Insko stresses health, education

Rep. Verla Insko, a four-term Democrat from Orange County, will win her bid for a fifth term.

She's running unopposed in her heavily Democratic district, and that's excellent news for both her and her grandson, Thomas.

Instead of spending a recent Saturday campaigning, Insko was hard at work in the kitchen of her Chapel Hill home cooking up a geology lesson.

After a morning trip to Morehead Planetarium, the former science instructor was teaching the 6-year-old Thomas a thing or two about gemstones.

"The interaction with grandkids is a good balance for that stressful challenge in Raleigh," Insko said. "It keeps you focused on the next generation."

For Insko, keeping that focus has meant working heavily on health care and education during her eight years in the N.C. General Assembly.

Insko majored in biology at California State University-Fresno. Afterward, she taught science at a junior high school in Berkeley before moving with her husband to Hawaii, where she continued to teach.

Her experiences in the classroom, and later as a member of the Chapel Hill-Carrboro Board of Education from 1977 to 1985, have given her a keen appreciation for the role of public education.

"Education is probably the most important social function of government," she said.

In her most recent term, Insko served as a member of the House Education Committee and the Education Subcommittee on Universities.

One particular piece of legislation in the last term served to highlight the reward and the frustration of working in politics.

"We had a bill that I sponsored in the House to direct school boards to ban tobacco in the schools," Insko recalled. Then, with an exasperated laugh, she added, "It passed, and it's law, and I understand that two-thirds of the schools actually follow it."

As a member of the Appropriations Subcommittee on Health and Human Services, Insko said her top priority is to try to protect funding for state programs dealing with mental health, child health care and long-term care for seniors.

"I think one of the most frustrating things since I've been over there is the budget. We continue to cut taxes, and then we have less money to fund essential services."

She sponsored a bill that would amend the state constitution to mandate that North Carolina provide universal health care for its citizens. American companies, Insko said, are less competitive in a global economy because they have to shoulder the burden of providing for employee health coverage. Health care is a governmental obligation in many other countries. Such a plan, she admits, would be costly.

"It would cost more than we put in right now, but it's not clear to me how much we'd have to put in," she said. "It's a matter of getting more efficient with our system."

William McGee, a Republican from Forsyth County who co-sponsored a voting bill with Insko, said Insko sometimes faces an uphill battle on proposals perceived as too costly in a budget-crunched assembly. "Verla is a very intense person in regard to getting her issues handled well," he said.

For Insko, one of the most frustrating aspects of working in the General Assembly has been the influence and limitations of money.

"Almost everything over there now comes back to money," she said.

"But when I can see the good things that happen, I think it's worthwhile."

Still, she said with a laugh, "There are some days when I'd rather be home making gemstones with Thomas."

Contact the State & National Editor at stntdesk@unc.edu.