SOUTHERN CITY QUARTER 1 2022 16 Deep Ties: Senator Natalie Murdock Has Lived Public Service BEN BROWN NCLM Communications & Multimedia Specialist In talking with Sen. Natalie Murdock, a Democrat representing the Durham area, it doesn’t take long to recognize her enthusiasm for legislative service. She describes herself as a policy wonk and is closely familiar with governmentese, local to federal. She’s worked in the areas of transportation, economic development, agriculture, childhood education, and more. Her appraisal of 2021, one of the longest legislative sessions in memory? “I’ve actually enjoyed all of it,” she told Southern City during a recent visit to her legislative office in Raleigh. At the time of this interview, the marathon session for the senator was just winding down. ˘˘˘ Your 2021 legislative session was a long one. How would you evaluate it? NM: It has been a long session, even though it was a difficult time to come in as a new senator. I actually came in at the height of COVID, so since I was appointed to finish out the term of my predecessor, Senator Floyd McKissick, I was aware of the basics of how session runs. We were actually appropriating all those COVID dollars at the time, and obviously for the local governments they were patiently waiting for all of that, and so I came into this year with a lot of the veterans letting me know “long session is long session and it could be very long.” We didn’t anticipate it would be quite this long, but as a self-proclaimed policy wonk and previous bureaucrat, I’ve actually enjoyed all of it. It’s just been a great way to jump in and learn more about topics during a long session, since so many different bills come before you around so many different topics and working with various groups and organizations, meeting with them to learn more. I filed a lot of bills, and so I had a lot of fun this session. It would be nice if more of our bills would move forward, but I have had a really good time filing and just getting that feedback from the public that they’re excited about the work I’m doing. I was able to get a few things into the state budget that are good for my district and the people of North Carolina. So, long, grueling, but I definitely have learned a lot during the long session. And I do want to add, I have it easier than some of my colleagues since I reside in the city of Durham. I actually live in the (Research Triangle Park area), so I am around 25 minutes away from this building. So, for me I have the ability to come here, do my work, my work office is on Fayetteville Street in Raleigh. For some members, the long session has been really, really hard on their families. For me, being based in Durham … I’m able to have some level of normalcy throughout the session. I’m lucky; all of my colleagues don’t have the same luxury. You mentioned all the different topics that come into play during the session. I know you have a varied professional background. How has that helped you to acclimate to all of this? NM: It has been really helpful. And that was a big reason why I ran, to file and to have the opportunity to talk with my now-constituents, back when they were my voters, about my background, which is why I felt I was uniquely prepared to serve. I tell folks—now I’m 37—but then a 35-year-old, with a resume of someone that was 55, I have been a regional transportation planner, I have worked in economic development. And to dig into transportation a little bit more, I’ve worked at the municipal level. I’ve worked for the Town of Chapel Hill, I’ve worked for Go Triangle regional transit agency, I was with the council of governments out of Asheville, Land of Sky Regional Council, I was working on their metropolitan planning organization as well as their rural. I was there when we rolled out the first prioritization process for transportation … STI, Strategic Transportation Investments. I’ve been through all of that. In economic development, grants for Black Mountain to become an entrepreneurial community. That sign is still on I-40 to this day: “Welcome to an entrepreneurial community.” I wrote that grant along with their town council. So, deep ties to local government. Done a lot of work with agriculture and with farmers … we had a grant to work with local farmers. I even have a reference point with housing, also at my time with the council of governments. We received one of the sustainable community grants that was a partnership with USDA, HUD, and EPA. In transportation, you learn a lot about air quality. So, really a lot of interaction with a lot THE LEAGUE’S QUARTERLY LEGISLATOR Q&A continues on page 18
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