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VOLUME 2 ISSUE 10
www.NSJONLINE.com |
SATURDAY, ApriL 1, 2017
Inside Phoenix Final Four has Carolina feel. Sports
Senate President Pro Tempore Phil Berger, right, and Sen. Dan Blue, left, offer their support for H.B. 142 in a Senate committee meeting before the bill went for a vote.
Candis Cox, a transgender activist speaks out against H.B. 142. Equality NC and the ACLU said they support only a repeal with no moratorium on accomidation laws.
Photos by Madeline Gray | north state journal
Republican Rep. Jeff Collins voices his opposition to H.B. 142. Several conservative legislators opposed any measure to repeal H.B. 2.
the weekend
News BRIEFing Free Community College tuition program cuts back Greensboro A Guilford county program to provide community college scholarships will have to tighten eligibility requirements and cap awards based on income. The Say Yes Guilford Scholarship Board said this week they will start cutting off students whose families earn more than $100,000 annually, among other groups. The Say Yes program paid out $5.85 million in nearly 2,500 scholarships this year, which is more that they predicted. They want costs at $1 million with the changes to eligibility.
NORTH
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JOURNaL ELEVATE THE CONVERSATION
Burr leads Senate’s bipartisan Russia inquiry
Green groups sue Trump for approving Keystone pipeline Washington, D.C. Six environmental groups on Thursday filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration in a federal court in Montana to challenge its decision to approve construction of the controversial Keystone XL pipeline saying he used outdated environmental impact statements. Trump announced the presidential permit last week, saying the project would lower consumer fuel prices, create jobs and reduce U.S. dependence on foreign oil.
Kansas Governor vetoes Medicaid expansion bill Topeka, Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback of Kansas on Thursday vetoed a bill expanding eligibility for Medicaid under the federal Affordable Care Act (ACA), saying he could not support legislation that provided tax dollars to Planned Parenthood and failed to meet other requirements he has laid out for expansion.
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In the House Chamber, Speaker Tim Moore leads the debate of H.B. 142 before the bill passed with a vote of 70-48.
By Donna King North State Journal
“This is one of the biggest investigations the Hill has seen in my time here.” — Sen. Richard Burr (R-N.C.)
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Sen. Richard Burr (R-N.C.), the Republican chairman of the U.S. Senate Intelligence Committee, is at the center of an effort to investigate any attempt to meddle in American elections by Russia, particularly during the 2016 run for the White House. Burr and Mark Warner (D-Va.), the committee’s top Democrat, held a rare day-long open hearing on Thursday during which they said they wanted to provide as much public view of the process as possible. At a joint news conference on Wednesday Burr was asked if the Senate panel wanted to determine if there was anything suggesting a direct link to Trump, and responded: “We know that our challenge is to answer that question for the American people.” Trump’s young presidency has been clouded by allegations from U.S. intelligence agencies that Russia sought to help him win, while connections between his campaign personnel and Russia also are under scrutiny. Trump dismisses such asserSee Burr, page A2
Decades-old green power law is a fresh nuisance to U.S. utilities By Nichola Groom Reuters NEWTON, N.C. — N.C. has more solar energy installations than Texas, which has nearly three times the population; more than Arizona, which has twice as many sunny days; and more than New York, which has far more aggressive renewable energy targets. North Carolina’s solar boom is rooted in a federal law enacted four decades ago. The law is now
emerging as a boon for many solar developers in select states, but a nuisance to many power companies, including N.C.’s top utility, Duke Energy Corp . The federal Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act (PURPA), passed in 1978, requires utilities in many states to buy renewable power from small providers – provided they can sell it at a price comparable to power from fossil fuels, such as coal or natural gas. Because rates and contract
General Assembly, governor pass H.B. 2 compromise House Bill 142 garnered majority support and Cooper’s signature after a year of controversy surrounding “Bathroom Bill,” but not without angering some on both sides of the issue By Jeff Moore North State Journal RALEIGH — After more than a year under a national spotlight of public relations fallout, protests, false starts and failed deals, Republican legislative leaders and Gov. Roy Cooper brokered a deal to repeal the notorious House Bill 2 on Thursday with bipartisan majorities in the N.C. General Assembly. The vehicle employed in the effort, House Bill 142, began life in the N.C. House as an entirely unrelated bill regarding oversight of licensing boards that was instead refashioned to repeal the much maligned “bathroom bill.” It asserts the regulation of multi-occupancy bathroom and changing facilities as the sole domain of the state and enacts a three-year moratorium on local governments issuing regulations on employment practices and public accommodations. “Today, we repealed House Bill 2,” said Cooper in a press conference after signing the repeal legislation. “We begin to end discrimination. We begin to bring back jobs and sporting events. And we begin to repair our reputation. It is an important step, but it cannot be the only step. This law I’m signing today is not just about North Carolina’s reputation — or jobs and sports. It’s about working to end discrimination.” Speaker Tim Moore (R-Kings Mountain) and Senate Leader
terms are set by state utility regulators, that boom is focused on handful of markets - including N.C., S.C., Montana and Oregon. Sixty percent of the nation’s current PURPA projects are in N.C., where state rates and policies favor solar companies. For decades, PURPA was essentially irrelevant to the wind and solar industries because their technologies cost far more than power from fossil fuels. But the last decade has brought sharp declines in the cost of solar and wind power, encouraging a surge of renewable power projects from developers who can count on leSee Utilities, page A2
Phil Berger (R-Rockingham) were joined by Cooper in wrangling votes for the deal as an ultimatum from the NCAA loomed on the horizon and a viable coalition emerged for the first time after nearly half a dozen failed attempts in as many months. “Compromise is difficult for both sides, but we are pleased this proposal fully protects safety and privacy by keeping men out of women’s bathrooms, and removes the distraction of H.B. 2 from North Carolina’s success story of outpacing the rest of the United States in job growth and being a national leader in tax cuts and reform,” said Berger in a press release. As for the notion that the NCAA deadline was the motive force behind state legislation, Moore demurred. “There was concern about was the deadline with the NCAA pushing this and I will tell you for me it was not,” said Moore in a post-vote press conference. “Look, when you know you got the votes to pass a bill around here, I don’t care what it is, you put the bill on the floor and vote on it then.” While House Bill 142 achieved bipartisan majorities in both chambers, it also united opposite sides of the ideological spectrum in opposing the deal. The N.C. Chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union, Equality NC and the Human Rights Campaign blasted See H.B. 2, page A2
INSIDE Pigs, alpacas and cows camp during NC State’s Ag Week. Page C3