It's 5.05 and welcome in to a Wednesday edition of the Carolina Journal News Hour News Talk 1110-993 WBT. I'm Nick Craig. Good morning to you. The Trump administration has frozen more than $108 million in federal funding for Duke Health, according to senior administration officials. This comes one day after a letter was sent to the university that both DHS Secretary Robert F.
Kennedy Jr. and the Secretary of Education Lynda McMahon are investigating systematic racial discrimination within the university's healthcare system. That federal funding encompasses Duke University's School of Medicine and overall health research and health care system at Duke. The freeze, which is being exclusively reported by Fox News, comes again just one day after that letter was sent to top Duke officials expressing concerns about racial preferences in hiring, student admissions, governance, patient care, and other operations. The letter states that the administration has been made aware of allegations that Duke University and Duke Health are not in compliance with the Civil Rights Act.
which prohibits discrimination based on race and nationality in programs receiving federal funding. It calls for Duke Health to review all policies and practices for illegal use of racial preferences. In the letter from Secretary McMahon and Secretary Kennedy, it talks about giving Duke a six-month period of time to make whatever changes are necessary internally to get in compliance with some of those federal regulations and federal laws. Noting that at any point, if either of the secretaries feel that Duke is not working on this process and not moving forward in a positive direction, that they will continue with their scrutiny of the university and look at potential funding cuts. That $1.8 million, according to one official telling Fox News, could be permanent if Duke does not comply and is found to be in violation of the Civil Rights Act.
This is an update on a story we covered yesterday morning, kind of sparse details this morning, but did want to provide you that update as we get into some of the details here this morning. Again, That letter sent from Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy and Education Secretary Linda McMahon. We'll continue to track the details right here on the Carolina Journal News Hour and, of course, on our website, CarolinaJournal.com, where it's now 508, News Talk 1110-993 WBT. It was an incredibly busy Tuesday in the North Carolina General Assembly as lawmakers coming out of their few week 4th of July recess made their way back to the state capitol to deal with 14 veto overrides, pieces of legislation that both chambers had passed, that Governor Josh Stein had vetoed earlier in the month of June and in July.
It was a busy one. To walk us through some of those details, the editor-in-chief of CarolinaJournal.com, Donna King, joins us on the news hour. Donna, before we get into any of the details of these bills, this is one of the busiest days that I've seen in the General Assembly in quite some time. Oh, for sure. I mean, I think what that showed us is that they can get things done in quick order when they really want to and they have everybody aligned.
So I think it really shows us that the last month or so since they left, they've been working hard to make sure they can coalesce the votes to get these overrides done. But it also really sounds a show of force, I think, when they're really going head to head against Governor Stein compared to Governor Cooper. Yeah, and you know, for the longest time, at least in the first couple of months of both the new governor being in the office and the new lawmakers being in Raleigh, it seemed like it was a pretty good relationship. I think after the eight veto overrides on Tuesday, Don, it's probably accurate to say it's a little bit fractured as of right now. Let's start off in the North Carolina Senate.
One of the pieces of legislation that a lot of folks across the state were following, Senate Bill 50. This is also known as constitutional carry. What happened with that bill on Tuesday? Sure, sure.
So that has been overridden by the Senate. At this point, it would have it would have allowed permitless concealed carry of handguns for adults over the age of eighteen. Has not been taken up by the House. And so, with that, we'll continue to watch. It did not fail a vote in the House.
It just was not put on the calendar.
So, I guess it does potentially leave the door open for a potential veto override. Could be later this week, could be sometime in the next couple of months as lawmakers are in and out of Raleigh. Another piece of legislation that also did not receive a vote in the House, Senate Bill 153. What's that legislation? Why is it relevant?
Sure, and that one actually surprised me. I thought we would see it pop up here in the House for a vote. It mandates coordination or cooperation with federal immigration enforcement. authorities. And it also allows residents of North Carolina's communities to sue local governments if they have a sanctuary policies.
