10 Q’s FOR CLEO: If elected, this is what his 1st days would look like…

Posted on by Jeremy Alford

With 83 days to go until the November ballot, state Sen. Cleo Fields of Baton Rouge remains the favorite to capture the new 6th Congressional District. A former member of the U.S. House from 1993 to 1997, Fields has more direct experience on the Hill than anyone else running. And he’s ready to put it to work on day one. In an interview with Beltway Beat last week, Fields discussed what his first days would look like, his upcoming ad campaigns, scheduled (or rather not-scheduled) debates and what he would do if the courts fail to uphold current district lines.

1.) Beltway Beat: If you do get back to Congress, do you get to bank those four previous years of seniority from the first time around? 

Fields: Yes, I keep my four years of seniority. So I don’t go in as a true freshman. I go in with four years, and I can get up there and work right away with maybe the speaker or majority leader or minority leader steering policy and trying to work for meaningful committees. If elected, I’m positioned very well to make some legitimate requests.

2.) What committees are you most interested in? 

Everybody wants to be on Appropriations, so that’s the only one I feel comfortable publicly talking about. It’s going to be my first ask, but at the end of the day, you know, I want to serve on committees that impact the district. The last four years, I served on (the House Small Business Committee and the House Banking, Finance and Urban Affairs Committee) and we made an impact in the district on those two committees. But we’ll have to wait and see. I’m going to have a team helping me to make those kind of requests the day we’re elected.

3.) Do you have ideas about what some of your early legislation might be?

I really want to build a larger coalition to raise the minimum wage. I mean, it’s been 15 years, and I think it’s way overdue. You know, I think the Congress needs to pass a minimum wage bill, and that’s going to take me getting there, working with members who’ve been fighting for it over the years and trying to broaden that coalition and trying to get that bill passed. There are a number of bills that are going to be important to me. But you’ve got to be in the majority. Otherwise, the likelihood of you passing a bill is not great. Or you can amend one.

4.) Do you have some new campaign ads coming out? What issues will they focus on?

We’re talking about, obviously, the minimum wage. We’re talking about health care. We’re talking about those people who’ve invested in their social security. It should not be denied. It should be honored. You know, it’s just about communicating a message to the voters that we believe. And it’s a result of talking to them on a day-to-day basis.

5.) Do you expect to participate in any 6th District debates?

I haven’t made that decision yet. We’re going to make that decision sometimes after Labor Day. Touching these voters are important to me, and that’s what we have spent most of our time doing.

6.) You’re not participating in the KALB debate that they announced, right?

No, we’re not. And they knew we weren’t when they first made the request. I think it was before qualifying, which I thought was weird, quite frankly. You know, for someone to call and ask, would you participate in a debate, and you don’t even know who the candidates are… It’s partly a timing issue, too. We have other commitments.

7.) I know you can’t take anything for granted, but do you feel like the favorite in this race?

No, you know, I don’t. I don’t. I’m doing it one vote at a time. I have to reach every single voter. That’s my first and foremost interest. The only day that really counts is Election Day. We’re counting down Election Day backwards. And right now, not a single person in this race has a vote. And the last thing we need is for people to take the election for granted. We just got to motivate people to get out and vote, and get out and vote in record numbers.

8.) What are your expectations for the future of the district itself, in terms of the legal challenge? Will the current lines hold?

I think so. The district was created to make sure Louisiana afforded every voter an opportunity to elect a candidate of their choice. And I think at the end of the day, it will hold. The Red River, all of those constituencies, have something in common. But that’s going to be up to the courts. This is nothing new to me. When I was elected to Congress, the district was challenged. Every single day I walked into my office, and I said to my staff, “Listen, our job is to take care of the people of the 4th Congressional District. Each day you walk into your office, I want you to take care of the needs and the concerns of the people of the 4th Congressional District.” And we did that. We had a record number of town hall meetings. Our four years in Congress, I had more town hall meetings than any other member of Congress in the country. And that’s what we plan to do when and if I’m elected in the new 6th District on Nov. 5. I tell everyone not to worry about the legal challenge. There are enough lawyers to worry about that. Let us worry about representing the people.

9.) Even if this particular district doesn’t endure, would it be fair to say there would still be a second majority-minority district somewhere?

I’m fairly confident that Louisiana has a large enough African-American population that’s compact enough to draw a second minority district. Even if it doesn’t look like the present one, there are other ways to draw it. But you can’t take the politics out of politics.

10.) Would it also be fair to assume that as long as there is a second majority-minority district, even if it’s a little different than this one, that you would still stand as a candidate for that new district?

Absolutely. Absolutely. That’s a very fair assumption.

Guest column: EPA using Louisiana facility as ‘guinea pig’ to expand its power

Posted on by Greg Bowser

“Federal overreach” might sound like a scary political boogeyman, but can it really hurt us?

Well, for the more than 200 Louisianans who get up every morning and head to work at Denka Performance Elastomer’s LaPlace Neoprene production facility, federal overreach could mean their jobs disappear overnight. And that’s scary.

Denka Performance Elastomer and its team produce a synthetic rubber product that is integral to athletic clothing, consumer goods, medical and military supplies.

This facility is important—not just to those employees, but to all of us. It’s the second-largest employer and one of the largest taxpayers in St. John the Baptist Parish, and it’s the only U.S. producer of critical materials otherwise only available from manufacturers in Asia.

But to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, DPE has for years been the proverbial guinea pig on which it tests strategies to push the limits of its power.

Over the past 10 years, EPA has used enforcement actions, lawsuits, emergency orders and new rules in an attempt to strong-arm the facility into spending millions on emissions reduction and monitoring equipment—or shut down. The company worked in good faith with EPA to update site equipment and practices. Meanwhile, the agency publicly shamed the company, stirred up fear among its neighbors, and left local officials hanging without clear information or guidance.

EPA has done this to a company that has, by all accounts, been a model partner. Within a couple of years of purchasing the facility, DPE reduced the sites’ emissions to 15 percent of historical levels voluntarily. The company also instituted baseline and continuous air monitoring and funded the development of a study on the potential impacts of its operations using the best available methodology.

Even without these efforts by DPE, there is no evidence to suggest increased health impacts near its facility. In fact, the only justification for EPA’s actions has been one erroneous and debunked lab study the agency used to suggest a high health risk related to company operations.

DPE and its employees’ livelihoods are safe, for now, thanks to Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry and Attorney General Liz Murrill. They came to the company’s aid in filing legal challenges and intervening in EPA’s lawsuits against the company. The Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality also recently granted DPE a 2-year reprieve from a new EPA rule, giving the company more time to fight back against EPA’s overreach and insist the best available science be used to regulate its operations.

Federal regulations should advance safety, environmental quality, and sound science. None of those are true for EPA’s actions against Denka Performance Elastomer.

Along with our governor and attorney general, we’ll continue fighting on the side of common sense. But, absent a major political shakeup, we can expect EPA will expand its overreach tactics to other Louisiana companies and the hardworking men and women they employ. Unchecked, these actions could threaten the livelihoods of thousands and the foundation of our state’s economy.

Greg Bowser is president and CEO of the Louisiana Chemical Association

Kansas Daily News Wire August 14, 2024

Posted on by State Affairs

Welcome to the Kansas Daily News Wire, your daily roundup of top state and political stories from newsrooms across Kansas. — Hawver’s Capitol Report/State Affairs

STATE

Ex-Marion Police chief charged with judicial interference in newspaper raid case: Former Marion Police Chief Gideon Cody has been officially charged with interference in the judicial process for his role in the Marion County newspaper raid. (Richardson, State Affairs)

These 18 Kansas cities gained the most people last year, state budget office report says: A new population report shows that as Kansas gained in population last year, several cities drove that growth. (Topeka Capital-Journal)

House District 51 primary tightens; final canvass set for Thursday: The 51st House District Republican primary race between Megan Steele and Eli Kormanik has tightened since election night. (Stover, State Affairs)

Six Kansas community colleges see rising enrollment, full dorms at start of new school year:  As the 2024-25 school year is set to get underway, some Kansas community colleges are experiencing significant growth, with rising enrollment numbers and dorms filling up. (KAKE)

State board of ed receives details on composition of task force created to study students’ cell phone usage: The Kansas State Board of Education on Tuesday received an introductory overview of the newly minted task force formed to study students’ cellphone usage during class time. (Resnick, State Affairs)

LOCAL

After criticism, Wichita officials back away from downtown parking changes they approved: The Wichita City Council has come under intense scrutiny for eliminating free parking downtown after the city shared the news on its Facebook page on Saturday: “Beginning January 1, 2025, all public parking in the downtown area will convert to paid parking.” (The Wichita Eagle)

Judge refuses to release bodycam video of KCK police fatally shooting a homeless man: A judge denied releasing a video showing a Kansas City, Kansas, police officer shooting a homeless man. (The Kansas City Star)

KCC hears testimony on proposed settlement in Kansas gas service rate case: The Kansas Corporation Commission held a testimonial hearing on Tuesday to review a proposal from Kansas Gas Service to increase its rates. (WIBW)

Kansas Supreme Court decision could affect Albert Wilson wrongful conviction case: A Douglas County judge has asked attorneys representing Albert Wilson in a wrongful conviction case against the state to address a recent Kansas Supreme Court decision that could affect Wilson’s case. (The Lawrence Times)

Wichita teen electrocuted in Great Bend, man injured: A Wichita man and teenager in an aerial boom bucket were critically injured in an accident at the Great Bend Municipal Airport Tuesday morning. The teenager later died. (KSN)

Project 2025 is a road map to disaster

Posted on by Michael Hicks

MUNCIE, Ind. — I have spent a great deal of time in recent months poring through the 992 pages of “Mandate for Leadership: The Conservative Promise,” more commonly called Project 2025. Every American needs to hear what this document is, who organized and wrote it, and what it promises for our future.

