State Senate candidate Jason Phibbs took issue with Sen. Bill Purcell's legislative history, asserting that the Laurinburg Democrat was "promoting homosexuality" with his votes in the North Carolina General Assembly.

Speaking to about 13 people at a town hall meeting this week, Phibbs said his opponent's "aye" votes on the state's anti-bullying act and the Healthy Youth Act as evidence that Purcell supports "the homosexual agenda".

"What they are pushing for is legitimacy and special rights," the Albemarle Republican said.

The anti-bullying act – the School Violence Prevention Act – legitimizes homosexuality in the Tar Heel state, he said, as it identifies sexual orientation and gender identity on a list of criteria for differentiating characteristics in defining bullying.

The Healthy Youth Act, which eliminated abstinence-only education, opens the door to schools teaching anything sex-related, he said.

"Now school systems can teach whatever they want," Phibbs said. "... If they want, they can teach homosexual sexuality. They can do that."

He also criticized Purcell for not supporting an amendment that would define marriage as being between a man and a woman.

"His (Purcell's) legislation is promoting homosexuality."

Purcell defends record

Purcell took issue with Phibb's characterization of his record.

The long-time senator said his support of the anti-bullying act was not in support of homosexuality, but rather a recognition that gays and lesbians are in the school system and have the same right to be protected as others.

"It does not promote homosexuality," Purcell said. "I believe no child should be bullied in schools."

He said sexual orientation and gender identity are on a long list of possible differences for which a child could be bullied.

Purcell was a cosponsor of the bill.

He also disagreed with Phibbs assertion that supporting the Healthy Youth Act will somehow promote homosexuality, saying the act was necessary to curb teen pregnancy rates.

"Abstinence-only education just has not worked," Purcell said pointing to comments from a prominent member of the Bush Administration that denied the effectiveness of the program.

With the Healthy Youth Act, Purcell said schools must still teach abstinence as a form of contraceptive, but systems may chose to teach other forms of contraceptive alongside it.

The local legislator added that parents may opt out of classroom instruction on the topic through a waiver form.

As for the marriage amendment, Purcell felt it was not needed as state law already prohibits non-heterosexual marriage.

Other crimes, such as murder, are not enumerated in the state constitution, Purcell said, so it would not make sense to add this measure to the constitution.

Fiscal conservatism

Social issues are what attracted Phibbs to politics –he is the Stanley County coordinator for NC4Marriage, an advocacy group promoting an amendment to the state constitution defining marriage as being between a man and a woman – but he says economic issues are his current priority as the state and the nation are in unprecedented levels of economic recession, with the state unemployment the highest on record.

He hopes that reigning in taxes, which Phibbs believes is exceptionally high, will help improve the economic fortunes of the Tar Heel state.

"Our state budget has increased 300 percent over the past 30 years," he said, while the population has only increased by 60 percent.

"If you feel you are paying a lot of taxes, it's because you are."

North Carolina has the highest personal income tax in the Southeast and the eighth highest sales tax in the nation, Phibbs said.

The Republican candidate said taxing comes naturally to current legislators as they raised taxes by $1.1 billion – the largest tax hike in state history – to deal with budget shortfalls.

The issue, Phibbs said, is that current state leaders are trapped in a cycle of tax and spend. When the economy improves and tax revenues increase, the state spends more money instead of saving the surplus or cutting taxes. Then, when the state sees a drop in revenues as it did this past year, legislators raise taxes instead of cutting spending.

Taxes are slowing economic growth, the candidate said.

He proposed eliminating the corporate income tax, cutting $1 billion in wasteful spending to make up for the lost revenue.

This spending includes reducing some of the $694 million in grants for nonprofits that Phibbs says is not being used correctly, funds from Golden Leaf and consolidating state agencies.

He also wants to look at selling nonessential state assets and privatizing the sale of alcohol for a one-time revenue source.

Phibbs also wants to remove regulations and mandates that restrict free enterprise to promote job creation. Among the current laws he hopes to change are laws requiring power companies to generate a portion of their electricity from renewable energy sources, mandates that insurance companies offer services and restrictions on purchasing out-of-state insurance.

States rights

Phibbs says he wants to protect "state sovereignty and personal liberties" by pushing back on the federal government and instituting tougher laws.

"I am not talking about secession, or anything crazy like that," Phibbs said.

Instead, the Albermarle Republican opposes unfunded mandates that require states to pay for federally-required programs.

He gave the current healthcare bill as an example.

"It will add $600 million in additional costs to our state," he said.

Phibbs took issue with the current system of incarceration.

"We don't punish them (convicted criminals) based on their crime, we punish them based on what we can afford."

He accused current legislators of reducing prison sentences to save money while closing prisons, something he felt was counterintuitive to good government.

Electability

Phibbs told the audience his odds look long – about 60 percent of registered voters in the district are registered Democrat – but his chances are better this year because of state and national discontent with present leadership.

"The reason I believe I can win is there are a lot of things going on that weren't going on before."

His biggest hurdle in November won't be his party affiliation, Phibbs said, but rather the overcoming the perception voters have of Purcell.

People don't see the Laurinburg Democrat by his liberal leanings but by his life-long work as a pediatrician, according to Phibbs.

He told his fellow Republicans that if he had a penny for every time someone referred to the Laurinburg Democrat as a "sweet old man," he wouldn't have to worry about campaign cash.

Phibbs believes his path to victory is on educating voters on Purcell's legislative history, which he believes is out of line with the values of the state's 25th Senate District.