NCLM Southern City Volume 71, Issue 2, 2021

SOUTHERN CITY QUARTER 2 2021 16 BEN BROWN NCLM Communications & Multimedia Strategist By the Numbers: Senator Burgin on Data, Health Care, Local Government, and Term Limits Jim Burgin is a numbers guy. The state senator from Angier, whose district covers Harnett County and parts of Johnston and Lee counties including Sanford, has big ideas for better commu- nities. And those ideas beat from the heart. But they’re all about the data. In a recent Southern City interview, Senator Burgin, now in his second term following two terms as a Harnett County commis- sioner, set a tone of better living through data-backed program- ming and in being involved enough in the important issues to make informed change. A key focus for this senator is health care, particularly mental health care, which he sees as a rife-for- improvement sector that at its most successful should lead to better, more fulfilled communities. Senator Burgin has been in the insurance business for more than three decades, hence his eyes for data and health care, and currently chairs the Senate Health Care Committee, as well as its related appropriations committee, where he was deep in the numbers around the time of the interview, in late April, as general assembly lawmakers worked toward a biennial state budget. Below is a relevant portion of Southern City’s conversation with the senator. ˘˘˘ How’s the legislative session going for you? JB : We got off to a really fast start. A lot of bills. I’m afraid I did my part (laughter). I said I was only going to do 12 to 15 (bills), and I think I’ve done 30-something. Issues find you sometimes? JB : Well, they do. And being on (the Senate Health Care Commit- tee) and being a chair and my past experience, a lot of folks came to me with different things. I think they’re all good ideas. We’ll let the collective find out and see. I’m enjoying this part of the session so far. Sometimes with committee assignments, you get a committee you have to study up on. Other times you get a committee aligned with your expertise. With you chairing the Health Care Committee... JB : I asked for it. They say be careful what you ask for. I wanted Health Care and Health Care Appropriations, Transportation, Ag, Insurance, Commerce—all of the things I have great interest in. But Health Care is where I think I have the most potential to help and have the most impact. Put that in context with your background and where you’ve been. JB : I’ve been in the insurance business for 32 years. I’ve served on or represented all the different health care companies [...] I have THE LEAGUE’S QUARTERLY LEGISLATOR Q&A. been on the hospital board for 15 years, we have a mental health unit, (Past) Governor (Pat) McCrory appointed me to the State Health Coordinating Council, so I was on that for a number of years, and all of that happened before I got elected. So, looking back, God put all these things in my life to get me ready to do this. The experience. Especially being around mental health. I can make the biggest impact in North Carolina on mental health issues. The opioid (crisis) and behavioral health—all of it to me is so wrapped together. What I think is happening in this country right now is we’re seeing a mental health crisis. In fact, I was tell- ing folks at church the other day, every one of these gun shoot- ings that we’ve had, when you go back to the root cause, there’s a mental health issue. So that’s where I’m really passionate about trying to focus on the “how do we deal with these issues” and not turn it into a gun issue or a certain issue, but how do we deal with people’s problems? The best thing we can do for these folks is get them to a place where they can function, have a job, stay in their home, stay with their family, and live a fulfilled life. And that’s what’s missing right now. With your previous experience as a county commissioner— counties are typically the level of local government that take on health care. Is your familiarity with health care what led you to run for public office at that level? JB : I’d been asked numerous times, just because of my involve- ment in everything from schools—I was PTA chair, I served on