It is disturbing.

Project 2025 was published as part of the “Presidential Transition Project” at the Heritage Foundation, whose descent from respectable think tank to political hackery I documented in a 2013 column. Both of its editors are former Trump administration officials and more than two-thirds of its board of advisers are former Trump officials.

The document is alarming enough that former President Donald Trump denied knowledge of its existence, even though his running mate, JD Vance, wrote the foreword. One proposal that cuts across every federal agency should scare the daylights out of all Americans.

Project 2025 plans to overhaul the federal employment service by creating over 20,000 new political appointees across the government. Today there are about 4,000 such jobs. So it would be the largest expansion of political appointments in U.S. history, turning the federal government back to the patronage system that existed before the 1880s.

We would be better off with fewer, rather than more, political appointees, as the recent performance of the Secret Service makes plain.

It isn’t possible to cover Project 2025’s full 992 pages in this column. There are 200 or so authors, who span the spectrum from largely unknown cranks to thoughtful conservative policy folks. I know many of them, and I have written about many of the policy initiatives detailed in the document.

Some of my research is cited in one of the chapters, which, coincidentally, appears in the only section that presents competing points of view from different authors. My study appears in the conservative defense of free trade.

At first blush, much of Project 2025 contains fairly anodyne conservative policy wishes that have been around a long time. One great example is elimination of the U.S. Department of Education. Many conservatives, including myself, have suggested that the Department of Education be closed, its statistical services moved to the Census and its budget returned to states as block grants.

Project 2025 does that and explains how that would reduce compliance costs for schools and reduce staff engaged in grant applications and other administrative and reporting tasks. It is a perfectly reasonable policy goal that would offer a good debate in a sensible congress. If implemented, it might even reduce the federal debt from its current level of 124.34717% of gross domestic product to 124.24716% of GDP over several years.

The first sentence in the education chapter begins, “Federal education policy should be limited. …” That should be music to the ears of most conservatives. But the very next paragraph says that “every parent should have the option to direct his or her child’s share of education funding through an education savings account (ESA), funded overwhelmingly by state and local taxpayers.”

This is head-spinning hypocrisy. You cannot say that federal education policy should be limited but on the same page have Congress tell state and local governments how they should structure and pay for education. Republican state legislators should rebel against this sort of federal intrusion, or at least conservatives should do so.

The national security chapter was written by Christopher Miller, a retired Special Forces colonel who was elevated to acting secretary of defense after Trump fired Mark Esper shortly after the 2020 election. The author recommends raising the Army budget by 11% and focusing on fighting larger land wars, with modernized equipment.

He also recommends shrinking the Marine Corps, making its sergeant promotions more like the Army’s, and closing many specialized battalions. Bizarrely, he wishes the Special Operations community to plan to disrupt China’s Belt and Road Initiative. Whoever is in charge of that program will get promoted quickly because the Belt and Road Initiative is already collapsing. Anyone who is familiar with the issue after about 2018 would be aware of that assessment.

The military and national security chapters are easily the worst-researched and conceptualized parts of Project 2025. There was as much space devoted to cutting the annual hours of diversity, equity and inclusion training each year as there was to nuclear deterrence and a modern Navy or Air Force.

To be fair, this chapter did make me chuckle a bit as a retired soldier. Miller and two other retired Army officers — a colonel and national guard lieutenant colonel who helped him write this chapter — really got to stick it to the Marines, while growing the Army by 50,000 troops.

Veterans Affairs also faces changes. The most concerning is the reversal of the PACT Act, which provides treatment and compensation to veterans sickened by things such as Agent Orange in Vietnam, oil well fires or depleted uranium in Desert Storm, or burn pits in Afghanistan. As a guy who had to burn my depleted uranium-covered clothes after Desert Storm, I feel a bit like a “sucker” and “loser” — to quote the former president.

Project 2025 isn’t just this nearly 1,000-page book. It includes a plan to implement these policies during the first six months of a Trump presidency, and a large database of people who have asked to serve in the next administration. They will take part in a “Presidential Administration Academy” to prepare for their political positions.

Of course, all of these policies could’ve been pursued while Trump was president. The reason they weren’t is that his administration was haphazardly assembled and devoid of any clearly stated policy goals. Trump even pursued a second term without a policy platform.

Still, all the work by hundreds of Trump administrative veterans to write, review, vet and debate the portions of this book were an effort to ensure that didn’t happen again. The tens of millions of dollars collected and spent by the Heritage Foundation and over 50 other groups was designed to ensure a second Trump term would at least have the air of competence and planning about it.

That failed.

A couple weeks ago, Trump disavowed Project 2025 — at least publicly. It turns out that making abortion illegal everywhere, cutting medical treatment for veterans and adding 20,000 political hacks to the government doesn’t poll well. Don’t let any of that deceive you.

Project 2025 is the road map for a second Trump administration. Lots of attractive sights might appear along the drive, but the destination is an ugly and embittered America that is largely unrecognizable to most of us. We must not go there.

Michael J. Hicks, Ph.D., is the director of the Center for Business and Economic Research and the George and Frances Ball distinguished professor of economics in the Miller College of Business at Ball State University. Contact him at Michael Hicks, [email protected].

Howey Daily Wire Aug. 14, 2024

Posted on by Howey Politics Indiana

Good morning!

The three candidates for Indiana lieutenant governor debated Tuesday, keeping it civil, sticking to their allotted answer times and only rarely going back and forth in any sort of argument, State Affairs reports. — Howey Politics Indiana/State Affairs

Lieutenant governor candidates talk property taxes, water and more at first debate: The three candidates for Indiana lieutenant governor outlined their diverging visions on property taxes, land use, conservation and more as part of an agriculturally themed debate Tuesday at the Indiana State Fair. (Appleton, State Affairs)

Gary’s gun industry lawsuit lives on despite new state law: Lake County Superior Court Judge John Sedia issued a decision rejecting a motion to dismiss filed by gun-makers after passage of a state law intended to quash the City of Gary’s long-running lawsuit against gun manufacturers. (Davies, State Affairs)

STATE

Today: The Art of Leadership with Four Gubernatorial Hoosiers — Indiana’s four surviving governors will gather at 6 p.m. at the Indiana Farmers Coliseum in Indianapolis for a panel discussion, Gov. Eric Holcomb’s office wrote in an email to Howey Politics Indiana/State Affairs.

Tomorrow: Holcomb to honor 48 Hoosier businesses, organizations — Gov. Holcomb will award the Governor’s Century and Half Century Business Awards to Indiana companies and organizations during a ceremony at the Indiana Statehouse at 1 p.m., according to an email sent to Howey Politics Indiana/State Affairs.

