N.C. General Assembly Speakers' Biographies

Haywood, Denny & Miller, L.L.P.
5102 Chapel Hill Blvd.
Post Office Box 2975
Durham, NC 27715-2975
Phone: (919) 403-0000
Fax: (919) 403-0001

George W. Miller, Jr., Democrat, of Durham County, was born in Spencer, North Carolina, May 14, 1930. He attended the University of North Carolina. He received a B.S. degree in Business Administration and graduated from the UNC School of Law with an L.L.B. in 1957.

Since that time he has been engaged in the general practice of law and is a partner in the law firm of Haywood, Denny & Miller, L.L.P. in Durham, North Carolina.

He served in the U.S. Marine Corps in 1951-53.

He is a member of Duke Memorial Methodist Church having served on the official board, as a youth teacher, and as past chairman of the Duke Memorial Weekday School.

He is married to the former Eula Hux of Weldon, who is a graduate of Louisburg College and Duke University School of Nursing. They have three children, Anne, married, Rose, who now is practicing law in Atlanta, GA and George, III, who served on the staff of U.S. Senator Terry Sanford in Washington, D.C. and is now practicing law as an associate in the law firm of Haywood, Denny & Miller, L.L.P.

George Miller was first elected to the N.C. House of Representatives in 1971 and has been re-elected in each successive election and is currently serving his thirteenth term.

During his service in the Legislature he has been chairman of many committees, including Highway Safety, Insurance, Utilities, Judiciary and Finance.

He was the author, or primary sponsor of many items of legislation including the child restraint seat law, the law allowing motorists to turn right on a red light, and other highway safety laws and the primary sponsor of the many new laws advanced by Governor Hunt in the recent "Crime" Session.

His legislation restructuring the Utility Commission included the creation of a public staff with an executive director charged with the duty of representing the public interest in utility matters.

During his last session of the General Assembly he was involved with health care issues and sponsored the new law to promote organ donations.

He has been Co-chairman of the Utility Review Committee, a standing legislative committee reviewing all utility matters before the Utility Commission.

He handled the legislation authorizing North Carolina to enter into a Southeast Interstate Low-level Radioactive Waste Management Compact, and is on e of two representatives from North Carolina serving on the SE COMPACT.

He has served on the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Board of Visitors and is also a member of the North Carolina Central University Board of Visitors to the School of Law, a past member of the Duke University School of Nursing Advisory Board.

In recognition of his legislation mandating more openness in governmental meetings and opening of public records he was awarded the "William C. Lassiter First Amendment Award’ by the N.C. Press Association in 1989.

He was inducted into the American College of Trial Lawyers in 1987.

He has consistently been rated as one of the most effective legislators in the House by the N.C. Public Policy Research Center.

He has been particularly interested in local issues, having introduced and supported additional appropriations, particularly for the Eno State Park, Durham County Volunteer Fire Departments, the Lenox Baker Children’s Hospital, and the Museum of Life and Science.

Concerned about the increasing problem of teenage drinking, he was the introducer and primary sponsor of the bill that increased the beer drinking age to 21.

His legislation calling for the use of the child safety seat for infants and small children riding in automobiles has been regarded as one of the most effective ways of reducing serious injuries and death in highway collisions for which he received the Governor Dan K. Moore Award for Highway Safety.

He has been a member of a select committee considering the medical malpractice issue in North Carolina and the author of the legislation establishing a "bill of rights" for nursing home occupants.

When the new highway construction law was being considered, he added an amendment that allows the Department of Transportation to use up to $5 million each year for public transportation and was one of the supporters of the Regional Transit Authority looking for alternative ways to deal with the congested traffic problems in the heavily populated areas of the State.

He was designated "Tar Heel of the Week" by the News and Observer Sunday, March 7, 1993, and received the Alumni of the Year award by the UNC Law School in 1994.