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Hugh Holliman

Dems Who Make a Difference: House Majority Leader Hugh Holliman

State House Majority Leader Hugh Holliman believes in doing the right thing for the right reason.

Helping constituents work through problems by connecting them to public agencies and resources is one of the best aspects of serving in elected office, Holliman said.

“Democrats really try to help people, certainly people with less opportunity,” Holliman said. “It’s important that we, as a society, ought to help each other.”

Holliman’s grace and quiet determination in the midst of personal tragedy also stamp his character.

The death of his sister from lung cancer and his own battle with cancer prompted Holliman to shepherd legislation last year that would prevent smoking in public places and restaurants.

City Of Lexington Awarded Grant To Revitalize Neighborhood

House Majority Leader Hugh Holliman lends support
to the restoration of former mill village

The City of Lexington has been awarded a $1 million grant from the North Carolina Department of Commerce to help revitalize part of the historic Erlanger Mill Village neighborhood.

Rep. Hugh Holliman was among the leading supporters of the project and worked with officials from Lexington and the state during the grant process. The city intends to provide at least $310,000 in matching money for the revitalization effort.

Erlanger Mill Village was built in the early 1900s to support the workforce for a textile mill that had moved to town. The mill was sold in the 1950s and much of the surrounding 260-home neighborhood has steadily declined since then. The most distressed part of the neighborhood is the 28-house Park Circle area, which has become a haven for members of at least two organized gangs.

The city plans to use the grant money to renovate dilapidated rental houses in the Park Circle area, repair some owner-occupied houses, raze some apartment buildings to make way for a park and provide home maintenance classes.

Gov. Easley Signs Bill Broadening Insurance Coverage For Mental Health

New Law Puts Mental Health Coverage On Par With Coverage For Physical Illnesses

Gov. Mike Easley today announced he has signed into law House Bill 973, “An act to require mandatory health insurance coverage of certain mental illnesses and to require at least a minimum benefit package for other mental illnesses.” This new law requires insurance companies to cover mental illness in the same way they cover treatment for physical illness.

“This legislation ends what has effectively been a form of discrimination in the health insurance coverage of those with mental illness,” Easley said. “Requiring insurers to provide the same coverage for co-payments, doctors visits and hospitalization means patients will be treated fairly, whether being seen for physical or mental illnesses.”

Currently, health insurance policies can have different co-payments and other areas of coverage for mental illness than physical illness. Often, the fees are greater for mental health treatment. The legislation requires that full parity with physical illnesses be extended to major mental health conditions including: bipolar disorder, major depressive disorder, anorexia nervosa, bulimia, schizophrenia, paranoia, post-traumatic stress disorder and obsessive compulsive disorder.

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