Today: IREAD results released at Department of Education business meeting — The Indiana Department of Education will release IREAD results during a business meeting at 9 a.m. at Government Center South, Conference Room B. The event will be livestreamed. (Howey Politics Indiana/State Affairs)

Monroe County sheriff says he will ‘vigorously’ defend immigration policy against state lawsuit: Monroe County Sheriff Ruben Marté said his office will “defend vigorously” its policy regarding undocumented immigrants in a lawsuit filed by Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita. (Ladwig, The Herald-Times)

Indiana looks to Swiss experts to create thousands of student apprenticeships: Indiana officials have turned to experts at the Swiss version of MIT for help becoming a national career training leader by making apprenticeships available to thousands of high school students across the state. (O’Donnell, Indiana Capital Chronicle)

IU, Purdue not in full agreement with state’s arguments in ‘intellectual diversity’ case: In an ongoing lawsuit challenging a new law on higher education curriculum, Indiana’s two top universities released a statement separating themselves from the Office of the Attorney General’s arguments. (Shrake, The Indiana Lawyer)

Purdue president: Campus, West Lafayette ‘not built for the kind of enrollment we have today’ — Purdue University wound up with its biggest incoming class in history this year – somewhere north of the record 10,191 freshmen in fall 2021 – creating what President Mung Chiang called “crunch time” in housing and other space concerns on campus and in the surrounding community. (Bangert, Based in Lafayette)

Another year of record Indiana corn and soybean yields possible: The U.S. Department of Agriculture confirmed what many across the state already knew — Indiana corn and soybeans have a good chance at another record-breaking year. (Pfeiffer, Hoosier Ag Today)

Condoleezza Rice to speak in Indy as part of Economic Club series: Former U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is expected to participate in a discussion with Mitch Daniels, the former Indiana governor and Purdue University president, as part of the Economic Club of Indiana’s monthly luncheon on Sept. 3. (Shuey, IBJ)

LOCAL

Former Lawrence County clerk-treasurer arrested, allegedly siphoned funds from water bill payments: A woman who served as the clerk-treasurer for the town of Oolitic is under arrest after being accused of siphoning nearly $80,000 from the small town’s water utility payments. (Christy, Fox59)

Concerns as state routes Putnam County roadwork traffic through covered bridge: State-sponsored roadwork on U.S. 36 has led to an “unofficial detour” that takes traffic, including semi-trailers, through a 102-year-old covered bridge in Putnam County. Local officials report the bridge has been damaged and efforts to thwart traffic have been defeated. (Jernagan, Banner Graphic)

Kokomo breaks ground on long-awaited hotel and conference center: The development will include a 55,000-square-foot conference center designed to accommodate events with up to 1,000 guests, as well as a 108-room Hilton Garden Inn hotel that will include restaurant space. (Brown, Inside Indiana Business)

Michigan City assembles team to plan redevelopment of Indiana State Prison site: The 164-year-old Indiana State Prison in Michigan City, an infamous correctional institution that’s hosted inmates John Dillinger, Harry “Pete” Pierpont, Homer Van Meter and D.C. Stephenson, will soon be closed and replaced with a new, more modern $1.2 billion prison in nearby Westville. (Pete, NWI Times)

Overdose deaths down in Fort Wayne: While overdose deaths are down to 99 since the 136 reported in 2022, the amount of non-fatal overdoses remained the same, with 959 reported in both 2022 and 2023. (Truscio, WANE-TV)

Judge again orders adult baby store in Noblesville to close: For a second time, a judge has told an adult baby store in Noblesville that it must close because it violates the city’s zoning ordinance. (Tuohy, IndyStar)

Indy approves $150 permit fee for short-term rentals: The Indianapolis City-County Council approved an ordinance to register and require owners to obtain a $150 permit for every short-term rental unit. (Gay, WTHR-TV)

CONGRESS

Banks asks if Walz violated security clearance reporting in trips to China: U.S. Rep. Jim Banks, R-Ind., announced in an email to Howey Politics Indiana/State Affairs that he sent a letter to Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin “regarding potential violation of foreign travel disclosure requirements for security clearance holders” by Democratic vice presidential nominee Tim Walz while he served in the National Guard.

Spartz answers town hall questions about staff treatment and airport gun arrest: U.S. Rep. Victoria Spartz, R-Ind., answered questions on a variety of topics during a town hall in Muncie. (Ouellette, WBOI-FM)

Congressional schedule: The Senate and House are out.

CAMPAIGNS

Tomorrow: House Democratic party candidates to host ‘rural summit’ in Scottsburg — Nine Indiana House Democratic Party candidates representing 22 counties will highlight regional solutions to issues impacting rural Hoosiers. (The Tribune)

Public invited to attend Vanderburgh County meet and greet for candidates Aug. 24: Contested candidates for Vanderburgh County Commissioner and Vanderburgh County Council At-Large will be present at 10 a.m. at Evansville Vanderburgh Central Library for a meet and greet sponsored by the League of Women Voters of Southwestern Indiana. (Loesch, Courier & Press)

PRESIDENTIAL 2024

Haley: Republican party, Trump campaign need ‘to make a serious shift’ — Former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley said Tuesday Republicans need to “make a serious shift” if they want to win the November election. (The Hill)

UAW files labor charges against Trump, Musk alleging intimidation of workers: The UAW says it has filed federal labor charges against Donald Trump and Elon Musk, referring to them as disgraced billionaires and accusing them of illegally attempting to threaten and intimidate workers engaged in protected concerted activity. (Detroit Free Press)

NATION

US approves $20 billion Israel arms package: The State Department cleared the sale to Israel of dozens of fighter jets and other military equipment worth over $20 billion. (USA Today)

Abortion access on ballot in at least 8 states: Voters in at least eight states will vote on ballot measures related to abortion access in November after officials in Arizona and Missouri certified proposed amendments this week. (Roll Call)

TikTok promotes content favorable to CCP, study finds: TikTok algorithmically promotes content that is favorable to the Chinese government in an effort to shift the views of users, according to a report by the Network Contagion Research Institute. (The Hill)

White House schedule: President Joe Biden will call President José Raúl Mulino of Panama mid-afternoon. Vice President Kamala Harris will receive briefings and conduct internal meetings with staff.

An early primer: 8 things you need to know before the Nov. 5 election

Posted on by Tammy Joyner

The 2024 general election is right around the corner — 82 days, to be exact. Here are 10 things you need to know to be ready for the Nov. 5 election.

  1. Who can vote?

In order to vote, you must be:

  • A United States citizen
  • A legal resident of the county where you live
  • At least 18 years old (at least 17 ½ years old to register)
  • Not serving a sentence for conviction of a felony involving moral turpitude
  • Not found mentally incompetent by a judge
  1. Determine whether you’re already registered

If you missed or didn’t vote in the presidential primary in March or the May primaries, you likely haven’t voted in a while. Do you even know if you’re a registered voter?

Check your voter registration status and find voter identification requirements on the secretary of state’s My Voter Page here. If you are registered, you can make changes by submitting a new application.

Register to vote online here.

Download a voter registration application here.

You can register to vote at your local Georgia Department of Driver Services office when you apply for or renew your driver’s license.

  1. How to get an absentee ballot

Request an absentee ballot here. You can submit your absentee ballot online, by email, by mail, by fax or in person. Absentee ballots can be requested anytime between 78 and 11 calendar days before Election Day.

If you decide to vote by mail, be aware that the mail delivery system in Georgia has been unpredictable and fraught with delays in recent months, so plan accordingly.

  1. If you vote in person, bring your ID

Be sure to bring a valid driver’s license, U.S. passport, military identification, tribal ID or state ID.

If you don’t have any of those forms of identification, you can get a free voter ID card from the county registrar’s office or at any branch of the Georgia Department of Driver Services. Find out specifics here.

  1. Know where to vote

Find out where to vote and what impact, if any, recent redistricting has had on where you vote here. The site gives information on your precinct location, early voting locations and more. 

  1. What to do if you suspect voter fraud or illegal voting activity, experience voter intimidation or have other voting concerns

The Georgia Attorney General’s Office has an Election Fraud Complaint hotline. It’s 404-651-8600, or you can fill out an online form found on the same page to lodge a complaint. You can also notify the Secretary of State’s Office here.

  1. Who’s running for office?

In addition to the presidential and congressional races, all state Senate and House seats are up for reelection. Many are running unopposed. Several local races are in play. Check your local election office for details.

  1. Are you aware of the state referendum questions on the ballot?

Want a sneak peek of the referendums that may appear on your ballot? Find them here.

Do’s and don’ts of voting in Georgia

Keep in mind these rules from Georgia’s Election Integrity Act of 2021:
  • No campaigning within 150 feet of the polls.
  • You are not permitted to provide food or drinks to voters standing in line.
  • If you’ve been convicted of a felony, you’re not eligible to vote until you’ve completed your sentence, including probation, parole or payment of fines owed.
  • Be mindful of what you wear to the polls. You could be turned away for any attire deemed politically provocative. However, if you wear a “Black Lives Matter” or “White Lives Matter” shirt to the polls, you won’t be turned away.
5 key voting resources at your disposal
  1. Office of the Secretary of State’s My Voter Page
  2. Vote411
  3. Go Vote Georgia
  4. Office of the Attorney General’s Election Fraud Complaint Hotline 
  5. In addition to finding election results on the secretary of state’s website, you can find them on Georgia Votes
(Design: Joy Walstrum)

Read these related stories: 

Incumbents, young newcomers do well in primary election
Some familiar faces fare well in runoff election; slate set for November 
Weekend Read: Mesha Mainor expected to face uphill battle to retain seat — even against little-known competitors
New middle Georgia House district up for grabs due to influential incumbent’s departure

Have questions, comments or tips? Contact Tammy Joyner on X @lvjoyner or at [email protected].

Insider for August 14, 2024

Posted on by NC Insider

YOU DON’T SAY

“This makes sense for the hospitals, their patients and their communities.”

Gov. Roy Cooper, at a news conference where he said that all 99 qualifying hospitals have committed to a debt-elimination effort. (The Associated Press, 8/12/24)

Prisoner Reentry

The Associated Press, 8/13/24

A new state panel has laid out specifics designed to bring numerous North Carolina state government agencies together to work on improving outcomes for prisoners when they are released, leading to reduced recidivism.