So I wouldn't be surprised. That one might pop back up in the House, but it has been overridden by the Senate. And that's, of course, a relevant piece of legislation. Over the last probably year and a half or so, the General Assembly has passed multiple bills dealing with ICE and cooperation. This continues to be a pretty big story across North Carolina.
It really does, and we're seeing it actually nationwide. And I think that we're going to see some real foundational arguments when you go into the 2026 midterms about this very issue.
So I think that North Carolina lawmakers would probably like to see it pass. And I think we're going to see this brought up over the course of the next, say, 18 months or so in the Senate race in particular with Governor Cooper. There's two D. There were two DEI bills that the North Carolina House and Senate had dealt with earlier this year, Senate Bill 227 and Senate Bill 558. One deals with K-12, the other deals with higher ed, the UNC system, and community colleges.
DEI is a big ticket issue nationally right now, Donna. We've seen the push from President Trump and folks all across the country. What happened with those two bills? Sure. Both of these have all the veto has been overridden by the Senate.
Now, you've got to remember the Senate has a veto-proof majority.
So that's something the House is one vote shy of being able to do.
So they have a little bit more work to do to get that veto-proof majority.
So they both, the Senate was able to override the veto in both of those DEI bills. We will, of course, keep an eye on these open bills now that the House has not necessarily moved forward with as we continue with that process. Let's look at a couple of other things that did actually get overridden by both chambers on Tuesday. Charter school changes. That's Senate Bill 254.
This is a big one as the school choice movement continues across North Carolina. This really is a big one. It empowers the charter schools review board, which gives some charter schools more autonomy. And this is, you know, the Board of Education, the State Board of Education, has opposed this. And this charter school review board really allows them to be sort of self-you know, it allows charter schools to have that review board in place.
And that's SB 254, overridden by both chambers.
So it will now go into law. The other one is the Power Bill Reduction Act. That's something that we've been watching closely at the John Locke Foundation. What that does is it repeals the interim 2030 target for carbon reduction mandates. It still keeps in place what we see going in for 2050, but it repeals that interim one and it could potentially really bring down power bills for North Carolinians.
That has been overridden by both chambers and becomes law. And then the Personal Privacy Protection Act, that's one that we're also following at Carolina Journal and the John Locke Foundation. What that does is Is it prevents A state You know, a state employee from compelling a nonprofit to release its data or its list of donors.
So, for example, if I donated to a cause or a charity that I felt strongly about, that charity couldn't be compelled to release my name to a government employee or a government official. This really goes back all the way to the Civil Rights Act when there were government officials trying to compel the NAACP to release its list of donors, and it really became a free speech issue. It's already been heard by the U.S. Supreme Court.
So, this is something we've been pursuing for a while in the interest of privacy and free speech, and something that Democrats have opposed, saying it would allow dark money.
Now, it's important to note that this bill does not impact campaign finance reporting laws. And those campaign finance reports have to be filed depending on the election cycle, either four times or twice a year. All of that information is publicly available on the North Carolina State Board of Election website. And, Donna, on this donor privacy, the state of California back a couple of years ago tried passing legislation dealing with this, and it was actually struck down by the United States Supreme Court. I heard a couple of Republican members bring that up during the debate in the General Assembly on Tuesday.
So, they feel that, as of just back a couple of years ago, the United States Supreme Court rather has already opined on this issue. Yes, certainly. We heard that on the floor of the General Assembly on Tuesday. That's a case that was with the Americans for Prosperity. And at the time, the governor of the Attorney General of California was Kamala Harris, and she tried to compel nonprofits to release their donor list.
And so it did. It went all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court.
It was found to be a freedom of speech issue, allowing donors to have those free speech rights by association, by donating to the cause of their choice without fear of a government bureaucrat coming in and using it for political purposes. And you're right, you know, political campaign reporting is still the law, and that will still be trackable. We're talking about nonprofit organizations. We'll continue on what was a busy day in the North Carolina General Assembly on Tuesday with Donna King from CarolinaJournal.com. Coming up after this, you're listening to the Carolina Journal News Hour.
