VOLUME 6 ISSUE 32 | WWW.NSJONLINE.COM | WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2021
Folwell opposes expanded IRS regulations Raleigh State Treasurer Dale Folwell announced that he is joining 23 other state treasurers, auditors and financial officers in signing a letter opposing legislation that gives the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) sweeping new powers to monitor American bank accounts with more than $600 in deposited funds. The additional IRS surveillance authority was first made public in May 2021 and is included in the proposed $3.5 trillion federal budget plan. “I believe that everyone should pay their fair share of taxes,” Treasurer Folwell said. “However, this proposal is an unprecedented invasion of privacy that could actually increase the problem of the ‘unbanked’ and ‘underbanked’ in America.” Folwell also expressed his concern that the new regulations would be overly burdensome and expensive for many small community banks that serve rural North Carolina.
J. SCOTT APPLEWHITE | AP PHOTO
Attorney General Merrick Garland speaks at the U.S. Justice Department in Washington, D.C.
US attorney general directs FBI to investigate parents’ protests of school boards
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Yellen: Urgent action needed on debt limit, rejects $1T coin Washington, D.C. U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said Tuesday that Oct. 18 remains the date she is likely to run out of resources to stave off default on the nation’s debt without congressional action to raise the debt limit. She also rejected the idea of minting a $1 trillion coin to avoid default. Appearing on CNBC Yellen said if a default were to occur, “I fully expect it would cause a recession,” along with preventing the government from paying benefits to 50 million Social Security recipients and meeting the government’s other bills. Yellen flatly rejected a novel idea that has been put forward to mint a $1 trillion coin and use that to avoid a default on the debt. “The platinum coin is the equivalent of asking the Fed to mint money to cover the debt,” she said. THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
US resumes Afghan refugee flights after measles shots Washington, D.C. Afghan refugees will soon be arriving again in the U.S. after a massive campaign to vaccinate them against measles following an outbreak that caused a threeweek pause in evacuations. Authorities have administered the vaccination to about 49,000 evacuees staying on American military bases as well as to those still at transit points in Europe and the Middle East, according to the Department of Homeland Security. There are about 53,000 Afghans currently staying at eight U.S. military bases and receiving medical care and other assistance before they settle around the nation. THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Trump asks US judge to force Twitter to restore his account New York Former President Donald Trump has asked a federal judge in Florida to force Twitter to restore his account, which the company suspended following the protest at the U.S. Capitol. Trump’s attorneys filed a motion in U.S. District Court in Miami seeking a preliminary injunction against Twitter and its CEO, Jack Dorsey. They argue that Twitter is censoring Trump in violation of his First Amendment rights, according to the motion. THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
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Cooper, legislative leaders agree to energy compromise Deal calls for 70% reduction in CO2 by 2030 By David Larson North State Journal RALEIGH — Gov. Roy Cooper and the leaders of both majority and minority parties at the N.C. House and Senate released identical press statements on Friday, Oct. 3 announcing a bipartisan agreement on the direction of the state’s energy future. The release said this legislation is expected to be passed through the General Assembly this week and was heard in the Senate Agriculture, Energy and Environment Committee at noon on Tuesday. In the previous 49-page version, passed in July, the precise path to a slightly lower reduction of “at least 61%” was laid out with more detail — including which coal-fired plants would need to be shuttered. This new 10-page agreement allows the details of how to reach these dramatic cuts in CO2 to be worked out later, requiring the state’s Utilities Commission “to follow the least cost pathway in reducing carbon emissions by 70% by the year 2030 and achieving carbon neutrality by 2050 without sacrificing reliability.” “This bipartisan agreement sets a clean energy course for North Carolina’s future that is better for the economy, better for the environment, and better for the pocketbooks of everyday North Carolinians,” Cooper said on the plan. “I am encouraged that we have been able to reach across the aisle to find a way forward that will update our energy systems while saving people money and doing our part to slow climate change.” There had been months of negotiations after the previous version of H.B. 951 stalled. The bill passed the House 57-49 largely along partisan lines on July 15. Cooper, who is not shy about vetoing legislation, made clear he would not allow the current version to become law. Major sticking points for Democrats had included the bill’s
relaxing of rules around rate increases for utility companies and that they felt the bill did not go far enough to reduce carbon emissions. The version passed in July would have retired coal-fired plants, but environmentalist groups said the inclusion of natural-gas plants in the plan did not take the problem of climate change seriously enough. The new version, while vaguer on the details, does increase the goals for cutting CO2. “This legislation will put our clean energy aspirations into action,” said Senate Minority Leader Dan Blue (D-Wake). “We need to continue working to protect our environment, and all rate payers, as we move North Carolina to a clean energy future.” Republicans’ priorities, as seen in their statements, focused more on maintaining reliability and lower-cost energy. “North Carolina is a growing state, attracting businesses and families from all over,” Senate Leader Phil Berger (R-Eden) said in the joint statement. “That growth depends on a stable supply of reliable and affordable energy. After months of policy negotiations, we reached an agreement that will signal to businesses and families here now or considering a move here that North Carolina’s leaders are committed to progrowth energy policies.” Writing for WRAL’s opinion section on Sept. 28, former Virginia attorney general, and recent Trump administration official, Ken Cuccinelli wrote that the July version of the bill looked like it was going to repeat a number of mistakes that he believed Virginia had made. His main points centered around how Virginia’s Dominion Energy was a similar state monopoly as Duke Energy is in North Carolina, and making energy policy around these giants is not to the benefit of consumers or the state. “Duke Energy clearly benefits from every major provision at the expense of everyone else,” Cuccinelli wrote. “Key provisions to See ENERGY, page A2
By A.P. Dillon North State Journal RALEIGH — Parents protesting their local school board may find themselves under FBI investigation following an announcement by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ). The DOJ’s press release contains a memorandum issued by Attorney General Merrick B. Garland that directs the FBI and U.S. Attorneys’ Offices to investigate a “disturbing trend” of alleged harassment and
threats to school boards, teachers, staff and administrators. “Threats against public servants are not only illegal, they run counter to our nation’s core values,” Garland wrote in the memorandum. “Those who dedicate their time and energy to ensuring that our children receive a proper education in a safe environment deserve to be able to do their work without fear for their safety.” Neither the DOJ press release See PROTESTS, page A2
Pfizer FDA-approval push for 5-and-older vaccine sets stage for K-12 immunizations fight NC Commission on Public Health could vote to require the COVID-19 vaccine for K-12 students By A.P. Dillon North State Journal RALEIGH — With Pfizer and German company BioNTech requesting FDA approval of a COVID-19 vaccine for children ages 5 to 11, K-12 parents may find their state attempting to add the vaccination to the immunizations required to attend public school. “It is a question of days, not weeks,” said Pfizer chairman and CEO Albert Bourla in a Sept. 26 ABC News interview about his company seeking FDA approval for the vaccine for school-aged children. And Bourla made good on his timeline, as his company submitted a vaccine for approval just two days later, on Sept. 28. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved a Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine for emergency use in children ages 12 to 15 years old in May of this year. The FDA granted full approval of the COMIRNATY vaccine for children 16 and older in late August. COMIRNATY is the marketing name given to the vaccine, but the formula is apparently identical to the one currently being administered under emergency-use authorization. Dr. Robert Malone, the doctor See VACCINE, page A2