The Joint Reentry Council created by Gov. Roy Cooper’s executive order in January approved last week a plan to meet more than two dozen objectives by using over 130 different strategies.

The order directed a “whole-of-government” approach, in which Cabinet departments and other state agencies collaborate toward meeting goals and take action.

More than 18,000 people are released annually from the dozens of North Carolina adult correctional facilities and face challenges brought by their criminal record to employment, education, health care and housing.

The council’s plan “lays out our roadmap to help transform the lives of people leaving prison and reentering society while making our communities safe,” Cooper said in a news release Tuesday.

Cooper’s order also aligned with the goals of Reentry 2030, a national effort being developed by the Council of State Governments and other groups to promote successful offender integration. The council said North Carolina was the third state to officially join Reentry 2030.

The plan sets what officials called challenging goals when unveiled in January. It also seeks to increase the number of high school degrees or skills credentials earned by eligible incarcerated juveniles and adults by 75% by 2030 and to reduce the number of formerly incarcerated people who are homeless by 10% annually.

Several initiatives already have started. The Department of Adult Correction, the lead agency on the reentry effort, has begun a program with a driving school to help train prisoners to obtain commercial driver’s licenses. The Department of Health and Human Services also has provided $5.5 million toward a program helping recently released offenders with serious mental illnesses, Cooper’s release said.

The governor said in January there was already funding in place to cover many of the efforts, including new access to federal grants for prisoners to pursue post-secondary education designed to land jobs once released. [Source]

 

Ballot Access

Kyle Ingram and Emmy Martin, The News & Observer, 8/13/24

U.S. District Judge Terrence Boyle granted an emergency injunction on Monday directing the North Carolina State Board of Elections to certify the “Justice for All” party and place its candidates on the ballot in November.

The decision comes after three party supporters sued the elections board after it declined to recognize the party, foreclosing the possibility of getting its presidential candidate, left-wing academic Cornel West, on the 2024 presidential ballot. The board’s Democratic majority voted against JFA earlier this month after raising concerns about misleading petition gatherers and signers who asked for their signatures to be removed. The board also said an investigation into potentially fraudulent signatures is ongoing.

“In declining to certify JFA as a new political party, the board has categorically excluded JFA and its candidates from the ballot,” Boyle wrote in his order. “As a result, the board has precluded those voters who wish to associate with both from exercising their First Amendment right to do so. That is a severe burden on First Amendment rights.”

Boyle’s decision means West will be allowed to appear as a presidential candidate on North Carolina’s November ballot.

The lawsuit, filed in federal court, accused the board of violating the party members’ “core First Amendment rights as voters and citizens who wish to grow and develop a new political party in North Carolina.” Party supporters also accused the board of violating their due process rights by failing to provide them with specific evidence to discredit the signatures they provided in their petition campaign for ballot access.

The board cited issues with petition gathering and potential fraud in the party’s signature collection process.

Boyle made the decision after hearing arguments from attorneys Mary Carla Babb, representing the State Board of Elections, and Phillip Strach, who represented the plaintiffs, on July 30 in Elizabeth City.

Though West is running as a left-wing candidate, the party’s supporters were represented in court by Strach, a prominent conservative attorney. Strach frequently represents the state’s Republican legislative leaders in court and has recently defended them in gerrymandering lawsuits and challenges to stricter election laws.

The state Republican Party commended the court on Tuesday morning for its ruling. “This partisan board failed the people of North Carolina for months abusing the certification process. Now, these contests will be decided where they should: by the citizens of our great state,” NC GOP Communications Director Matt Mercer said in a statement.

The court’s ruling could be appealed, but time is running out for any further changes to ballots. The ballot printing process begins in mid-August and the first absentee ballots are sent out to voters on Sept. 6. [Source]

Transit Tax

Steve Harrison, WFAE Radio, 8/13/24

The town of Matthews appears to be dead-set against Charlotte’s proposed transportation and transit plan, and commissioners voted unanimously Monday night to oppose designs that call for the town to get a bus line instead of a new light rail.

The city of Charlotte is launching an effort to build support for a new transit authority to run the region’s public transportation system, and a new one-cent sales tax referendum to pay for transportation improvements. They unveiled a proposed bill to do so last week. For years, Charlotte had said it would build the Silver Line light rail from uptown to Matthews. But to please Republican lawmakers in Raleigh, Charlotte agreed this spring to only spend 40% of new tax money on rail transit.

With less money for trains, Charlotte quietly told Matthews officials in May it would build bus rapid transit to connect Matthews to uptown instead. Matthews commissioners are livid.

Ken McCool said he had been to “countless” public meetings on the Silver Line light rail over the last decade.

“How many public meetings have they hosted when they decided they wanted to change it to bus rapid transit? Zero. Not a single constituent has been heard,” he said. “Not a single person has been into a public building and talked about this and been able to voice their opinions. Not a single one.”

Charlotte Mayor Vi Lyles and City Manager Marcus Jones have not publicly said the Silver Line’s eastern leg is out. Other officials have widely discussed that it’s not viable, from the city’s perspective at least.

Matthews Mayor John Higdon said he’s skeptical that true bus rapid transit would be built.

Matthews commissioners voted three days after Charlotte officials unveiled a bill written for lawmakers in Raleigh that would create a new countywide transit authority. The bill would also let Mecklenburg County place a sales tax increase referendum on the ballot in November 2025.

Matthews commissioners instead have proposed either a higher sales tax increase to fund the whole Silver Line — or that all new proposed train lines be swapped out for better bus service. [Source]

Voter ID

Will Doran, WRAL News, 8/13/24

Student photo identification cards from Duke and Campbell universities are now among the list of approved IDs that can be used during this year’s elections.

The State Board of Elections approved a dozen new IDs Tuesday, adding the Duke Card, the Campbell student voter ID and 10 others to the list of more than 120 acceptable IDs approved for voters. Many other colleges and universities have already had IDs approved.

But the board didn’t approve an electronic ID card that some UNC-Chapel Hill students use because one of the board’s Republican members objected to that option. The elections board now plans to hold a meeting later this month to discuss the Chapel Hill virtual IDs in more detail, then take a vote on whether to accept them. The physical ID card used by UNC students has been approved already.

Many state and government agencies have also gotten approval for their employees to be able to use their work IDs as photo identification for voting. Among those newly added on Tuesday were the North Carolina Department of Administration, Guilford County Schools and the City of Gastonia.

Most North Carolinians have driver’s licenses and should be able to show those when they go to vote. But poll workers won’t be allowed to accept licenses that have been expired for more than a year — so the expanded list of other acceptable IDs could make it less likely for people to be thwarted when they go to vote.

State law dictates that everyone should be allowed to fill out a ballot if they show up at the polls, even if they don’t have an ID. But the state doesn’t have to count those ballots; the voters will be asked to fill out a form explaining why they don’t have an ID. Their votes will only be counted if their excuse is acceptable.

In the primary this March, 473 voters had their ballots thrown out because of ID problems, WRAL reported, out of 1.8 million total voters.

North Carolina Republicans have been trying to enact voter ID rules for more than a decade, but this November’s presidential election is the first major election in which IDs will be required. A 2013 voter ID law was struck down as unconstitutional for racial discrimination. So was a subsequent 2018 law. But in 2022 a new GOP majority on the state Supreme Court reversed that precedent and allowed voter ID to go into use.

Those rules were first used in the 2023 municipal elections and then in this year’s primaries — each of which most North Carolina voters skipped. So the November general election is expected to feature the first widespread use of the new rules.

More details on what types of IDs have been approved, and what exceptions to the rules exist, can be found on the State Board of Elections website. [Source]

Superintendent Race

Laura Leslie and Emily Walkenhorst, WRAL News, 8/13/24

North Carolina’s race for state schools superintendent is once again in the national spotlight after an unearthed social media video by Republican candidate Michele Morrow called for a military intervention to keep former President Donald Trump in office in 2021.

In interviews with WRAL News on Tuesday Morrow denied calling for a military coup. Her opponent, Democrat Mo Green, says she’s unfit to run the state’s K-12 public schools.

The video was one Morrow posted on social media on Jan. 6, 2021, after she attended the rally that turned violent at the U.S. Capitol.

In the video, Morrow called on then-President Donald Trump to use the Insurrection Act to activate the military and put “the Constitution to the side” in order to stay in power.

“They can all be arrested for treason,” Morrow said in the 2021 video. “And if the police won’t do it and the Department of Justice won’t do it, then he will have to enact the Insurrection Act, in which case the Insurrection Act completely puts the Constitution to the side and says, ‘Now the military rules all.’”

On Tuesday, Morrow said she didn’t ask for people to be arrested for treason.

“My words were not to arrest people for treason,” she said. “I was stating that when our government is not protecting the God-given inalienable rights of our citizens, that it is our duty to make sure that they understand that they work for us.”