It's 5:21. Welcome back to the Carolina Journal News Hour, News Talk 11:10-99.3 WBT. Don't forget, if you miss any portion of the Carolina Journal weekday mornings, you can check out our podcast. It's available in Google Play, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, anywhere you get your shows. Just search for the Carolina Journal News Hour, tap that subscribe or follow button, and you'll get a new program delivered each and every weekday morning.
You can also watch the show on our Carolina Journal YouTube channel. It's the Carolina Journal News Hour podcast. Download and subscribe now. Continuing our discussion this morning with Donna King, the editor-in-chief of CarolinaJournal.com, about lawmakers making their way back to Raleigh on Tuesday to deal with 14 veto overrides. Let's turn our attention over to the North Carolina House.
The math is a little bit different in the House compared to the Senate. Super majority for Republicans in the Senate. One vote shy in the House.
However, there are multiple Democrats that did agree on some of these original bills before they were vetoed by Democrat Governor Josh Stein. Let's start off with House Bill 193. What's that legislation? Sure. So this is a firearms law revision.
This was overridden by both chambers. And there's a list of them actually that Republicans in the House did get some Democrats support to override a Stein veto. What that tells me, because we're looking at a list of probably six or seven at least, that were able to be overridden. I'm not positive that would have happened under a Cooper administration because he really kept a tight rein on the votes in the General Assembly among Democrats. This time around, there really have been some Democrats willing to cross the aisle and vote with Republicans.
Another one is HB 805, which is prevents sexual exploitation of women and minors. What this does is it bars K-12 schools from putting male and female students in the same sleeping quarters, say if they were on a field trip, for example. It also keeps state funds from being spent on gender transition procedures in prisons and increases the statute of limitations on. On patients' ability to sue doctors who participate in those gender reassignment surgeries or treatments. That now, that statute of limitations is now 10 years for patients who undergo those kind of procedures.
So, both chambers overrode the veto on HB 805, so it becomes law. Yeah, and one of the other big things in that as well is that defines state law based on biological attributes. That's been a big discussion. We've seen men and women sports has been a big national issue and here in North Carolina, so that is now said and done. One of the other big things that we've talked about a lot on the Carolina Journal News Hour since the beginning of the year, was the Reigns Act now limit rules with substantial financial costs.
House Bill 402, Donna, has a major implication for North Carolina families. It really does. And this is an interesting one because it's kind of in the policy weeds. But it's also a trend that we're seeing nationwide in states across the country. And what it does is it puts some guardrails on the regulatory authority of those who work for state agencies.
So, for example, in this bill, if a regulation that's established by an agency doesn't go through the General Assembly, but an agency establishes a regulation that has an economic impact. That is, I think it's as high as like $5 million. If it has that level of economic impact on businesses, on families, it actually has to be referred back to the state legislature to really put that economic impact decision making at the level closest to the voters, at their representatives in the state legislature, rather than with just officials who are unelected and working for a state agency. Democrats argued against this, making the point that, oh, well, these boards are never going to be able to unanimously decide on anything. Therefore, the General Assembly is going to be responsible for agreeing or not with all of these various regulations.
But Donna, I I know at the national level and and even here across North Carolina there's a lot of discussion of the bureaucracy, right? We'll put that in air quotes. Seems like that's where a lot of this stuff starts is unregulated and unelected agencies that create rules that do cost North Carolina families could be significant amount of money each year.
Well, I mean, it's kind of becoming a self-fulfilling prophecy. You hire bureaucrats to make rules and regulations, they're going to do it to justify their continued employment. That's kind of what has happened at the national level and at the state level. In this case, these rules, there is a limit. If the rule sits with the lawmakers for a certain amount of time and isn't addressed, it can go into effect.
That said, I don't think it's a bad thing to make it harder to pass regulations on businesses and families and property owners and everyone else impacted by state government.
So I think that this is a trend we're seeing. It's a frustration with the size of government, the scope of government, the authority of unelected officials in government. And we're seeing it play out right here in the North Carolina General Assembly. Let's touch on one final bill. This is House Bill 318.
