,

some of the governance with Medicaid
expansion, which I voted against,

but was something that the Senate had
pushed. The house did adopt it this year.

So that's probably a big one that's in
the budget that people are concerned

about or are looking at,
wanting to know what's next.

But then a lot of other things too,

there's tax cuts for individuals
that we're looking at.

There's how we fund state government,
all the different agencies,

all of that is still in play.
Some other issues got

resolved early on. Sports betting,
which was a bill that I ran.

If you followed that one,

we had a good kumbaya on
that and got that passed.

Governor signed that into law.

But the budget still seems to be a bit
of a sticking point between both chambers

and it's just a natural order of things.

This is how democracy works when we're
actually attentive to budgets and we

don't just give it up to the bureaucrats.

So a lot of folks on all sides
want, want to see things happen,

whether it's a local project funding
or road funding, schools, teachers,

state workers, all things
that we'll consider.

But it's great to be with you
on today. Later in the show,

a little after 1115 or so, we'll
have city councilman from Charlotte,

good friend of mine, tar Macari,
he'll be on. He's hard to get to talk,

so maybe we can pull something out of him.
I mean,

it's not a very good communicator.
I kid. He and I joke around a lot.

We also play video games together
because that's what dads our age do

and just a good friend. So
we'll have a good talk with him.

We'll talk about municipal elections,

some of the economic development projects
going on in and around Charlotte and

some of the other things
happening in state government.

But we'll get to that here shortly.

Lots of things going on
like say in the house.

One of the big things here at the
legislature that's being talked about,

medical marijuana and Senator
Bill Raven had passed the

bill out of the Senate, something
that's been near and dear to him.

And this is medical marijuana,
not recreational marijuana.

So I want to be clear something that
North Carolina has not done yet,

but it did pass the Senate.

It's been over in the house for a while.
But the house speaker,

if I quoted him correctly,

said it would require a number of house
members who've taken a position of no to

literally switch their position
to want to vote for it.

And I just don't see that happening
so effectively telling reporters that

medical marijuana legislation
is probably dead echoes some

comments from our majority leader in
the house and his job is one of many,

but also to count the votes in the
House Republican caucus basically

saying the same thing earlier in the
week. So that's where that stands.

Doesn't mean that nothing's ever
dead, truly dead at the legislature.

It's more like the undead. If you
watch Walking Dead again, H hey,

quick pop reference here.

Nothing is undead or nothing dies at the
legislature. It just might be undead.

So it's living and
breathing, but not by much.

It could come back at another time should
legislators have a different point of

view or want to take it up. But for now,
at least for this legislative session,

it does look like that medical marijuana
will not be happening this session.

Interesting. Interestingly
enough, other news this week,

great news for our state,

North Carolina is once again
the best state for business.

That's according to a newly
released ranking by cnbc. C N B C.

The Tar Hill State took the first
spot in the rankings in 2022 and was

runner up in 2021 in the
rankings 16 year history.

The state has rarely fallen
outside of CNBC's top 10.

The most important factor that was
assessed was workforce in which North

Carolina was ranked in the top spot.

So that means we're a
great place to do business.

We're a great place to bring your
business because we've got a well-trained

workforce and something that we've been
very intentional on working on here at

the legislature over
the last several years,

working with our community colleges,

working with our four year institutions
and of course working with our K-12,

making sure that we produce
students that are employable. It's

important, it's important for our state
to function and to be the economic

powerhouse that it has become
over the last 10 years.

So these rankings do mean
something and not only that,

it's what everyone else sees.

If you're in a state that's not
treating your business very well,

maybe not treating your workers very well,

you may want to relocate and
we're doing it all the time.

Saw something the other
day on CNBC where and now,

not that I watch C N B C very often,

but someone had tweeted out at me
on it where Governor Roy Cooper

was touting the fact that our state's
doing such a great job and then of course

criticized the Republican
legislature for all of our policies.

Interestingly enough,

our policies are what give Governor
Cooper the reason to go cut all those

ribbons and welcome all those businesses
to North Carolina. I always find that

fact funny and something
that is of interest when he's

critical of the work that we're
doing here at the legislature.