She continued: “I thought that it was time for us, as we the people, to stand up and say, ‘You guys work for us,’ because I believe everybody that’s an elected official works for the people of the United States of America, and government doesn’t give us our freedoms. It’s actually God-given inalienable rights, right?”

Morrow went to the Jan. 6, 2021, protest with her children. She says they didn’t take part in any of the violence that day.

Green, in an interview with WRAL on Tuesday, said Morrow’s comments were “deeply concerning and incredibly dangerous.” He pointed out that Morrow has also called for the executions of Presidents Barack Obama and Joe Biden in the past, which WRAL has previously reported.

Green said he was concerned Morrow is running to become the head of the Department of Public Instruction, charged with taking care of the state’s 1.5 million public schoolchildren.

Since winning the Republican primary for state superintendent, Morrow has scrubbed much of her social media, deleting one of her accounts on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter. [Source]

Offender Registration

Peter Castagno, Port City Daily, 8/12/24

Three judges on the Fourth Circuit of Appeals unanimously upheld the constitutionality of North Carolina’s sex offender registry statute against a lawsuit from two organizations based in the state.

The National Association for Rational Sexual Offense Laws, headquartered in Raleigh, and its state-affiliate North Carolina for Rational Sexual Offense Laws joined anonymous plaintiffs John Doe 1 and 2 in the case. Plaintiffs first sued in 2017 to challenge amendments in the state’s sex offender registration statute and reduce sex offender restrictions and the length of registration terms. The groups argued state law is excessively punitive and fails to protect public welfare.

North Carolina’s law prohibits registered offenders from employment in positions supervising or involving children and restricts visitation and residence near areas such as playgrounds or schools. Sex offenders are registered for 30 years but can petition to end registration after 10 years. Severe offenses can be punished with lifetime registration.

Chief Judge Albert Diaz wrote the majority opinion after the court reviewed evidence regarding recidivism rates and limited opportunities for sex offenders. Judges found the requirements are not excessively punitive and provide important public safety benefits.

Attorney General Josh Stein — who is running for governor in 2024 — and three district attorneys, Lorrin Freeman, Sean Boone, and Reece Saunders, represented North Carolina.

“I’m pleased the court has upheld the constitutionality of this law, which protects children and families from people convicted of serious sexual offenses,” Stein said in a Friday press release. “The law was written to keep North Carolinians safe, and I’m proud of the hard work my office put in to defend it.” [Source]

 

Lazzara Fellowship

The (Jacksonville) Daily News, 8/13/24

The Council of State Governments has announced that Senator Michael Lazzara, R–Onslow, has been selected to participate in the 2024 CSG Henry Toll Fellowship. Bringing together 49 individuals representing 34 states and U.S. territories and all three branches of state government, the Henry Toll Fellowship is the nation’s premier leadership development program for state government officials, according to a Tuesday press release from Lazzara’s office.

“I am deeply honored to have been selected for this prestigious fellowship,” Lazzara said. “This opportunity will allow me to collaborate with leaders from across the nation, sharing ideas and learning new approaches to better serve the people of North Carolina. I look forward to bringing back valuable insights that will help us make Onslow County the best place to live, work, and raise a family.”

Since 1986, CSG has annually convened a new class of Henry Toll fellows at its national headquarters in Lexington, Kentucky for an intensive leadership boot camp. The program’s sessions are designed to stimulate personal assessment and growth, empower leaders to collaborate and communicate more effectively, and provide nonpartisan networking and relationship-building opportunities.

“While the CSG Henry Toll fellows come from every region of our nation, from both political parties and all three branches of state government, they share one thing in common – they are all committed to improving the lives of the people they serve,” said CSG Executive Director and CEO David Adkins, a former Kansas state senator and 1993 CSG Henry Toll Fellow alumnus.

The Toll Fellowship honors the founder of CSG, Henry Toll, who as a former state senator from Colorado, was the driving force behind the creation of CSG in 1933.

There are over 1,400 graduates of the Toll Fellowship, including four sitting state/territorial house speakers, eight sitting state supreme court justices, 10 sitting members of Congress, three sitting governors and more than 200 Toll alumni currently serving as state/territorial legislators. [Source]

Harris Event

Danielle Battaglia, McClatchy, 8/13/24

Vice President Kamala Harris plans to visit Raleigh Friday to discuss her plans to bolster the economy and prevent price gouging, a campaign official told McClatchy. Her visit will be her eighth this year to North Carolina, which is considered a battleground state in the presidential election. No further details have been announced.

The Democratic candidate for president and her new running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, were scheduled to visit Raleigh as part of a tour of swing states. But they were forced to postpone due to Tropical Storm Debby. The powerful storm dumped rain, spurred up 10 tornadoes and left four people dead in North Carolina.

A new date for a rally has not been rescheduled.

Harris’ visit will follow former President Donald Trump’s visit to Asheville on Wednesday. There, the Republican nominee plans to discuss how the Biden administration has harmed North Carolinians with prices that “are excruciatingly high,” and a cost of living that “has soared.”
This marks a rare visit for Trump to North Carolina in a year that has included a rally in Charlotte and his attendance at a NASCAR race in Concord.

Ohio Sen. JD Vance, Trump’s running mate, also was scheduled to visit Raleigh last Thursday to speak with media, but the weather postponed the trip. A visit hasn’t been rescheduled. [Source]

 

Flooding Relief

Jennifer Allen, Coastal Review, 8/13/24

After a year of record coastal flooding, eastern North Carolina may feel a slight reprieve from high-tide flooding days between now and April 2025.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s National Ocean Service last week released its 2024-25 Annual High-Tide Flooding Outlook, which projects slightly fewer of these flooding days through spring 2025 than last year. That’s because El Niño conditions are transitioning to La Niña conditions, and these two opposing climate patterns in the Pacific can affect weather worldwide.

“Bottom line: Over the past year, we’ve seen record coastal flooding, or high-tide flooding, along our coastlines,” Nicole LeBoeuf, National Ocean Service director, during the Aug. 6 online news briefing, said. “When the ocean runs hot, sea levels run high, and we see that playing out in our coastal flooding data.”

The outlook recaps high-tide flooding events from May 2023 to April of this year at 97 NOAA tide gauges along the U.S. coast, and it projects what to expect at these locations through April 2025. High-tide flooding, which is sometimes called nuisance or sunny-day flooding, happens when tides reach anywhere from 1 to 2 feet above the daily average high tide, and cover what is typically dry land along the coast. “As sea levels continue to rise, high-tide flooding occurs more frequently, even without severe weather,” she said.

For the 2023-24 season, coastal communities in the United States experienced seven to eight flood days, LeBoeuf said. In 2023, 34 locations broke or tied their records for flood days, which she called “a dramatic increase” from the previous year.

Hot ocean temperatures led to the highest levels of sea level measurement on record. There were 44 NOAA tide gauge locations, mostly on the East Coast, that broke or tied their previously recorded sea levels to date. This means “we got an additional 6 inches of sea level rise and five median coastal flood days annually compared to the year 2000, roughly a 200% increase,” LeBoeuf said. [Source]

 

Jewelry Insurance

Kevin Ellis, Business NC, 8/13/24

A Wisconsin-based jewelry insurance company will invest $5.8 million and create 200 jobs in Raleigh that pay on average $169,592, more than twice the current average wage for Wake County.

Jewelers Mutual Group, which provides insurance protection to jewelry businesses and consumers will create an “innovation hub” to serve online customers. Based in Neenah, Wisconsin, south of Green Bay, the company started its search for a new office with about 15 cities, according to the state.

The decision came down to Dallas or Raleigh, with North Carolina winning out because of available talent, education systems, tax climate, real estate costs and more.

“North Carolina is a hotbed of technology innovation, and I’m pleased to see a well-respected company like Jewelers Mutual recognize our strengths and decide to grow their business in our state,” said Gov. Roy Cooper in a statement.

Jewelers Mutual was founded in 1913 and has more than 1 million customers nationwide and in Canada. The company serves jewelry businesses and provides customer service through insurance and technology. Jewelers Mutual also has offices in Dallas and Miami.

The company expects to employ 200 people in North Carolina over the next five years and make its $5.85 million investment by Dec. 31, 2025. Jewelers Mutual’s project in North Carolina will be facilitated, in part, by a $2.4 million Job Development Investment Grant approved by the state’s Economic Investment Committee earlier Tuesday. That state money will be spread out over 12 years.

Wake County and Raleigh will also provide almost $147,000 in incentives. Workforce and community college assistance, $764,000, brings the total state incentive package to almost $3.2 million.