The Criminal Illegal Alien Enforcement Act kind of ties in with another piece of legislation we were talking about. Representative Carla Cunningham out of Mecklenburg County not only spoke in favor of this legislation back a couple of months ago when it was originally passed, but she stood up in the chamber on Tuesday, Don, and spoke against her fellow Democrat colleagues on this legislation. Very interesting stuff unfolding. It is, and that takes some real courage. I mean, you have to admire a representative who will stand up in front of their entire caucus, in front of cameras and reporters and everyone else, and frankly from heckling protesters in the gallery and say, look, I represent the people of my community, and this is what they want me to do to follow my conscience and keep them safe and do all of these things.
And she spoke for this bill, and it's not easy to do. It certainly is not a rewarding, a financially rewarding position to be in the General Assembly, and it's tough. It's tough to take that hard position, and she had the courage to do it on Tuesday.
So we had eight veto overrides successful from the North Carolina General Assembly, six more still withstanding as we continue to track those details. Donna, this is something we're going to be keeping an eye on. Absolutely. We're going to be covering it at CarolinaJournal.com throughout. We're going to be watching any mini budgets that they come up with to really show some of the economic priorities that they're making and perhaps more overrides.
It's obviously going to be a busy couple of weeks here in North Carolina. We'll keep you up to date. The editor-in-chief of CarolinaJournal.com, Donna King, joins us on the Carolina Journal News Hour. It's 537. Welcome back to the Carolina Journal News Hour.
Good Wednesday morning to you. News Talk 1110-99.3 WBT. Checking out some other statewide news this morning, former Congressman Wiley Nicol. Has officially dropped out of the U.S. Senate race and has endorsed former Democrat Governor Roy Cooper.
This comes one day after the governor announced that he was running, former governor I should say, announced that he was running for the Democratic nomination. The former Congressman in Nicol announced his intentions to run for that Senate seat in April of this year. He was elected to the United States House of Representatives' 13th congressional district back in 2022.
However, he decided not to seek reelection last year. Republican Brad Knott now represents that district. Before that, Nicol served two terms as a state senator in North Carolina's 16th Senate district. He put this post out on his ex-profile yesterday saying, quote, today I am suspending my campaign for U.S. Senate and proudly endorsing Roy Cooper.
It was an honor to work alongside Governor Cooper in the state Senate and in Congress. I've seen firsthand his steady bipartisan leadership. He listens, he shows up, and he gets things done. From making North Carolina the top state for business to guiding our communities through natural disasters, his leadership has made a real difference. And for so many of us, including me, he's been an inspiration to step up and serve.
I proudly endorse Governor Cooper for U.S. Senate and look forward to doing everything that I can to help him win and flip this Senate seat from red to blue. I've still got a lot of work left to do. That part hasn't changed. Public service is part of who I am, and you'll hear more from me soon, keeping the door open there, obviously, for some later political aspirations or office runs in North Carolina.
North Carolina. Reports say he is now considering running for the Democrat nomination for Wake County District Attorney. Current district attorney Lauren Freeman, a Democrat, announced in May that she will not run for reelection coming up next year in 2026. And as we look at Governor Roy Cooper, a Democrat who served two terms as governor from 2017 to 2025, is aiming to succeed Republican Senator Tom Tillis, who announced in the latter parts of June that he would not run for reelection. In his launch video, Cooper emphasized his record on education, health care, and economic development.
However, with that coming out, with that announcement taking place, you are seeing that clearing of the Democrat primary field. Also, yesterday, we learned that the former governor raised more than $3.4 million within the first 24 hours of his announcement, a record-breaking amount for a state Democrat candidate. More than $2.6 million was raised directly by Governor Roy Cooper's campaign account, with 95% of those donations totaling $100 or less, according to Politico. He also raised another $900,000 through joint fundraising committees with the North Carolina and National Democrat parties, which allows for bigger contributions. We have been covering a lot of this Senate race over the last couple of weeks.