It is a busy time still
though at the legislature,

even though we're kind of
winding down for summer,

still a lot goes on behind
the scenes. People say, well,

you're a part-time legislature.

I don't know what part they're talking
about or what part the of that time of my

day is, is part-time really legislators,

whether you're an appropriations
chairman like me or just a rank and file

legislator,

there's a lot going on
because constituents are
always interacting with state

government. So I'll remind you that
if you're listening to this show,

we're glad to help you if you live
in Lincoln County in the district,

if you don't live in the district and
you want to call our office and find out

who your representative or state
senator may be, if you don't know,

you can call our office.
But you can also go to nc.gov,

that's nc leg.gov and find
your state legislator and

most, if not all, are
usually happy to help.

And if we're not the right office to
call, we try to direct those calls.

So we're always working. I have a
staff of three people right now.

I've got Clark Remer
who's my chief of staff.

Angela Miranda is my
legislative assistant and we,

we've got our intern in.

We may bring on a show before he
leaves for the summer because he,

he's learning a lot.

He grew up in Canada and
then also north of Chicago,

good kid and learning a lot too.

So we'll bring the staff
on at some point in time.

Right now they're actually
busy defending the office,

making sure no one walks in
while we do this broadcast.

This is also first for me,

this is only our second broadcast
but the first time that we've done it

remotely. So we wanted to check it out,
see if we got all the bugs worked out.

So no one's calling me and
saying everything's bad on air.

So it sounds like or looks like
we're doing it pretty well.

Also want to remind you later on the
show you can call in if you got any

questions, legislative questions,
things you want to talk about.

This number is 8 44 studio four
and I took the time to translate

that for people like me who
might not pick up on that real

quick.

It's 8 4 4 7 8 8 3 4 6 4 or
just remember 8 4 4 studio

four and you can call
into the show at any time.

I'd generally like to do this at the
latter part of the show cause we are going

to have tart Bakari on here in just a
few minutes and we'll get to the hard

brakes as I can do my best.
If we get to a place

where I'm talking and it cuts off,

then that's on me because
we are doing it remotely.

But I do have someone in my ear telling
me that we're less than a minute down

from our break. So it is
neat to do this technology,

to have to utilize this technology to be
able to communicate to you and have our

show and really appreciate the fact that
you're either listening or watching.

I know it's all over Facebook, LinkedIn,

I got my notices right
before we went live,

so really glad to have you
watching and listening to the show.

We look forward to all the conversations.

We look forward to having TARP Bakari on
here in just a few minutes and we will,

we'll get to some fun stuff
with him as well. Again,

this is all things sane with
Representative Jason Sane

And we're back.

All things saying live from
the legislative building
where all fun things are

happening. It's so exciting.

Actually it's kind of boring here in July
a lot of the bills debate have already

happened and now we're just waiting
on the budget but still work goes on.

We're working on a number of items
but we also want to talk about what's

happening locally.

And joining me our first
remote guest for the

show Tarp Ari,

I figured I'd get somebody who's a
little technically savvy to join us.

Tart Ari, you look at his
background, there he is,

got the think big sign behind
him and all the things that

glow and look techy in the background.
So Councilman Tart McCarry,

welcome to all things sane.

Longtime listener, Jason,
first time participant here.

All things sane. Awesome title.

I thought you might have gone
with Inanity many options,

but I think you picked a good one.

Well, we could change it.

I've got some music beds we're working
on that will at least integrate insane

the Membrane just for that purpose.

And I think as the show continues,
it may get a little more insane.

I love it, I love it. So
what's on your mind buddy?

What do you want to
talk about today? Well.

Tell me what's on your mind. So municipal
elections, I think filing has started.

Have you filed a run for reelection?

I, I went ahead and

made some time yesterday to reach out to
some supporters and say we're going to

go down to the old board of elections
Monday at noon and do the old song and

dance down there. And so
that, that's in the works.

My opponent filed yesterday,

same one I ran against last
year. She's a real nice person.

I got to know her and like her,

I kind of hope she'd run at large because
I think she would've been beneficial

to the council.

