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RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — A top budget writer and Republican leader in the North Carolina House said Monday that he will resign his legislative seat next month, further thinning out the GOP governance team next year when combined with the upcoming departure of Speaker Tim Moore.

Rep. Jason Saine of Lincoln County confirmed that he will step down from his 97th House District seat effective Aug. 12. He said he planned to file his formal resignation letter later Monday.

Saine, who joined the House in 2011, rose through the chamber’s ranks as the GOP tightened its electoral grip on the General Assembly. He became a chairman of the House Finance Committee, which considers tax policy, in 2015. Four years later he become a senior co-chair of the House Appropriations Committee, becoming heavily involved in budget negotiations with the Senate and Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper.

In recent years, he’s also been the House’s chief advocate for authorizing state-regulated sports gambling, which began in March after a law was enacted in 2023. A Saine news release also lists several awards for his legislative activity, including an early-career award for his efforts to regulate commercial dog breeders. And he was the 2018 national chair of the American Legislative Exchange Council, which is known for providing model legislation to conservative legislators on a variety of topics.

Saine, 50, said he’s “stepping away from public life to embrace new professional opportunities” that will allow him to keep advocating for issues he is passionate about. Saine, whose nonlegislative job has included public relations and marketing, said in a text that he was considering a marketing position with a mental health company. Saine said he also wanted to spend more time with his family, which includes a teenage son.

Saine’s resignation comes as Moore, who is serving a record fifth two-year term as speaker, runs for Congress this fall and won’t return to Raleigh. Saine was considered a potential successor as speaker, but he and Majority Leader John Bell last year got behind Rules Chairman Destin Hall for the post in 2025.

Saine was running unopposed this November for reelection to the 97th District, which comprises all of Lincoln County and whose voters lean heavily Republican. Lincoln County Republicans will have to choose someone to serve out the remainder of Saine’s two-year term through December, as well as someone to replace him as the GOP candidate in the district this fall.

News of Saine’s departure comes two weeks after GOP Sen. Jim Perry of Lenoir County announced his resignation. He also was a strong supporter of sports gambling legislation.

A high-end outdoor therapy camp is once again trying to stop the state from revoking its license by filing a petition with the N.C. Office of Administrative Hearings on July 8, about eight days before its license is set to be taken after the death of a 12-year-old camper.

Trails Carolina, based in the Transylvania County community of Lake Toxaway, more than an hour from Asheville, submitted a petition for a contested hearing to challenge the revocation of its operating license, a spokesperson with the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services confirmed with the Citizen Times July 12.

“NC DHHS does not comment on pending litigation,” spokesperson Hannah Jones said. “We suspended their admissions and then sent them a notice to revoke their license. They cannot operate at this time.”

The closed therapy camp claims N.C. DHHS’s move to revoke its license was “without a reasonable or sufficient basis” and is “detrimental to the health or safety of the children who would otherwise be in (Trails Carolina’s) care.”

More: State: despite corrective action will revoke Western NC camp license after NY child death

N.C. DHHS “exceeded its authority, acted erroneously, failed to use proper procedure, and acted arbitrarily and capriciously in its investigation and suspension of admissions,” the petition stated.

Trails Carolina Executive Director Jeremy Whitworth was put on notice of the “intent to revoke” in a May 17 letter sent by N.C. Mental Health Licensure and Certification Section Chief Robin Sulfridge. The letter stated DHHS found five deficiencies under state regulations.

The camp then had 60 days to file this petition. The license is also set to be revoked after that same period. A spokesperson for Trails Carolina declined to comment on the petition.

More: After NY child’s death ruled ‘homicide’ at Western NC camp police consulting with DA

These sanctions follow the Feb. 3 death of a 12-year-old camper, whose autopsy concluded he died of asphyxiation because of the way camp staff had him situated in a single-person tent called a “bivy.” The camp was temporarily shut down by state health regulators the following week and in April lost its accreditation from Association for Experiential Education, a nonprofit certifying organization.

An N.C. DHHS report released in the spring revealed interviews with staff who felt they and the camp were at fault for the death. In its plan of correction sent to the state this spring, Trails Carolina detailed how it would avoid future harm to campers, but it also pushed back on some findings saying the plan’s submission “does not indicate full agreement.”

The boy was the second camper to die since 2014. Two former campers have sued in federal court, saying Trails Carolina failed to protect them from sexual assault by other campers. 

Despite its petition, Trails Carolina still cannot operate, and the license revocation is still effective, DHHS spokesperson Kelly Conner said.

“They are appealing that,” Connor said over email July 12. “The (Office of Administrative Hearings) appeal process will now happen, and decision made on the revocation.”

More: Western NC camp facing probe for child death says court should dismiss sexual abuse suit

Ryley Ober is the Public Safety Reporter for Asheville Citizen Times, part of the USA Today Network. Email her at rober@gannett.com and follow her on Twitter @ryleyober