The Texas incentive package was valued at $3 million, according to the N.C. Department of Commerce. [Source]

 

COVID Rise

Freya Gulamali, The News & Observer, 8/13/24

Nationally, COVID-19 levels are rising. More than half of states in the U.S., including North Carolina, are reporting “very high” levels of SARS-CoV-2 viral activity in wastewater. At least 27 states are reporting “very high” levels of the virus that causes COVID-19 in their wastewater, and an additional 17 are reporting “high” levels, according to the latest update from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Wastewater levels are “the proverbial canary in the coal mine,” said Dr. David Wohl, professor of medicine in the Division of Infectious Diseases at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine.

“What it tells us is how much COVID-19 is out there.” Dr. David Weber, medical director of the Department of Hospital Epidemiology at UNC Health, said wastewater levels are particularly important in measuring “the amount of virus that’s out in the community for people who are mildly ill and not seeing a physician at all.”

Generally, many viruses “survive better at low temperatures and low humidity,” Weber said. The CDC National Wastewater Surveillance System dashboard shows that wastewater levels of COVID-19, though, are quickly approaching levels found during the winter months. Weber says there are three reasons for these high levels in August.

First, when a new variant appears in the summer, Weber said, it “hasn’t fallen into the typical winter cycles yet that we see with other viral diseases.” The new variants this summer are “not, in general, more likely to cause severe disease, but [they are] more transmissible.” He said that’s why wastewater levels of COVID-19 are higher, but people infected with new strains of COVID-19 are “not sicker than in previous waves.”

COVID-19 rates are also rising because of waning immunity since “many people have not received recent boosters,” Weber said. “Vaccines prevent infections for about three months. They prevent serious disease for about six months.”

He expects new vaccines targeting the new variants to arrive by the end of the month. “As soon as it’s available, people should get the vaccine, and because most people at least have some previous immunity, the vaccine should rapidly give them some protection,” Weber said.

Weber also cites the absence of masks as another reason for rising wastewater levels. “The mask can be protective in how many particles you expel,” said Weber. “Anyone who feels particularly at risk can wear a mask.” [Source]

 

Utility Shooting

Jay Price, WUNC Radio, 8/13/24

A U.S. Army Special Forces colonel will not face charges after he fatally shot a utility worker in May, authorities said. The shooting took place outside the unnamed soldier’s home near Carthage. Moore County District Attorney Mike Hardin said the soldier’s actions were justified under the North Carolina Castle Doctrine. That law allows defensive force when there’s a perceived threat within one’s home or property.

The worker, Ramzan Daraev, was surveying utility poles for a fiber optic construction project and taking photos of individual poles, some with the soldier’s home in the background. Daraev was a Russian citizen and an ethnic Chechen.

In the first of two 911 calls, at 8:12 p.m. on May 3, the soldier’s wife said she thought he was taking photos of their children and house. She asked for law enforcement help.

Investigators from the Moore County Sheriff’s Office said the soldier, initially unarmed, approached Daraev to ask what he was doing. The soldier went back to his house to get a handgun and walked back to Daraev to keep an eye on him while a deputy was on the way.

Then, in a second more frantic call, at 8:25 p.m., the woman said her husband badly needed law enforcement help, and she yelled for someone to get her a rifle.

“The confrontation escalated when Daraev reportedly became agitated and lunged at the homeowner after repeatedly refusing to leave the property,” said a Sheriff’s Office’s news release. “The homeowner reported firing several shots in response to Daraev’s advance. Under the North Carolina Castle Doctrine, the homeowner’s actions are protected, providing legal justification for using defensive force.”

Daraev entered the U.S. in 2022 over the southern border. His nationality — and the fact that the soldier is a Special Forces officer — sparked Internet conspiracy theories about Russian espionage. But investigators say there was no question he was doing work for the utility project; a Moore County deputy actually had seen him earlier in the day at another location and asked what he was doing. Daraev’s English was so poor that the deputy had to use a phone app to translate their conversation.

According to the news release, Daraev had nothing to identify him as a utility worker. The Sheriff’s Office said Daraev was not armed and had nothing with him except a cell phone when law enforcement arrived on the scene after the shooting.

The investigation found confusing relationships between the companies involved in the fiber optic project. The local utility company, Brightspeed, was working with a New Jersey company called Utilities One to survey the area. The investigation found Daraev was doing work for a subcontractor to Utilities One called Cable Warriors, but the two companies were related. Utilities One didn’t return calls seeking comment.

The Sheriff’s Office said it received several reports after the shooting of people being seen on private property in same general area earlier in the evening. According to the release, those people were likely part of the group working with Daraev.

“None of the citizens making those reports were aware that the persons they observed on their properties were conducting utility work,” the release said.

The Sheriff’s Office said in the news release it had requested an investigation by the N.C. Labor Department into things like the safety practices for workers involved in the broadband project. A Labor Department spokesperson said Tuesday it had closed its investigation because Daraev appeared to be an individual contractor rather than an employee of one of the companies involved. [Source]

 

Transportation Funding

Glyniss Wiggins, WNCN News, 8/13/24

The state’s gas tax has been the main way for the North Carolina Department of Transportation to maintain roads and bridges and other means of travel. However, the state’s motor fuels tax — accounting for 43 percent of N.C. revenue — is becoming less stable and reliable with the rise of electronic or hybrid vehicles.

Now, the state is partnering with the Eastern Transportation Coalition, a multistate membership that explores sustainable, long-term funding options that better support the demands of growing states and their transportation network.

Transportation leaders are discussing these issues as the state moves towards a more equitable economy, under Executive Order 246 signed by Gov. Roy Cooper in 2022. As part of this order, NCDOT created the N. C. Clean Transportation Plan to help guide a better approach to expanding clean-energy infrastructure. [Source]

Public Comment

News Release, 8/13/24

The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services’ Division of Child and Family Well-Being’s Community Nutrition Services Section has posted a Prospective Waiver for the Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) for public review and comment.

The waiver will streamline the process for NC CACFP to authorize alternative methods of meal service in the At-Risk Afterschool component of CACFP when standard meal service operations are limited due to a variety of circumstances such as natural disasters or unscheduled major building repairs.

The public is invited to review and comment on the waiver, which is available online here.

The public review and comment period is Aug. 13-Sept. 13, 2024.

 

Tourist Spending

WBTV News, 8/13/24

North Carolina tourists spent $35.6 billion in 2023, the governor’s office reported Tuesday. That growth followed a record-breaking increase of 15% in 2022. Additionally, direct tourism employment increased by 4.8% to 227,000. According to the study, N.C. hosted about 43 million visitors in 2023.

“It’s great to see increasing numbers of people continue to flock to North Carolina to see all we have to offer,” said Gov. Roy Cooper. “Visitors are investing record amounts of money bolstering our booming tourism industry, and that brings good jobs and income to North Carolina businesses and families.”

98% of N.C.’s counties saw increases in spending compared to 2022. Nearly 20% of counties saw higher-than-average growth; Camden led with a 10% increase. Mecklenburg had the largest number of direct tourism employees (36,310), an 8% increase from 2022.

Visitors spent more than $97 million per day in North Carolina. That spending adds $7.1 million per day to state and local tax revenues. [Source]

 

Manhunt

Tammy Grubb, The News & Observer, 8/13/24

The state Department of Adult Correction offered a $25,000 reward Tuesday evening as the search continued for an inmate serving a life sentence for murder who escaped custody in Orange County.

“We know there are people out there who know where he is and probably have information to share,” said Keith Acree, spokesman for the department. “We are hoping that this will be the carrot that draws them out and provides information that will lead to his capture.”

At least 114 local, state and federal law enforcement officers were going door to door and combing through woods, creeks and ravines Tuesday evening for 30-year-old Ramone Alston, who escaped after arriving at UNC Hospitals in Hillsborough for medical care.

The search covers 580 acres, including the one-mile area surrounding the hospital, Orange County Emergency Services Director Kirby Saunders said.

Agencies across North Carolina are also on the lookout for Alston, who was still in handcuffs when he fled around 7 a.m., Acree said. Alston is considered dangerous, the Orange County Sheriff’s Office said.

Alston fled as two state corrections officers were removing him from a prison van at the hospital’s rear entrance Tuesday. He “broke away from the officers in the parking lot and ran to the woods,” Acree said.

Officials said he may have removed his leg restraints during the ride to the hospital. “We are working diligently to follow all the leads that we have,” Orange County Sheriff Charles Blackwood said, declining to be more specific.

His office is also focused on reassuring the Hillsborough community that it is safe, he said. There had been no reported sightings of Alston since early Tuesday morning, he said. “As far as the community goes, there’s two ways of looking at this. He’s either in a five-mile radius or he’s in the rest of the world, and we’re searching both,” Blackwood said.