We got a bit of a dysfunctional council
in Charlotte if you haven't heard

thought she could have been
real, a really good ad,

but she was convinced by others that
she needed to go at me again and well

I'm sad to see her not be able to serve,
but we're willing to give that a shot.

Hey, that's the name of
the game anyone can file

and it's nice that you can
be complimentary to her,

but we'll wish you good luck in that race.

Republicans are few and far between
elected O office in Mecklenburg County

and that unfortunately for
Mecklenburg puts him at a bad position

when it comes to working with the
state legislature, which is important.

Mecklenburg being in
the city of Charlotte,

city of Charlotte being our
largest municipality in the state,

not having you do have a voice at the
legislature. I don't mean to say that,

but you've got John
Bradford and now Tricia Ham,

the only in the house,

the only two house members from
Mecklenburg that are Republican

work well with the delegation for sure,

but it's always good to have people
that are in the majority party.

And so you and Ed Driggs, if I'm correct,

are the only two Republicans on
city council, is that correct?

That That is absolutely correct and
it's wild to think about the fact of

what an amazing economic engine and how
much growth is happening in Charlotte on

one side of the coin.
But on the other side,

your point of while we
have representation,

the city of Charlotte
is primarily Democrat,

it's primarily Democrat representation
we have with you in the general assembly

up there. And it's almost been an
adversarial kind of thumbing the nose.

And I can say this because I'm speaking
from down here at the ground floor

of it relationship and when you
think about what's at stake,

trying to get hospitality
taxes sunset extended

for all the big things that are happening,

trying to focus on
transportation regionally,

I think people realize that
doesn't seem like a smart approach,

but it doesn't seem like we can get out
of our own way in even solving that and

electing more Republicans would be nice,
but just from a pragmatic perspective,

not being so confrontational
and having such a friction is a

no-brainer. And I think
some of the northern towns,
north Mecklenburg and above,

they recognize that and we're having
this internal battle where we should be

more regional but also smarter
with the general assembly.

Yeah,

no relationships matter and you've
come up to Raleigh a good bit on behalf

of the city of Charlotte and
for business that in and around

Charlotte as well.

But it does matter and the good
news is the economy is still

strong in our area. Charlotte
is definitely a driver,

but when you talk as you go
further up 77 to Huntersville corn

up to Mooresville, I know
outside of Mecklenburg County,

but those areas have a lot more can
with my district in Lincoln County than

necessarily the leadership
in the city of Charlotte.

But glad you're there doing the
Lord's work, at least if nothing else,

keeping them honest and
look, they're not bad people,

it's just a different approach to
government just and to that end,

having those relationships matter
at critical times because we really

do want to have a working relationship
that's beneficial to everybody because

again,

if I always tell people that while I
may not represent the city of Charlotte

Charlotte's success, it's very important
to the people in my district a lot.

Do my people drive to
Charlotte, work in Charlotte.

We certainly spend dollars
in downtown Charlotte,

whether it's the Hornets
or Charlotte Football club,

the Panthers and I get
together a good bit downtown.

So it's a center really
for about a 16 county area.

And so what happens in the city of
Charlotte matters to everybody else in the

area.

It matters a great deal and I agree with
you, most of them are not bad people.

Yeah, I mean it's not so in shade, but
we can pick on somebody if you want to,

but not throw in shade. But

let's talk about what is
going on in Charlotte.

So one I tell you,

favorite topic of mine and we're going
to talk more about it as the show goes on

as we get closer to football
season, the Panthers.

But then we've got a new coach
at u UNC Charlotte too. Biff,

I don't know if you had a
chance to meet the coach,

but phenomenal guy was an assistant
coach at the University of Michigan.

Hell of a hell a person, just a great guy.

I'm going to head him on the show soon
and looking forward to what building a

UNC Charlotte football
following will look like.

And I think it compliments and
works well with our panthers.

So that's coming up.

We're in the doldrums of without baseball,

without a major league team in our state.

We've got our AAA team of course
in Charlotte as well, the Knights.

And I know you're a
big sports fan like me,

how much do you think that plays into
sports playing into to the region?

How important is that?

Here's how I'd describe it, just as
fair as I possibly could. Charlotte is

in my 20 years here,

it's kind of classified as a city with
a chip on its shoulder and that's in

every aspect.

