Rep. Grier Martin introduced legislation today that would ease the transition to new schools for children of military parents.

Rep. Margaret Dickson, along with former school board members Rep. Rick Glazier and Rep. Alice Underhill, also sponsored the bill, which would allow North Carolina to join an interstate compact that would work together to help military dependent children who transfer schools. The Council of State Governments worked with educators and the Department of Defense to develop the compact. The group plans to meet this fall to examine ways for states to help these children more easily participate in extracurricular activities.

The average military student changes schools more than twice during high school and most military children will be in six to nine different school systems from kindergarten to 12th grade, according to the Military Education Coalition. Frequent transitions between schools can delay educational achievement.

The compact would allow...

Rep. Martin spoke at the Memorial Day ceremony at The Heritage retirement community in Raleigh. Martin, an Afghanistan veteran, was joined in speaking by a World War II veteran and an Iraq veteran. Martin offered thank form his generation of veterans to the earlier generations who have led the way.

Rep. Martin attended the groundbreaking for the W. Travis Porter Veterans Resource Center at Maple Court Apartments in Durham. Maple Court Apartments will provide services and transitional housing for homeless veterans. Funding for the project came from the N.C. Housing Finance Agency, the Department of Veterans Affairs, the Community Investment Corporation of the Carolinas and the CIty of Durham.

The Resource Center is named for the late Travis Porter. In his life, Porter served as President of the University of North Carolina Board of Governors and was a proud veteran of the U.S. Marine Corps.

Rep. Martin and Rep. Ty Harrell addressed the 1st Battalion/130th Aviation Regiment of the NC National Guard at a ceremony unveiling the unit's new AH-64D Apache attack helicopters.  The 1st/130th has served in Afghanistan and is the first reserve component unit to field the new model Apaches.  While Rep. Martin noted the significance of the equipment, he said that "the technology means nothing without the smart, highly trained women and men who fly and maintain it."

ABC 11 has coverage of the ceremony here and Army Times here.

Rep. Grier Martin gave the keynote speech at this year's Veterans Day ceremonies at the Old Capitol grounds in Raleigh on November 10.  He spoke of the pride veterans have in their service, noting:

"Pride is something that every American servicemember seems to have. I haven’t met one yet that doesn’t think they have the most important job in the entire military. Be they a paratrooper or fighter pilot or a cook or a radioman, a marine rifleman, artilleryman, or a recruiter. Everyone of them thinks the war would be lost without them. And, they're right.  They are so proud of what they do. If you take a moment to ask them about their job, set aside half and hour or so, because they’ll talk your ear off. And, it’ll be about the best way you could spend a half-hour."

For more on the ceremonies,...

On August 25, Grier spoke at the annual meeting of the North Carolina Air Force Association. He discussed the importance of veterans becoming involved in the political process and urged members to get in touch with their elected representatives.

 From the AFA website: the Air Force Association (AFA) is an independent, nonprofit, civilian education organization promoting public understanding of aerospace power and the pivotal role it plays in the security of the nation.

Governor Easley signed into law two of Rep. Martin's bill that help veterans to serve in state employment.  House Bill 1412: “An act to clarify veterans preferences with state departments, agencies and institutions" and House Bill 1413: “An act providing for the designated appointment of a veteran of the armed forces to the State Personnel Commission” were two of the top priorities this year of a coalition of veterans groups.

Read more about the new laws at WNCT-TV's website.

Governor Easley today signed H1634, Rep. Martin's bill to protect the child custody rights of servicemembers.

A May 29 Charlotte Observer article highlighted the troubles servicemembers face in an article about a mother serving in the National Guard facing loss of custody of her children ("Mom's choice: Her country or her child").  The Observer also reported on H1634 here.

The Winston-Salem Journal wrote an editorial in support of the bill, noting that "When duty calls and those in the military are deployed, they risk life, limb and the loss of considerable income. They shouldn’t risk losing...

At their annual convention in Raleigh, the NC Department of the Disabled America Veterans gave Grier Martin their Legislator of the Year Award "In recognition of outstanding leadership, devoted service and unwavering dedication to build better lives for the disabled veterans and their families of this great state and nation".

After several busy weeks preparing the budget and handling the last of the bills that needed to pass before a key deadline, we’ve had a chance to slow down here, But, the break won’t be for long.  My counterparts in the Senate finished work on their version of the budget recently.  The House and Senate will now sit down together to work out a compromise.   I have been appointed as one of the House conferees, and will be involved in these negotiations.  In particular, I will be focusing on transportation budgetary issues.
 
Staying Busy
 
May 23 was “Veteran’s Lobby Day at the Legislature”.   I was very proud that many of the veterans visiting the legislature attended my Homeland Security, Military and Veterans Affairs Committee meeting. This gave me the opportunity to introduce other members of the committee who also served in the Armed Forces.
 
On Memorial Day, I was honored to speak to The...

Rep. Martin's bill to protect servicemembers' custodial rights (HB1634) unanimously passed the House of Representatives last week.  It now goes to the Senate for consideration.

The Charlotte Observer highlighted the bill in today's edition ("N.C. bill protects military custodial rights"), accompanying an article about a mother serving in the National Guard facing loss of custody of her children ("Mom's choice: Her country or her child"). 

Read the article on the bill here and the article on the mother here.

A bill outlawing unfair and predatory life insurance sales practices targeting military servicemembers unanimously passed the House yesterday. Grier introduced H773 as a result of some of the scams he saw when stationed at Fort Bragg several years ago.

Click to read more in the Fayetteville Observer.

Click to hear a story on WUNC

Grier appeared on the WRAL evening news May 8th.  He discussed the role of the NC National Guard in fighting wars and protecting us from natural disasters here at home. 

You can view video here and text here.

Grier urged attendees to contact their legislators about issues affecting veterans.  Read more here in the Greensboro News & Record.