Tim Moore has been speaker of the N.C. House of Representatives since 2015. He represented District 111, which includes parts of Cleveland and Rutherford counties. According to a profile in the News & Observer, Moore attended Campbell University and transferred to University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He also obtained a law degree at Oklahoma City University School of Law.
Our Q&A with Tim Moore
What would be your plan for ensuring the future security/ strength of Medicare?
Note: this question was asked during an impromptu press conference on the state House floor.
We have got to really study where we are as a nation and what we are spending. We are right now, spending into oblivion. How do we keep the promise to those that have been promised things at the same time making sure that we’re not expanding things unnecessarily? We struck that balance in North Carolina. So I would approach my service and my role in Congress, just as I have my time in the state legislature, trying to make methodical decisions based on policy, really doing a careful study of what the issue is and delving into that.
What would you support in Congress as a plan to help control health care/ pharmaceutical costs?
No response available. NC Health News could not find anything in the public record on this topic.
Where do you stand on time limits for Medicaid and work requirements for the program?
The state legislature’s budget plan, led by Moore and Berger, became law in 2023 and allowed the Medicaid benefit to expand in North Carolina to almost half a million people. The legislature opposed the expansion for a decade under the Republican leadership. In a 2021 WFAE article, Moore said benefits programs should be geared towards people who can’t take care of themselves, such as not being able to work.
What can the federal government do to support rural hospitals?
The state budget plan in 2023 called for UNC and ECU health care systems to collaborate on creating a new rural health initiative that will spend $210 million on three clinics in rural areas, plus $150 million for hospital investment and another $50 million for a regional children’s behavioral health hospital to be developed at an undetermined site in the Triangle.
Where do you stand on restoring funding for the Affordable Connectivity Program?
Note: this question was asked during an impromptu press conference on the state House floor.
I’m not overly familiar with that particular bill, so I don’t want to comment specifically, but I believe it’s a matter of economic development. It’s almost like the electrification of decades ago; you need that now for business, for education. As a member of Congress next year, I would continue to support putting funds into broadband, just like we’ve done in North Carolina…With Starlink and things that aren’t fiber based, we ought to as a nation look into if there are lower cost methods of getting broadband and access out that don’t involve a cable in the ground.
PFAS contamination is a country-wide issue; How do you balance public safety and business interests with this issue?
Multiple bills concerning PFAS contamination have died in the state legislature since a research team headed by N.C. State University scientist Detlef Knappe found high levels of GenX in the Cape Fear River and in Wilmington’s drinking water in 2016.
Is the federal government ready for the next pandemic?
Moore wrote a 2022 letter to the governor calling for an end to school masking policies, according to CBS17. The governor left it up to individual schools to decide but urged students and staff to wear masks in school. DHHS guidelines at the time required K-12 students and staff to wear masks in school. The legislature also passed bills requiring in-person learning for K-12 schools in 2021. Moore also advocated for reopening the state economy and allowing indoor worship in May 2020.
In 2009, Congress required more transparency from hospitals on their charitable work: Do you think the federal government should enforce stricter requirements for nonprofit hospitals to justify their tax exemptions? Why or why not?
The General Assembly passed a bill that was signed by the governor into law in 2013 that required DHHS to post price information received from hospitals and ambulatory surgical facilities. The price information concerns the 100 most frequently reported diagnostic related groups.
The Medical Debt De-Weaponization Act died in the House in 2023. Moore received the maximum campaign contribution from the NC Healthcare Association in 2022, which represents many hospitals in the state, WBTV reported.
Where do you stand on federal abortion limits? What gestational limits, if any, would you set?
The state legislature approved a 12 week limit on abortions under Moore and Senate Leader Phil Berger’s leadership in 2023. The state budget plan that same year put more than $20 million in total expenditures on crisis pregnancy centers aimed at women who might be seeking abortions.
How can Congress improve access to child care? What states are leading the way that you think could be a good federal model? Support for the EITC/ child care tax credit?
The legislature passed $67.5 million in stabilization funds to keep child care centers afloat until 2025. State funding for early childhood care and education remained stagnant for nearly a decade before the pandemic.
What steps would you take to improve access to mental health services and to address the opioid overdose crisis?
The 2023 state budget plan directed $20 million in bonuses and incentive pay for workers in the state’s psychiatric hospitals and increased rates paid to mental health and substance use service providers to the tune of about $130 million over the coming two years. It also gave DHHS more control over state-funded local mental health agencies. The plan put $80 million over the coming two years into support services for families of kids with mental health needs and $3.2 million in each year of the biennium for Durham-based substance use program TROSA.