On the other side of the aisle, rumor still has it that current RNC Chairman Michael Watley is set to make his announcement. Could be coming up later this week or sometime. Early next week, we are completely laser-focused in on this Senate election. Continued coverage continues this morning over on our website, CarolinaJournal.com. Turning our attention back to the North Carolina General Assembly this morning, while it was a very busy day in Raleigh, for Republican lawmakers successfully overriding eight of the 14 recent vetoes from Democrat Governor Josh Stein.
The governor, well, yesterday held a press conference saying that the legislature should be more focused on passing a budget and not on veto overrides, which he said, quote, is a distraction that divides us. He told reporters yesterday morning, the General Assembly, by focusing on divisive bills that do not move the state forward and, in some instances, make our state less safe, like allowing teenagers to carry concealed weapons without any trading whatsoever, that is the wrong priority. He called out lawmakers for failing to pass a budget by the start of the new fiscal year, which was July the 1st, the last budget ending on June the 30th, while emphasizing that North Carolinians, including teachers, law enforcement, and people who use the Division of Motor Vehicles, DMV, as well as Medicaid expansion recipients, are all counting on a budget being passed. The governor stressed that his proposed budget would have been the best solution as he did so earlier this year when he first proposed it. The governor also said that his budget proposes raises in salaries for all state law enforcement agencies, which are currently facing shortages and recruitment issues, noting that it particularly focuses on correctional officers and youth counselors who have above-average vacancies and offer signing bonuses to basic law enforcement training graduates as well as to out-of-state transfers hired by the state.
It is important to note that while the governor does have the ability to propose a budget, lawmakers in the General Assembly are not obligated to do anything that the governor wants as it relates to the budget. It is solely their prerogative to pass a budget in the House and or Senate, come to some sort of agreement on what that budget looks like. Then they do, in fact, send it to the governor for his signature, but they are not obligated or required to take any of the governor's suggestions. And most of the time, As we've seen over the last couple of years, with split power in the North Carolina government, typically a Democrat in the governor's mansion, Republicans, either with a supermajority or a regular majority in the General Assembly, they tend to brush off the vast majority of the recommendations by the governor.
However, Governor Joss Dine trying to capitalize on some of the attention in Raleigh yesterday. And with that, Republican lawmakers have reached a deal on some state budget issues. The announcement coming out yesterday afternoon, shortly after some of these veto overrides took place, The so-called mini-budget is intended to fund more basic functions of state government that are needed since the new fiscal year began July the 1st without a new budget. Public schools, colleges and universities are funded largely based on their enrollment numbers, and addressing that was one of the main reasons behind the new mini budget deal, according to state lawmakers. Without its updated numbers, any growing school would be forced to kick off the new school year with last year's smaller outdated budget.
While the state would likewise find itself sending too much money to schools that are maybe not growing in enrollment. This budget was brought forth, or this mini budget, I should say, was brought forth yesterday by the North Carolina Senate. It passed in a very bipartisan manner, 47 to 2, with little debate on the bill. And lawmakers are expected, at least on the House side, to be back in Raleigh this morning to potentially agree with that. It would then be sent to Governor Josh Stein's desk for his decision of either signing the mini budget into law, vetoing it, which is one of the main stories we were tracking this morning, or allowing it to become law after 14 days of no action by the governor.
It's important to note that this mini budget does not contain most of the large projects proposed in either the House or Senate versions of budget proposals that passed their respective chambers earlier this year, nor does it contain tax cuts or raises for teachers and other state workers. Those have deeply developed. Divided the two chambers in the General Assembly. The Senate wants to give smaller raises in order to offer larger tax cuts for North Carolinians, while the House wants to go with bigger raises for state employees and not cut taxes as much for the citizens of the state. We will track that progress in the General Assembly throughout your Wednesday.
You can keep up to date with that breaking news over on our website, CarolinaJournal.com. And of course, we'll have the latest coming up for you tomorrow morning right here on the Carolina Journal News Hour. For the ones who get it done, the most important part is the one you need now, and the best partner is the one who can deliver. That's why millions of maintenance and repair pros trust Granger, because we have professional grade supplies for every industry, even hard to find products, and we have same-day pickup and next day delivery on most orders. But most importantly, we have an unwavering commitment to help keep you up and running.
