It has been an honor serving both Stokes and Rockingham Counties, the 91st district, in the North Carolina House of Representatives these past four terms. I have never forgotten that this is the people's seat, and that I am sent to Raleigh to represent you!

This past term was a very exciting term as my party gained control of the North Carolina General Assembly for the first time in 140 years. Yes, we had many challenges as we inherited one of the worst shortfalls in state funds since the Great Depression, which came about from decades of over taxing and spending far faster than population and inflation growth. Yet, this new majority took major strides in putting this state on a new prosperous direction, and though we are criticized by our opposition and the media, we will continue to lead this state in a new direction.

This past session, I had the honor being named chairperson of four committees: Education Appropriations, Education Policy, Education Oversight, and Education Reform. Despite what you read in the newspapers or hear from politically charged groups, we moved the state forward by focusing spending on the classroom and not bureaucrats in Raleigh. We rehired over 2,000 teachers that were laid off by the previous majority, and we climbed six spots in the national rankings for dollars spent on students. For the first time in decades, children were the focus and not bureaucrats in Raleigh. However, it isn't going to stop here! We have a world-renowned university system, and it is high time our K-12 system joined that status.

As we head into the fall election, fully expect to see attack ads against the new Republican majority from Beverly Perdue and her gang. They will tell you that thousands of teachers have lost their jobs, and we are doing nothing to grow jobs for the private sector. IT JUST ISN'T TRUE! Not only have we restored teachers, but we invested in small businesses this session by giving them tax exemptions that will start with the 2012 tax year; these businesses have never had this exemption in the past. We began to de-regulate and make the cost of doing business cheaper in North Carolina, and we will be doing a broad deregulatory bill in 2013. If North Carolina will continue to allow us to lead, North Carolina will be the most business friendly state in the nation.

In summary, this fall election in North Carolina can be summed up in very simple terms: Do you want government to live within its means and allow you to keep more money in your pocket to invest in the economy, or do you want to return to a government that can't spend enough, borrow enough, or tax enough, taking more of your hard earned money to Raleigh with little or no return? I believe you know where I stand, and I have a voting record to prove my stance as a conservative who believes in running a government like a household.

So again, I thank you for allowing me to serve you these past four terms, and I ask for your continued support. May God bless you, and if I can ever be of service to you, do not hesitate to call me.

Sincerely,
Rep. Bryan Holloway