If Rowan County’s state legislators played baseball, Sen. Tom McInnis, R-25, would not only outpace his peers, but likely make the all-star team.

Entering the home stretch of the general assembly’s 2015 session, three bills where McInnis is listed as a primary sponsor have passed the Senate. In a world where passing bills equates to a batting average, McInnis would be batting .375, more than enough to make a professional baseball all-star team. Perhaps he’d even be the league’s batting champion. State Rep. Carl Ford, R-76, would be batting a respectable average at .300. Three bills with Ford as a primary sponsor have passed the house, similar to McInnis. Ford, however, is the primary sponsor of 10 bills.

Batting averages for Sen. Andrew Brock, R-34, and Rep. Harry Warren, R-77, would be significantly lower. Only three bills with Brock as a primary sponsor have passed the Senate. He’s the primary sponsor of 34 bills, equating to a .088 batting average. Warren is two for 14, with a .142 average.

When asked about his legislative batting average, Brock joked that Mariano Rivera, an accomplished closer for the New York Yankees, never had a good on-base percentage.

Rowan’s legislators could see an uptick in their averages before the session ends. With this week’s crossover deadline passed, however, a large section of bills are effectively dead.

Crossover is a term used to denote a deadline that applies to policy-related bills. A bill must pass one body — House or Senate — of the General Assembly for it to remain alive. Bills that deal with the state’s budget don’t have to meet the deadline. Bills that haven’t met the deadline can also be combined into ones that have passed. Some bills are also folded into the state’s budget.

To meet the crossover deadline, the House held a 12-hour session that began Wednesday afternoon and ended around 2:30 a.m. on Thursday. Warren said long sessions have been important in catching up after several weather-related delays.

Brock cited a bill that would make assaults by students on teachers a felony as an important bill that passed before the crossover deadline. He mentioned an incident at West Rowan High School, where a teacher was charged with simple assault, as an instance where the bill would be relevant.

Before the legislature adjourns for the year, Warren said Medicaid reform would likely be addressed. The state’s budget will also be addressed by the General Assembly.

Tillis asked to lead effort to rethink long-term VA strategy

After visiting multiple VA medical centers in North Carolina and drafting a letter with a list of short- and long-term goals, Republican U.S. Sen. Thom Tillis was asked this week to to lead an effort with VA executives to rethink the department’s long-term strategy and identify more efficient practices.

“Let’s sit down and come up with a different approach, something that really hasn’t been done on an enterprise basis in my estimation in any area of government,” Tillis said. “Let’s look at each one of these enterprises, put them on a heat map, find out which ones we should be tackling and how we prioritize the other ones, so what we’re doing here at future committee hearings is talking about time to benefit and whether or not you reached your goals.”

Dr. Carolyn Clancy, interim undersecretary for health at the VA, designated Dr. Karen Rasmussen, director of the VA Management Review Service, to work directly with Tillis.

Adams co-sponsors bill to raise minimum wage

U.S. Rep. Alma Adams, D-12, co-sponsored a bill this week to raise the federal minimum wage to $12 per hour by 2020.

In addition to raising the traditional minimum wage, the bill would also phase out the current $2.13 minimum wage for tipped employees.

“I fought and won a minimum wage increase during my time in the North Carolina State House and plan to continue that fight on a federal level,” Adams said. “As prices rise naturally over the next few years it’s only fair that the minimum wage rises as well.”

A news release distributed by Adams’ office stated 27 percent of people live below the poverty line in Adams’ district, which stretches from Greensboro and Winston Salem to Charlotte. Workers who receive the federal minimum wage of $7.25 and work 40 hours a week, earn a gross salary of $15,080 per year, the news release stated.

Rowan Republicans present $1,000 gift to Livingstone

A visit from Gov. Pat McCrory was one of at least two gifts Livingstone College received Thursday.

During McCrory’s visit to the college, Rowan Republican Chairman Stephen Kidd presented a $1,000 check to the college to support its Brick Initiative, which allows people to purchase a personalized brick to be placed as part of the Blue Bear Plaza’s foundation.

Contact reporter Josh Bergeron at 704-797-4246.