Call clickgranger.com or just stop by. Granger, for the ones. Who get it done? Good morning again. It's 5:52.
Welcome back to the Carolina Journal News Hour, News Talk 1110-993 WBT, as we continue covering what was a very busy morning in Raleigh yesterday as members of the North Carolina General Assembly made their way to the state capitol to deal with 14 veto overrides. Republicans were successful with help of some Democrats in the House to override eight of the 14 vetoes recently signed by Democrat Governor Josh Stein. Looking at some more of those bills that were overridden yesterday, Senate Bill 266, that legislation repeals and is now law, repeals North Carolina's interim 2030 carbon reduction mandate, which is projected to save customers more than $15 billion over the next couple of decades by eliminating costly compliance measures. The Senate voted in the opening. Override 30 to 18.
The House voted 74 to 46, with two Democrats voting in favor of the override. Senator Timothy Moffett, the Republican from Henderson, said on the Senate floor yesterday, what this bill does is it addresses thoughtfully the change in energy demand from a baseload energy production standpoint as we wrestle with the changing climate in our state. Environmentalist groups opposed the bill. Drew Ball, who's the Southeast Campaign Director for the National Resource Defense Council, said, quote, Senate Bill 266 is a handout to corporate monopolies disguised as reform, and North Carolinians will foot the bill. Duke energy profits and residents pay the price through higher bills, lost jobs, and missed investments in better alternatives.
Instead of building affordable, reliable, clean energy, this bill pushes outdated, expensive gas plants that deepen our dependency on dirty and fragile fuel supplies. According to a press release from the John Locke Foundation, the Power Bill Reduction Act mandates that the North Carolina Utilities Commission evaluate energy plans under House Bill 951, which passed back in 2021, based on affordability, reliability, and technological feasibility. The act strengthens transparency requirements and enforces comprehensive cost-benefit analysis for proposed energy transition strategies. Donald Bryson, the President and CEO of the John Locke Foundation, said in a news release: By overriding this veto, the General Assembly is standing up for energy affordability and sound economic policies. North Carolinians deserve an energy strategy that prioritizes cost, reliability, and transparency, not one driven by expensive, arbitrary mandates.
So, again, the estimates there saving ratepayers in North Carolina some $15 billion. We'll continue to watch how that moves forward as it has now been officially overridden, and that bill now becomes law out of the North Carolina General Assembly. One of the other pieces of legislation that we've been talking about throughout the year is the Reigns Act. Its new name is Limit Rules with Substantial Financial Costs. House Bill 402 would require greater legislative scrutiny for rules that impose high financial costs on state businesses and residents.
The House voted to override that bill by a vote of 73 to 47. Representative Bell out of Wayne County introduced the bill and asked for bipartisan support by saying this is just giving people what they'd expect from their government, which is accountability and a voice at the table when we're debating rules that are going to impact their everyday lives. lives.
However, not all members of the General Assembly were in favor of that. Democrat Representative Pricey Harrison out of Guilford County opposed the override and spoke against it, saying to her colleagues, ladies and gentlemen of the House, I know you are sick of hearing me talk about this bill. This is a really critical limitation on our state's agencies' abilities to protect public health, safety, and welfare. It's going to make it very difficult to pass any rules stricter than what the federal government has in place. She concluded her remarks by saying that the bill raises constitutional concerns, saying, I do want you to understand that this bill has a significant impact and we shouldn't take this forward.
I urge you to vote no on this bill. Donald Bryson, the CEO of the John Locke Foundation, celebrated the override in a press release saying, with this override, North Carolina takes a bold step towards restoring balance. and accountability in state government. The Rains Act is a national trend. More than 25 states have already moved forward with an equivalent to the Rains Act.
You can add now North Carolina to that growing list of states. Continued coverage of these veto overrides and another busy Wednesday expected in the General Assembly over on our website, CarolinaJournal.com. That's going to do it for a Wednesday edition of the Carolina Journal News Hour. We're back with you tomorrow morning, 5-6, right here on News Talk 11, 10, and 99.3 WBT.