And I think it's actually been something
that's suited us when you use that chip

to try to market and define,

Charlotte's got a lot and
all this stuff that's bad,

but when you use it to actually
outperform and out hustle other major

cities, well that's a big difference
maker and we've done that in business.

We're trying to do that
with transportation.

But sports is I think one of the
coolest areas in that concept

because we've always kind of been
like, oh, they got a team or oh,

they got another team.

But it's starting to hear more
of a national scuttlebutt around

Charlotte to sports town.

And when you go to places like Philly
and Boston and stuff like that, alright,

well we're not those,

that's clear. But when you think about
the fact that we've got the hornets

where and the evolution
that's happening over there,

I think there's some cool things where we,

we've got all the building blocks
we need to become contenders.

So you mentioned U n
Charlotte and the new coach,

if there's a chance to
become contenders in there,

well that all of a sudden now
that's a different ballgame.

The Panthers and the draft pick and
the new coaching and all that stuff.

Well contender potential,

the hand handoff of the team from
Jordan to new folks and new draft

picks on basketball, that's cool.

Baseball is kind of more of a social
event and we love it and it's awesome.

I don't see us going pro there, but
Savannah bananas or something like that,

maybe we could enter that
league, that would be cool.

But then you start looking at amateur
sports and what we're trying to do at

Eastland and then you start
looking at the tennis,

the Eastern Western open that we're
competing for with Cincinnati for the west

side of Charlotte.

You start looking at all these things
and all of a sudden people are like,

not only is it a sports town,

and I think winning and
being in contention is going
to take that to another

level.

I think the other big thing is
all of a sudden it's a valuable TV

and fan market and that is where
we're not suddenly lucky to just

have a team and we have to
do it whatever they say.

But it's more like this is a
highly sought after place to be.

Yeah. Oh for sure. It's all about
media markets. It's not just sports,

it's about the number of people.

And with our state growing and with
Charlotte at the center of that growth,

it just leads more opportunities.
But you do want contenders.

You build a much bigger fan base
when your teams are in contention.

So hopefully some of these trades and
some of these pickups with the draft picks

the hornets exciting, what was that?

The number two or three draft
pick that they picked up.

We've got what's happening with
the Panthers as that grows,

we know that that's going to build
interest and some of the other sporting

events that come in the one-offs,

college football games that come in.

Wells Fargo championship, nascar.

I mean it's just like
the list goes on and on.

Yeah. Well yeah,

we didn't even mention the
racetrack because it's just
a little outside the city

limits, but it's still, Charlotte
and I grew up going to NASCAR races.

They do the free Saturdays for the
Boy Scouts, which is a lot of fun.

And my dad was our scout leader,

so he'd take a bunch of Cub Scouts to
the racetrack and we became fans in

that's, and that still instilled
in me, man, anytime there's a race,

I'm at the racetrack. It's a lot of fun,

but it also builds that corporate
entertainment part of it too,

which means what that really means is
jobs and well paying jobs for people.

And we want to see that happen because
it has lifted our region up in such a way

over the last two decades really
to really grow our brand and to

grow the Charlotte region.

And your work on city council is very
important on that and I do thank you for

that.

Well, I appreciate it and obviously the
partnership with you guys in the general

assembly,

I mean that's critical to all these
things and it's not just critical for

when we want to come with our handout and
we need something. It's also critical.

We don't always make surprise or the
best business decisions down here.

So putting our hand out is one thing,

but getting guidance
back from you is another.

Yep. No, we will work together. We're
going to take a break for just a second.

We'll be back if you'll
stay over with me, Tark,

have you back on and keep talking.

Local and North Carolina news
now on the news 1 0 5 9 1.

All right, welcome back to all things
Sane. I am your host, Jason Sa.

Glad to have you joining us today from
the legislative building reminding you

that you want to call in. The number
is eight four four studio four,

that's 8 4 4 7 8 8 3 4 6
4. Love to take your calls,

anything that's on your
mind, glad to talk about it.

I've got with me today special guest
and special because he's a dear friend

and we do a lot together. City Councilman
Tarp McCarry. Glad to have you on sir.

Welcome back.