Todd Ishee, secretary of the N.C. Department of Adult Correction, appeared with Blackwood at a news conference Tuesday afternoon. “Our staff will be on duty 24 hours a day, seven days a week, until offender Alston is returned to custody,” Ishee said. Blackwood and Ishee did not elaborate on how Alston got free from his leg restraints, but noted the investigation into his escape will consider all the details of what happened from the time they left the prison in Bertie County to the time Alston escaped, including whether the officers may have been involved. [Source]

 

Readers’ Choice

News Release, 8/13/24

The North Carolina Zoo has claimed the top spot in a nationwide contest for “Best Zoo” in the United States. The North Carolina Zoo was first nominated in the Newsweek Readers’ Choice Awards in July 2024, with public voting open daily from July 3-31. Contest nominees were proposed and vetted by a panel of travel writers and tourism experts before a final voting selection was made by Newsweek editors. Top-10 results were made public on Aug. 8, with North Carolina Zoo winning the top spot.

 

Named

News Release, 8/13/24

Jacob Brown is the new park superintendent at Raven Rock State Park in Harnett County, the N.C. Division of Parks and Recreation announced Tuesday. Brown succeeds John Privette, who became the division’s law enforcement specialist last year. Park superintendents manage operations and administration at a park and have wide-ranging responsibilities that include staffing, training, law enforcement, planning, resource management, interpretation and education, and visitor services. Brown grew up in Cameron, N.C., and visited Raven Rock State Park frequently as a child. He has a bachelor’s degree in recreation management and biology from Appalachian State University.

NC Insider Legislative Report

LB: LEGISLATIVE BUILDING. LOB: LEGISLATIVE OFFICE BUILDING

HOUSE CALENDAR

Monday, Sept. 9, 2024

House Convenes at 12 P.M.

SENATE CALENDAR

Monday, Sept. 9, 2024

Senate Convenes at 12 P.M.

HOUSE & SENATE: Reconvening allowed under provisions of SB 916, if no sine die adjournment previously adopted.

  • Monday, Sept. 9 to Wednesday, Sept. 11
  • Wednesday, Oct. 9
  • Tuesday, Nov. 19 to Friday Nov. 22
  • Wednesday, Dec. 11 to Friday Dec. 13

Legislative Studies and Meetings

LB: LEGISLATIVE BUILDING. LOB: LEGISLATIVE OFFICE BUILDING

Thursday, August 22

  • 2 p.m. | America’s Semiquincentennial Committee, 1228/1327 LB

Thursday, August 29

  • 1 p.m. | Agriculture and Forestry Awareness Study Commission, Ed Emory Auditorium, Kenansville.

N.C. Government Meetings and Hearings

BOLD ITEMS ARE NEW LISTINGS

Wednesday, Aug. 14

  • 9 a.m. | North Carolina Real Estate Commission Meeting, 1313 Navaho Drive, Raleigh.

Monday, Aug. 19

  • 2 p.m. | The Executive Committee of The North Carolina Partnership for Children meets, The meeting will be held via Zoom. You may contact Yvonne Huntley at 984.221.1242 or email at [email protected] for additional information.

Tuesday, Sept. 3

  • 1:30 p.m. | The Executive Committee of The North Carolina Partnership for Children meets, The meeting will be held via Zoom. You may contact Yvonne Huntley at 984.221.1242 or email at [email protected] for additional information.

Friday, Sept. 6

  • 10 a.m. | The Executive Committee of The North Carolina Partnership for Children meets, The meeting will be held via Zoom. You may contact Yvonne Huntley at 984.221.1242 or email at [email protected] for additional information.

Tuesday, Sept. 10

  • 8:30 a.m. | The Executive Committee of The North Carolina Partnership for Children meets, The meeting will be held via Zoom. You may contact Yvonne Huntley at 984.221.1242 or email at [email protected] for additional information.

Tuesday, Sept. 17

  • 10 a.m. | The Executive Committee of The North Carolina Partnership for Children meets. You may contact Yvonne Huntley at 984.221.1242 or email at [email protected] for additional information.

UNC Board of Governors

23 S. WEST STREET, SUITE 1800, RALEIGH

Wednesday, Sept. 11

  • Meeting of the Board of Governors, TBA.

Thursday, Sept. 12

  • Meeting of the Board of Governors, TBA.

Thursday, Oct. 17

  • Meeting of the Board of Governors, TBA.

Wednesday, Nov. 13

  • Meeting of the Board of Governors, TBA.

Thursday, Nov. 14

  • Meeting of the Board of Governors, TBA.

N.C. Utilities Commission Hearing Schedule

DOBBS BUILDING, 430 NORTH SALISBURY STREET, RALEIGH

Wednesday, Aug. 14

  • 7 p.m. | Public Witness Hearing – Application for General Rate Increase for Piedmont Natural Gas Company, Inc. | G-9 Sub 837

Tuesday, Aug. 20

  • 6 p.m. | Public Witness Hearing – Application for Transfer of Public Utility Franchise and Approval of Rates of HISCO East, LLC in Carteret County to HISCO I in Carteret County | W-1297 Sub 17, W-1344 Sub 0
  • 6 p.m. | Public Witness Hearing – Application for Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity and for Approval of Rates to Provide Sewer Utility Service to Currently Served Cape Ponte Village Subdivision, Additional Phases for the National Park Service, Harkers Island RV Park and a Fe | W-1344 Sub 1

Wednesday, Aug. 21

  • 7 p.m. | Public Witness Hearing – Application for General Rate Increase for Piedmont Natural Gas Company, Inc. | G-9 Sub 837

Thursday, Aug. 22

  • 7 p.m. | Public Witness Hearing – Application for General Rate Increase for Piedmont Natural Gas Company, Inc. | G-9 Sub 837

Other Meetings and Events of Interest

BOLD ITEMS ARE NEW LISTINGS

Wednesday, Aug. 14

  • 10:30 a.m. | Gov. Roy Cooper to deliver remarks at Brightspeed Internet event celebrating expanded access to high-speed fiber internet in Eastern North Carolina, Rocky Mount High School.
  • 3 p.m. | Gov. Roy Cooper to attend Guilford County Schools Right Start New Teacher Orientation and deliver remarks, Laughlin Professional Development Center, 7911 Summerfield Road, Summerfield.

Friday, Sept. 6

Friday, Sept. 27

  • 2024 Lumbee Powwow, Lumbee Tribe Cultural Center, 638 Terry Sanford Drive, Maxton.

Lieutenant governor candidates talk property taxes, water and more at first debate

Posted on by Rory Appleton

The three candidates for Indiana lieutenant governor outlined their diverging visions on property taxes, land use, conservation and more as part of an agriculturally themed debate Tuesday at the Indiana State Fair. 

Republican Micah Beckwith, Democrat Terry Goodin and Libertarian Tonya Hudson kept it civil at the hourlong contest, sticking to their allotted answer times and only rarely going back and forth in any sort of argument. 

The debate, an election-year tradition at the fairgrounds, was sponsored by AgrIInstitute and centered on agriculture and rural affairs — though the participants sometimes veered into other policy lanes. It was the first time these candidates had appeared opposite one another in a debate forum this election cycle. 

Here are six takeaways from the event. 

It wasn’t really a debate, audience member says

George Brenner, an Indianapolis Democrat who also owns part of a southern Indiana family farm, was among the more than 100 people who packed the Purdue Extension Building. 

“It was a decent Q&A session, but it was not a debate,” Brenner said of the event. 

The format deviated from tradition by asking each candidate a separate question rather than having the trio react to the same line of inquiry. Although some topics would eventually be discussed by each candidate, the participants did not engage with one another’s answers. 

Instead, the questions came in rapid succession from a panel of ag-focused media members. 

“There was no back and forth,” Brenner said. 

Property taxes take center stage

The discussion surrounding property tax reform played out in multiple questions and answers on Tuesday, with Beckwith and Hudson sharing points from their running mates’ disclosed plans and Goodin forecasting what his ticket will push for in its own yet-to-be-released proposal. 

Beckwith kicked it off by saying farmers have seen a 26% increase in their property tax bill. He said the “Braun-Beckwith plan,” nodding to Republican gubernatorial candidate U.S. Sen. Mike Braun, would cap property tax increases at 3% annually. 

“We’re going to make sure that never again will you be able to outpace the growth of an area with property taxes,” Beckwith said. 

He added that the issue would ultimately be decided by the Legislature and  called out several Republican lawmakers by name, saying Braun gave each “freedom to tackle the issue.” They were state Reps. J.D. Prescott and Jeff Thompson and state Sens. Travis Holdman and Scott Alexander.

Goodin attacked the Braun plan several times, leading moderator Gerry Dick of Inside INdiana Business to grant Beckwith the only rebuttals of the afternoon. 

Goodin said the Braun proposal was a “knee-jerk reaction” that didn’t take funding local governments into account. 

“Unless there was some covert reason they wanted to defund police, fire departments, ambulance services and to cut money to our local schools,” he said. 

Beckwith lept in his rebuttal. 

“The last time I checked, the Democrat Party was the one that wanted to defund police, not the Republican Party,” he said. 

Goodin said Democratic gubernatorial candidate Jennifer McCormick will put forward a fair tax plan that seeks to keep local governments adequately funded. 

