McCrory visits Facebook

Gov. Pat McCrory took a break during his visit to Facebook’s headquarters in Menlo Park, Calif., on Monday and held a Q&A session on his Facebook page.

McCrory met with company executives and employees from North Carolina to discuss the prospect of creating more jobs in the state. Facebook has a data center in Forest City, N.C.

The visit was part of an economic development tour that will take McCrory to Google and a number of other companies in California as he looks to bolster job creation in North Carolina, said spokesman Ryan Tronovitch.

At 5:30 p.m., McCrory spent about 30 minutes answering questions on his Facebook page.

The session received more than 400 comments. McCrory answered seven questions.

McCrory responded to Barbara Sossomon’s question about job creation by saying he was promoting North Carolina well.

Rep. Richard Hudson, R-N.C., asked McCrory what his plans were for energy production and the state’s natural resources.

McCrory said his administration hopes to pass a major energy policy and needs federal cooperation to tap into resources along the coast.

Buddy Bengel asked McCrory what he viewed as his greatest accomplishment so far. McCrory said tax, transportation and commerce reform were “all needed for better gov (sic) and more jobs.”

He also said that his priorities during the next session, beginning in May, would be education, energy and an anti-puppy mill bill.

Casey Throneburg asked McCrory to explain why he said that calling a special session to reconsider Medicaid expansion was “out of the question.”

McCrory said existing Medicaid needs to be fixed to help the elderly, young, disabled and women before expansion is considered.

“We also anticipated major issues with Obamacare and sadly they have happened,” he said. “We need to know long-term impact on Medicaid rolls prior to risking taxpayer further investment.”

Many popular topics that went unanswered related to teacher pay, abortion accessibility and the new voter ID requirement at the polls.

McCrory said he wished he could have answered more questions.

“We’ll do this much more often in the future.”

state@dailytarheel.com