It is great to be here on all
things saying on Ws. I see.

I just don't know what
to do with my hands.

That's the weird thing since
we're doing the video too.

What do you do with your hands? So Target,

we're talking during the
break and he says, well,

you're up the legislative
building, what are you working on?

And we've got some very heavy
bills on the calendar today at two

o'clock we're taking up the Fuqua
Marina Clemmens de annexation

issue. That's that's
going to be a hot one.

Also the Holly Springs de
annexation and Leland de

annexation and moratorium. These will
certainly be hotly debated today.

I kid and digest,

not all legislative
business is headline makers,

but we also have the Harmony Love
Valley election changes and the Maggie

Valley Development Authority.
So oh, one more thing.

Town of Lake Lure property lease.

So I know you're having an
exciting time at Home Park,

but you can't stop the excitement
here in Raleigh this week. No.

Hold on. I was just in Lake Lore.

It is become a tradition over the years
to bring my family there for 4th of

July.

I need to know more about this property
transaction and what's going on there

late.

I have ingest joked around in
Lake lore that one day I'll

run for mayor there,

but I'm going to change the name of it
to president or Captain or something like

that.

And my one campaign slogan's
going to be cellular access for

all. I will get it done because
you can't use the phone up there.

Well, but that's a benefit when
you're there on a family vacation.

I did see your pictures.

You guys have done some traveling and
Lake lore is a great place to go to and

that's not Lake Norman, which is
where I prefer to be most days,

including today. What I,

speaking of broadband access on lakes,

I've got a cove where I get 5G access,
where I make a lot of phone calls.

I actually do work while fishing
and I make a lot of calls.

I know you and I have had some calls
there, so maybe that's not a bad idea.

If you get some 5G on Lake Lure.

I'm I'll 5G that whole place up.

I think it'll be a controversial kind
of campaign platform, but I'm prepared.

Well 5G once upon a time
is like a hot topic.

You and I started working on that
back in 2017 if I remember correctly.

And I do House Bill three
17 was a big lift at the

time,

but you and I were working on that because
we knew that one of the first place

places that investment in 5G technology
was going to go would be the city of

Charlotte. And sure enough,

we got the bill pass and I think you
and I were together in a couple of press

releases welcoming some of the
companies that we're putting in 5g.

And now it's amazing just how connected
the city of Charlotte is and the

surrounding area when again, when I'm
on Lake Norman, I can get 5G access.

Pretty impressive.

Well, it's not just impressive in
what people are experiencing today.

When you and I went on that journey
in the beginning many years ago,

we knew that it isn't just a utility,

it's an economic development tool.

It would be the things where if you
had the first ubiquitous 5G covered

city in the United States in
the world, it isn't like, oh,

I'd like to come there.

Any company that has a 5G r
and d shop for the last decade,

autonomous vehicle companies like cruise,
autonomous vehicles, others like that,

they would have to come there
because their competitors would

be getting a leg up on 'em.
So now that stuff's out there,

we're going to see a revolution.

And I have been a big proponent
as you have as well in what more

can we do? It's a huge
rural digital divide tool,

but I really believe the number one thing
that we got to keep marching to from

where we started is we got
to make the 74 corridor,

the first 5G and autonomous trucking
corridor from the state's largest

port to and through the state's
largest economy. And once we do that,

not only are we going to bring business,

are we going to start beating Norfolk and

Savannah and other ports?

We're then going to create this kind
of center hub that Lumberton and

all these other places can start to
pull 5G from solving the digital divide.

And not only is that going to be awesome,

this is how the future of gaming
and eSports is going to evolve

to cloud-based opportunities
that'll lead to STEM education.

That'll lead to so many other things.

Well, speaking of that, and
I'm glad you brought that up.

When we talk about eSports and gaming,

my lead in earlier I talked about you and
I get on and play Call of Duty late at

night when the kids are going bed and
will give us back our game controllers.

But you've done a lot
with integrating eSports

and with high school students and
getting that to a point where you,

you've actually developed a pipeline
of talent to go to work and work in

programming and things that are needed,

particularly in the financial
sector in Charlotte.

Talk a little bit about Y TAC and
what that is and the championships you