news-record.com

Office you seek
North Carolina General Assembly, House District 59

Age
73

Occupation
Retired Classroom Teacher, 2/1/97

Address
1801 Rolling Road, Greensboro, NC 27403; Phone (336) 275-4762 (home) or (336) 312-8282 (cell)

Website/e-mail address
No personal website at this time; some information on General Assembly website; personal e-mail address, maggiejeffus@triad.rr.com

Party affiliation
Democrat

Elective experience
North Carolina State Representative 1991-1994, 1997-2008 (8 two-year terms, total 16 years)

Other relevant experience (Boards, Commissions, etc.)
Due to my legislative responsibilities and the recent Ethics changes, I have resigned from my most current civic Boards and Commissions. I am forwarding, by a separate e-mail, a rather lengthy Bio of Education, Honors, Civic work over the years, and legislative appointments, both current and past.

Family
Widowed in 1983 (Charles Oliver Jeffus); remarried in 1991 (Ted J. Thompson); two children, 5 grandchildren

Why have you chosen to run for this office?
I have been interested in politics for many years, served as a Democratic Precinct Chair; worked on many campaigns, local, statewide and presidential; elected to 3 National Conventions; in 1988 I was recruited by several civic leaders to run for an open House seat.

What distinguishes you most from your opponent?
My experience and knowledge of the legislative process.

What key qualifications would you bring to the job?
I hold a leadership position by virtue of being one of the Full Appropriation Chairs in the House. I'm also the Senior Member of the Delegation as well as holding the position of the Delegation Chair for the past 4 years. I have a good working relationship with members of both parties as well as the Guilford Delegation. I am responsive to my constituents of both parties and feel I have the maturity, experience, and temperament to represent Guilford County and our State.

What is the most pressing need in your district?
Right now, the Economy and bringing jobs to our area seem to be very important, but Education and Healthcare are certainly very high on the list as well.

List your top three campaign issues and your stances on those issues.
The issues listed above are the issues that appear to be most important to my area and to our state. (1) Bring new industry into our area who offer good benefits and wages to their workforce, and to find ways to help our small businesses survive in these difficult times. (2) Provide an educated workforce for the industries that decide to locate here, support and utilize our Community Colleges, provide opportunities for students as well as adults to attend Community Colleges and Universities, explore different teaching methods and styles as well as provide relevant classes to keep our young people from dropping out of school, and find ways to recruit and retain our best teachers. (3) We need to make sure that families have access to quality healthcare with special emphasis on healthcare for children. Seniors, many of which are on fixed incomes, are also having difficulty with the high cost of drugs and transportation to and from healthcare facilities. Young families are stressed with the cost of health insurance which is constantly increasing.

Did ethics reform in the legislature go far enough? Why or why not?
I think that we always need to look for future opportunities to make our state government more transparent and make sure that we are living up to the ethical standards that the people who elected us here expect. Some of the changes were confusing and questions came up about things no one ever thought would be a problem such as whether or not to receive or send Christmas cards. We did clarify some items this session that will be helpful. As we move forward with this, other changes or clarifications may be needed, but we need to apply the rules that are in place now and evaluate how they are working. I would hope that we would revisit this issue again next year as well as subsequent years.

How should the state deal with the problems with Mental Health Reform?
The State did address many of the problems that have existed since the reform took place several years ago. We developed mobile crisis teams aimed at getting services to people before taking them to a state facility. We increased funding to develop more local inpatient bed capacity and many items in our budget are focused on providing a higher level of professional care to consumers seeking services from the mental health, developmentally disabled and substance abuse system. Going forward we need to continue to look at community needs, in both the urban and rural areas of our State. We need a seamless system of services that addresses high quality services for consumers, expanded community capacity and a state operated system of institutions that are safe and are staffed with the quality professionals our citizens deserve.

Where do you stand on the governor's proposal for managing state water use in a crisis?
The Governor's plan was used as a framework for discussion and change by both Chambers. The final version did give the Governor the power to cut back in times of need and to transfer water to where it is most needed. Municipal water systems must submit a conservation plan and the bill gives the state the power to order stricter measures in an emergency. Systems that have surplus water must share a minimum amount necessary with other cities in need and be compensated for it. Gray water (water used in dishwashing and bath water) can be recycled and used for plant and lawn watering. This represents input from many sources and can be adjusted next year, if needed.

Did the State House act correctly in expelling Thomas Wright, and why or why not?
Yes, the House did act correctly in expelling Thomas Wright due to lack of campaign reporting and irregularities in reporting campaign contributions.

Do you favor an independent, nonpartisan redistricting commission? Why or why not?
I have mixed feelings about this and would be agreeable to listen and have more discussion on this issue. While I would agree that something needs to be done to improve the process, I also wonder if you could truly get someone who is nonpartisan, and how and who appoints them.