Hudson said the Libertarians, led by gubernatorial candidate Donald Rainwater, would replace property taxes with a 7% sales tax paid when a home is purchased. 


“If you can’t pay your property taxes, you’re kicked out of a home that you own. We should not be doing that,” Hudson said. 

Beckwith takes aim at LEAP

Beckwith used several questions on water and land use to launch an assault on the Indiana Economic Development Corp., which he called a “shadow government,” and its proposed Limited Exploration Advanced Pace (LEAP) proposal in Boone County. 

Beckwith echoed some legislative critics by saying the program has not been fair and transparent to local governments. 

“It’s running out of control. It’s only picking winners of big corporate conglomerates … we want to see IEDC move into that smaller town,” Beckwith said. 

Beckwith said Braun agreed with his criticisms. 

“We’re not just going to pick one area and pour all of our resources into that area,” Beckwith said. 

Goodin focuses on conservation

Goodin used several answers to focus on keeping Indiana’s water and air clean, advocating for harsher penalties for dumping chemicals into streams and rivers and signaling his support for a sales tax geared toward funding environmental protections. 

He blamed Republicans, whom he said have “had 20 years of one-party rule” for lapses in the state’s environmental protections. 

“They are picking winners and losers, and … they have picked conservation as one of those losers,” Goodin said. 

Marijuana not mentioned, but hemp was

Marijuana legalization was not brought up, either as a question or in any answers, but Hudson advocated for greater use of hemp products. 

Land use questions draw varied responses

Several questions focused on the use of farmland for solar power generation or the sale of land to developers. 

“We’re seeing a hostile takeover of our farmland,” Beckwith said. He called for the state government to disincentivize the sale of farmland, particularly to out-of-state companies. 

He quoted the loss of Indiana farmland at 350,000 acres and was more or less backed up by a question from the panel, which clocked the number at 345,000. 

Goodin pushed a more balanced approach, saying Indiana needed to invest in agricultural education and technology to keep farms in business. 

“We’ve got to work closely with our universities to move a program forward so we can make Indiana a great place to live and raise a family, and so we can become self-sufficient on energy,” Goodin said, touting his own agricultural background and noting that he still owns and works his family farm. 

Hudson said farmers should be allowed to use their land however they see fit, including for solar energy collection. High income and property taxes are pushing people out of farming and the state, she added. 

“Indiana has a surplus,” said Hudson. “What does that mean? They overtaxed.”

Contact Rory Appleton on X at @roryehappleton or email him at [email protected].

Ex-Marion Police chief charged with judicial interference in newspaper raid case

Posted on by Bryan Richardson

Former Marion Police Chief Gideon Cody has been officially charged with interference in the judicial process for his role in the Marion County newspaper raid.

Cody “knowingly or intentionally” induced a witness to withhold information between Aug. 11 and 17, 2023, according to criminal charges filed Monday in Marion County District Court.

On Aug. 11, 2023, law enforcement conducted a raid on the Marion County Record offices and the homes of newspaper owner Joan Meyer and Marion City Councilwoman Ruth Herbel.

The filing didn’t include additional information on the alleged crime, but a 124-page report released last week said Cody instructed local restaurant owner Kari Newell, whose driving record information was at the center of the raid, to delete text messages they had sent to each other.

Cody’s charge carries a possible punishment of seven to 23 months in prison, according to Kansas Sentencing Guidelines.

Sedgwick County District Attorney Marc Bennett and Riley County Attorney Barry Wilkerson served as the special prosecutors, examining whether a number of people violated state law before, during and after the raid.

Cody is the only person facing charges, according to the report, which didn’t address federal criminal law.

Bennett and Wilkerson answered several questions regarding the various people who had obtained a copy of Newell’s driving record. The report said none of those people, including those at the newspaper, violated Kansas law.

The attorneys also said law enforcement didn’t have any culpability in the death of newspaper publisher Eric Meyer’s 98-year-old mother, Joan, who died the day after police searched her home.

Meyer and Emily Bradbury, executive director of the Kansas Press Association, spoke to State Affairs last week about the lingering threats to freedom of press in the aftermath of the raid.

Bryan Richardson is the managing editor at State Affairs Pro Kansas/Hawver’s Capitol Report. Reach him at [email protected] or on X @RichInNews.

State board of ed receives details on composition of task force created to study students’ cell phone usage

Posted on by Matt Resnick

The Kansas State Board of Education on Tuesday received an introductory overview of the newly minted task force formed to study students’ cellphone usage during class time. 

Education Commissioner Randy Watson previously asked for a 30-member “blue ribbon” committee, but board members were informed during their meeting that the task force will comprise 36 members. 

The committee is slated to meet Thursdays from 4 to 5:30 p.m., with six total meetings planned, beginning Aug. 22. Additionally, meetings will be publicly viewable via Zoom, and the committee will have a website and email address for questions and general feedback. 

The committee plans to concentrate on three primary topics: personal devices in school, parental oversight of district-issued devices, and screen time and mental health. 

“One of the hardest things about this is that technology is in every corner of our lives, so we’re narrowing the focus to those sub-areas,” said Jake Steel, education strategist for the Kansas State Department of Education. 

As part of the process, committee members are asked to study the book “The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood Is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness,” which explores youth mental health in the era of smartphones, social media and big tech.

Calls for cellphone ban 

Debate on the topic is picking up steam throughout the state. Ahead of students’ return to the classroom this week, the Lawrence school board heard from a proponent of the stricter cellphone policies. 

The board was apprised of a petition with over 100 signatures calling for a strict district-wide ban of cellphones in classrooms. Justin Blumenstiel, a University of Kansas professor and parent of a Lawrence Free State High School student, described a perceived rise in cellphone usage negatively impacting students’ mental health. He traced the evolution to the advent of smartphones in 2007, followed by the emergence of Instagram on smartphones in 2010. 

“Major depression, especially in teenage girls, has increased dramatically since 2010,” said Blumenstiel, adding that it’s a global epidemic. “The amount of depression in U.K. girls has increased as a function of how much time they spend on their smartphones.

“Across the entire world, loneliness is increasing in schools.” 

But Blumenstiel also noted that correlation does not necessarily equal causation. He said districts that have implemented or promoted cellphone “interventions” resulted in positive outcomes in students’ mental health due to a marked decrease in anxiety levels.

Committee breakdown

The task force was designed to have equitable representation among K-12 school districts and other related job professions across the state. 

The committee is composed of: 

  • Superintendents: Travis Githens, Cherryvale; Brian Huff, Gardner Edgerton; Brad Kempf, Jefferson County North; Troy Pitsch, Wabaunsee; Tonya Merrigan, Blue Valley 
  • Principals: Eric Hofer–Holdeman, Wichita Public Schools; Brian Houghton, Fredonia; Kathleen Brennan, Fort Riley Middle School; John Niehues, Greeley County; Kamiel Evans, Jefferson Elementary School
  • Teachers: Tawna Hall, Derby Public Schools; José Martínez, Wichita Public Schools; Carol Budde, Newton Schools; Anna Luke, Beloit Junior-Senior High School; Connie Martin, Shawnee Mission South High School
  • Students: Jessica Claire, Leavenworth High School; Ananya Agrawal, Blue Valley West High School; Ava Gustin, Mission Valley High School; Lane Lamping, Basehor-Linwood High School; Alexa Hernandez, Dodge City High School
  • Parents: Amy Warren, Wichita; Kim Whitman, Shawnee Mission; Erika Sheets, Blue Valley Northwest High School; Korin Poppe, Republic County Unified School District 109; Lori Barnes, Arkansas City
  • Local school board members: Sue Bolley, Topeka Public Schools; Jackie Gigot, Garden City Public Schools; Katie Allen, Manhattan-Ogden Public Schools; Laura Corey, Hutchinson Public Schools; Trisha Moritz, Attica Public Schools
  • IT staff: Travis True, Topeka Public Schools; Lyndsay Noble, Rockhurst University
  • Legislators: Rep. Scott Hill, R-Abilene; Sen. Chase Blasi, R-Wichita
  • State board of education members: Melanie Haas, District 2; Danny Zeck, District 1

Board member Jim McNiece, District 10, told State Affairs he was pleased with the composition of the committee. 

“There are a lot of people with a stake in the pie,” he said. “What you don’t want to do is leave people out.” 

Having spent nearly three decades as a high school principal, McNiece said he’s unsure if there will ever be a comprehensive answer to cellphone usage in classrooms. 

“It has certainly gone in a different direction than I ever imagined,” he said, “when you have mothers that want to make sure they’re in contact with their kids all the time.” 

The issue, McNiece said, extends beyond students and K-12 classrooms. 

“I talk to my friends who are in business and they’re facing the same problem: ‘How do I keep my people off these communication devices?’” he said. “So when somebody figures it out, I think it will be universally appreciated.” 

Matt Resnick is a statehouse reporter at State Affairs Pro Kansas/Hawver’s Capitol Report. Reach him at [email protected].

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