Mar 11th - 5:44 pm

Posted by Ben McNeely in Education

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School officials across the state aren’t mincing any words.

“We would very much like to see the bill just go away,” said Leanne Winner with the N.C. School Boards Association.

The group said a proposal put forward in the Senate late last week to take away control of school buildings and construction from school boards is a bad idea.

“It has become a checks and balances system through the years,” said Winner, “and a transfer like this would put that checks and balances out of alignment.”

For the county commissions that would be gaining this control, they said they believe it makes sense.

“It would be helpful for some counties and not for others,” said Johanna Reese with the N.C. Association of County Commissioners. “That is why we support the legislation as an option. There is a wide variety of needs in counties across the state. Western and eastern counties have different needs. Rural and urban counties have different needs. So we do support it as an option.”

The bill would authorize counties to assume responsibility for construction, improvement, ownership, and acquisition of public school property.

This is an issue that one of the state’s largest school districts, Wake County, has been fighting about for years.

“The goal was brought forward to the association by Wake County,” said Reese. “But it was voted on and approved by a majority of the membership.”

Wake County leaders said this option is necessary to get rid of duplicity of jobs across the county and to help school boards concentrate on the classroom.

“The main reason is probably because it will allow particularly in high growth areas the boards of education can focus on academics,” said Joe Bryan, Wake County Commission chairman. “What goes on in the classroom, rather than becoming a board of construction.”

This desire by Wake County could soon affect all 115 school districts in the state.

The bill has not been scheduled for a hearing yet at the General Assembly.

Read the proposed bill here.

Mar 11th - 12:22 pm

Posted by Tim Boyum in Congress

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Anchor Tim Boyum

This morning, the Department of Administration’s Council for Women released its Status of Women in North Carolina.  According to a news release, it’s “the latest research on women in North Carolina and tracks the progress and disparity in opportunities and outcomes for women since 1996.”

If you’re interested, the part pertaining to politics runs from pages 57-67. Here are some of the highlights and keep in mind this was done in September 2012 so it includes Gov. Bev Perdue and the legislature has changed some which I will address later.

- In 2008 and 2010 women voted at a rate of 69 percent compared to 66 percent of men

- In 2012, women made up 23.5 percent of the state lawmakers

- Four of seven NC Supreme Court justices are women but just 12% of Superior Court judges are women.

- Six of 10 in statewide elected offices, or Council of State are women (compared to only 1 in 1996)

- Four of 15 represent NC in Congress

- Forty of 170 state lawmakers are women (fairly even with other states but far below population split)

- North Carolina one of 17 states with a formal women’s legislative caucus

Since this study was done, there was obviously an election so here’s a few updates to that list.

- Council of State is down to 5 of 10 with Gov. Perdue leaving office.

- Thirty-nine of 170 state lawmakers are women versus 40 last year (23% overall, 26% in house, 16% in Senate)

- Three of 15 in Congress (Rep. Sue Myrick retired and Rep. Robert Pittenger won election)

I also decided to take a peek at leadership on committees at the General Assembly.  These are my best calculations based on committee lists found on the legislature’s website.

House

- Women hold 11 of the 63 chair or co-chair positions (17 percent)

- Women hold 31 of the 145 vice chair positions (21 percent)

Senate

- Women hold 2 of the 44 chair or co-chair positions (5 percent)

- Women hold 3 of the 17 vice chair positions (18 percent)

Of course, this just adds to the discussion of women from this weekend’s 60 Minutes story on Facebook’s Sheryl Sandberg.

Mar 11th - 10:17 am

Posted by Ben McNeely in Capital Tonight episodes

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On Capital Tonight: The Bow Tie Caucus, with profs. Scott Huffmon and Michael Bitzer, convenes to discuss how sequestration will affect everyday service, like airports and meat processing.

Watch the full episode here.

Mar 7th - 6:08 pm

Posted by Ben McNeely in Business

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Gov. Pat McCrory at the MetLife jobs announcement.

Gov. Pat McCrory said the state would offer MetLife $94 million in tax incentives over 12 years to bring 2,600 jobs to Mecklenburg and Wake counties.

McCrory called it good news for the state, but others, including many conservatives, aren’t so sure.

Republicans have been critical of tax incentives to lure industry to the state. Republicans have even taken the constitutionality of incentives to court.

Former Supreme Court Justice Bob Orr sued the state when it offered Dell Computer about $300 million in state and local incentives to build a manufacturing plant in Forsyth County. At the time, Orr was director of the conservative North Carolina Institute for Constitutional Law.

Dell eventually closed the plant and paid back a portion of the tax incentives the state and Forsyth County granted them.

