N.C. Rep. Kelly Alexander on literacy tests, Art Pope and more

Jan. 22, 2013

Rep. Kelly Alexander was in the Forum audience Tuesday, and facilitator Sarah Stevenson called on him for impromptu remarks. In those remarks, Alexander addressed:

� GOP of all branches of N.C. government.

� Alexander's efforts to remove from the N.C. Constitution a literacy test long blocked by federal voting rights legislation. If a U.S. Supreme Court ruling remakes the 1960s Voting Rights Act, the literacy test could become law again.

� His reasons for supporting a payday lending bill that allowed very high interest rates on such loans.

� How North Carolina may handle health care exchanges under Obamacare.

� The philsophy and impact on the N.C. GOP of Art Pope, retail magnate, donor to conservative causes and now deputy budget director in the administration of Republican Gov. Pat McCrory.

Stevenson also asked Alexander to comment on a proposal by the day's main speaker, Sheila Peltzer of Kids Need 2 Parents, that the legislature revise child custody laws to create a presumption of shared parenting.