While there’s a lot of focus on President Joe Biden’s decision to drop out of the presidential race, the biggest surprise this month in North Carolina politics has been N.C. Rep. Jason Saine’s decision to resign.
Saine is one of the top Republicans in the House, chairing budget committees and leading the recent legislation to legalize sports betting. Unlike the president, Saine is relatively young and wasn’t in any danger of losing his re-election campaign — he was one of the few state lawmakers with no opponent in either the primary election or in November.
But after 13 years in the legislature, the lawmaker from Lincoln County is stepping down in August. GOP leaders in his district announced this week they’ve selected Lincoln County school board chair Heather Rhyne to replace him.
He spoke with WUNC’s Colin Campbell about the move and some of the big issues he’s worked on in the General Assembly, as well as the challenges facing legislators who try to juggle the role with other jobs.
This conversation has been edited for clarity and brevity.
You filed for another term in the House and didn’t have any sort of challenger. What made you change your mind?
“I had a conversation with former House Speaker Harold Brubaker (now a lobbyist) six or seven years ago, just picking his brain about our legislature. I asked him, ‘How did you know (when to step down)?’ He said you just kind of wake up one morning and you feel complete, and you just kind of know that it’s time to move on to something else. And that’s a lot of what happened to me.
“I need to find something that will allow me to have more time at home. There’s opportunities on the horizon, and we’re looking at what those may be. I won’t make the final decision until I’m officially out of office.”
One of the challenges with the legislature has always been the low salary. You make about $14,000 a year, the schedule is sort of erratic and you spend a lot of time in Raleigh. Did that play a role in your thought process?
“It certainly plays into it. The scheduling is a lot of back and forth. I live three hours away; our home is in Lincolnton. I can’t just go home in the evenings and live a regular life. I have made the trek many times for a band concert or basketball game. You don’t get paid for that. It comes out of your pocket, so there’s $60 gas going and $60 gas going back. It puts a lot of financial stress on legislators.
“So far, we haven’t been successful in changing that. But it does play a lot into the thought process of legislators because you really are sacrificing a lot to be serving. We limit the pool of qualified applicants simply because we’re not paying enough for people to even cover the cost.”
What’s next for you career-wise? Do you have something lined up yet?
“I have fielded some offers and am talking to different lobbying firms. I’m also talking with a mental health company based out of Maryland that a friend of mine is the owner of. He talked to me some time ago about helping them with national marketing. We’re close to finalizing an agreement there, but it would still allow me time to do things like lobbying, which would keep me involved in the policy process. I really love working on very complicated policy, breaking things down in simple-to-understand terms, and then seeing if you can get legislative victories.”
Looking back on your decade-plus in the House, what do you see as some of your biggest accomplishments from your time serving the legislature?
“Sports betting — that was a huge one. I came to sports betting, not because I was betting on sports, but I came in from a place of working on fantasy leagues. When the Supreme Court decision came that allowed sports betting to be legal nationwide, it was a natural fit for me to be the leader on that.
“Child advocacy centers — they weren’t getting the funding that they need to operate, and I was able to help. We went from an annual appropriation of just a million dollars, and I think we’re now at an annual appropriation of $12 million that goes to child advocacy centers across the state. They work with our Health and Human Services Department and get great results for kids who need it most, who have been abused, who have suffered through things that are just unimaginable.
“Esports — it was inspired by our son who hustled me and my wife to take him to New York City for the Fortnite World Championship. After we got there, I realized, wow, this is way bigger than I ever imagined, and I can understand the money that was coming in from these tournaments, and Fortnite is from a software company in Cary. Why are we doing this in New York City? We should be doing this in North Carolina. So, we started working on it, crafting legislation that supports tournaments and big events, and we built an esports league with the help of UNC Greensboro.”