Former Justice Bob Orr

Orr said since the courts have “nailed the door open” to offer tax incentives for economic development, state leaders can give whatever they want to attract industry.

“The question that nobody wants to ask is would this have happened without the incentives?” Orr said. “MetLife is a huge company. I’m sure they made a business decision to locate in Cary for reasons other than state was providing money.”

It didn’t used to be that way in North Carolina.

For 100 years, Orr said, state law said the government couldn’t use public money to help private business. But that changed in 1995, when the N.C. Supreme Court said as long as a company is bringing jobs to North Carolina, it’s a public use and the state could give tax money for incentives.

Since then, tax incentives have been the name of the game in economic development under Democratic governments. Republicans have been adamant in their opposition to economic incentives, calling it corporate welfare.

The John Locke Foundation is opposed to incentives. The North Carolina Republican Party has a section in its platform, approved in 2012, against corporate welfare. Pat McCrory campaigned on changing up-front cash incentives as an economic development tool. Even his commerce secretary, Sharon Decker, has said she wants to reform incentives as well.

So the MetLife announcement is a bellwether event, said John Cox, CEO of the Cabarrus Economic Development Corporation.

John Cox, Cabarrus Economic Development Corp.

“From my perspective … it clearly signals to the economic development community that the game is still on. This administration is going to use all the tools it can to create good and great jobs for North Carolina,” Cox said.

Cox said that MetLife bringing 2,600 jobs to North Carolina would have a ripple effect in Charlotte and Cary, stimulating the local housing markets and creating the opportunity for other jobs to be created.

But Orr points out that what may be good news for North Carolina could be devastating for another community.

“Are we subsidizing somebody to create jobs or are we subsidizing somebody to move jobs from another part of the country, or even from another part of the state?” Orr said. “That’s a policy question that people need to be thinking about.”

Mar 7th - 4:56 pm

Posted by Ben McNeely in Congress

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Sen. Richard Burr

Sen. Richard Burr had dinner at the White House Wednesday night. He and nine other Republican senators joined President Barack Obama to talk about economic issues.

Burr released this statement Thursday:

Last night, I joined a group of Republicans senators and the president for a discussion about our economy and our national debt.

The problems facing our nation are numerous, complex, and cannot be solved in a single night, but I am hopeful the president will work with Congress to fix our entitlement programs so they are viable for future generations of Americans and reform our tax code so that we can encourage economic growth, promote job creation, and provide a prosperous future for American families and businesses.

Mar 7th - 2:11 pm

Posted by Ben McNeely in Business

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RALEIGH — MetLife announced that it plans to create more than 2,600 jobs in Charlotte and Cary by 2015 and invest about $125.5 million in the state.

The state is offering MetLife, the largest life insurer in the country, a tax incentive and grant package totaling more than $100 million spread out over 12 years.

Gov. Pat McCrory called the jobs announcement the largest in recent history at a press conference in Raleigh Thursday.

Business reporter Adam Rhew has more on this story here.

Mar 7th - 2:09 pm

Posted by Ben McNeely in Fracking

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RALEIGH — A committee is meeting in Raleigh today to talk about what to do with the waste water from fracking, the controversial method of drilling for natural gas.

The process would allow energy companies to inject the water into storage wells thousands of feet underground.

Reporter Julie Fertig has more here.

Mar 7th - 2:07 pm

Posted by Ben McNeely in Capital Tonight episodes

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On Capital Tonight: Duke Prof. Don Taylor discusses Medicaid expansion and the governor’s decision not to expand the program. Plus, Dallas Woodhouse and Chris Fitzsimon have a spirited debate.

Watch the episode here.

Mar 6th - 4:25 pm

Posted by Ben McNeely in Sequestration

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Agriculture Commissioner Steve Troxler said the state’s meat industry faces a slowdown because of forced government spending cuts.

Troxler and other government agencies spoke out about their concerns at Tuesday’s Council of State meeting. Troxler is worried the cuts will cause a backlog at slaughterhouses because inspectors will be absent. Every slaughterhouse in the state is required to have an inspector to ensure food safety.

The budget cuts would limit hours to federal inspectors while short changing state inspectors who receive partial federal compensation.

Mar 6th - 3:56 pm

Posted by Ben McNeely in General Assembly

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North Carolina’s scenic mountains and beautiful coast attracts motorcyclists from all over the country.

With more riders, accidents are also increasing. However, research shows the number of motorcycle deaths has virtually remained the same; with safety experts attributing the state’s strict helmet laws.

A bill recently filed in the State House is looking to lessen those restrictions. But a survey from the UNC and Governor’s Highway Safety Research Groups found the majority of North Carolinians are in favor of the strict laws.

Read more from reporter Carolina Blair here.