It's 5.05 and welcome in to a Thursday edition of the Carolina Journal News Hour, News Talk 1110-993 WBT. I'm Nick Craig. Good morning to you. A $2 million grant from the state of North Carolina is helping bring the 2026 Major League Soccer All-Star Game to Charlotte. The event will be held at Bank of America Stadium, home to the Carolina Panthers and Charlotte, FC.
The commissioner of MLS, Don Garber, said in a press release, Charlotte has turned into a big time soccer city, and we're pleased to bring the twenty twenty six MLS All Star Game to the Queen City. the city and region keep showing up for the sport. From packed Charlotte FC crowds to global events like the FIFA Club World Cup and the Copa America the past two summers, we are excited to bring another marquee event to Charlotte. The two the more than two million dollars in funding will come from the newly created major events, games and attraction funds under the Department of Commerce and approved by the North Carolina General Assembly. The fund was created in early twenty twenty four with the start of state regulated sports wagering or online sports wagering.
Revenues from legalized sports betting have been earmarked to grow tourism and promote North Carolina as a destination for high profile sporting and entertainment events. Yesterday, Governor Josh Stein said, quote, I am proud that North Carolina has been chosen to host the 2026 Major League Soccer All-Star Game. Our state's new major events fund will put us in a stronger position to compete for those high-visibility, top-tier events that draw people and their resources to our state. Visitors to Charlotte will see that North Carolina is a great place to live, work and play.
However, critics of taxpayer-funded sports incentives argue that while events bring short-term attention, they often fail to deliver long-term job creation or infrastructure improvement. Brian Balfour, the senior vice president of research at the John Locke Foundation, says major one-off events like this all-star game may provide a very short-term economic sugar high, but typically don't inspire any meaningful or lasting economic growth. For instance, the city of Detroit hosted two major events in a short time, the MLB Major League All-Star Game in the summer of 2005, followed by the Super Bowl in February of 2006. Just prior to the All-Star Game, the city had an unemployment rate of 6.9%. The month after the Super Bowl, the rate had risen to 7.2%.
Balfour said that using taxpayer funds for events and attractions like a soccer game or soccer matches is outside of the core scope of government's proper role. He said that those funds would likely be better used elsewhere to inspire lasting economic growth. The date for the league's 30th All-Star game will be announced sometime later this year. You can read some additional details on this major events, games and attraction fund, and some more details on the event on our website this morning at CarolinaJournal.com, where it's now 508, News Talk 1110, 993, WBT. President Donald Trump's one big beautiful bill was signed into law on July the 4th.
However, right before it passed the Senate and made its way back to the United States House, Democrat Governor Josh Stein sent a letter to North Carolina's congressional delegation in the United States House urging them not to support the reconciliation bill coming out of the United States Senate. To the credit of Governor Josh Stein, he was unsuccessful in getting those members to not vote for the legislation as it moved forward.
However, this week, members of the congressional delegation are responding to Stein's letter to walk us through some of those details. Katie Zender, CarolinaJournal.com, joins us on the news hour. The original letter, Katie, that the governor sent to members of Congress made some pretty serious claims about kicking 600,000 people off Medicaid, SNAP benefits, some economic incentives for what is called the green energy initiatives in North Carolina. A lot of serious stuff in there. Congress has now responded.
What do they have? to say. Right, good morning, Nick. Thank you for having me back on. Yeah, so on Tuesday, the Republican North Carolina House delegation sent a letter to Governor Stein addressing some of the concerns that he pointed out in his letter to them a couple weeks back.
But what they really focused their attention on was the assertions he made regarding Medicaid and then SNAP or the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. And so they opened off their letter by saying, We agree we must preserve and strengthen these programs for our shared constituents who depend on them. We also know this bill will greatly benefit our constituents by prioritizing our most vulnerable and their access to resources, bringing in our more take-home pay monthly, increasing resources for families with children, and preventing the largest tax hike in history.
So, like you said, Nick, Governor Stein. Put out a press release a couple of weeks ago before the bill was signed into law and really pushed back on. the lawmakers and made some very serious claims and assertions in his l in his press release about his concerns with the bill. But they have come back now earlier this week and really pushed back on him, mainly focusing their attention on Medicaid and SNAP benefits. And one of the points that they use to justify their vote is they talk about some of the economic impacts, claiming that maybe the analysis and some of the studies were not necessarily up to what you would expect out of Washington, D.C.
or other entities. What do they have to specifically say about some of those dollar amounts and people being kicked off of Medicaid expansion here in North Carolina? Right, that's exactly right, Nick.
So Stein claims that more than half a million people stand to lose their health care. He said electricity bills could rise by 20 percent. 1.4 million people, including 600,000 children, could find themselves without the ability to afford food. He calls the bill, quote, a disgrace. And I am disappointed in those who did not stand up for the people they serve, choose instead to ignore the warnings from local leaders and groups across the state who have sounded the alarms about the dangers in this bill.
So what the House Republicans came back and did is they really pushed back on him and said that his claims that he's making and the numbers that he's alleging are inflated and outdated. They said that they're not based on analysis from the COB, which would be the Congressional Budget Office, actual impact of the bill or legislation that was signed into law.
So basically they're saying that these numbers that he's throwing out there are not accurate. And so they said this landmark legislation protects our most vulnerable and middle class families. For years, able-bodied independent adults have had better and quicker access to Medicaid services, delivering care for our elderly, disabled, blind children, and single parent And single and pregnant mothers. They said we have heard numerous stories of vulnerable patients waiting years for hospital at-home services, medical equipment, special needs waivers, and more. They say the bill restores integrity and sustainability to the health care programs so that those vulnerable patients can access care when they need it.
So that's kind of what they had to say about Medicaid. And then the other point that they really focused in on, Nick, was SNAP, or the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program.
So Stein describes it as a vital food assistance program for over 1.4 million North Carolinians. This is something that you talked about when you wrote that article a few weeks back. But they said, we cannot simply, or Stein wrote, I'm sorry, we cannot simply accept these harmful impacts. The General Assembly must step up to protect our bipartisan Medicaid expansion law and food assistance through SNAP. And so the GOP House delegation really pushed back on this point as well.
They said that HR1, which is the reconciliation bill, ensures SNAP works the way Congress intended it to by reinforcing work, restoring program integrity, and instituting long-overdue accountability incentives for states to control costs, enhance efficiencies, and improve outcomes. And then they go on and on. You can read the full quote in the article. But basically what they're saying is that the national average error rate for benefits paid out is surged to 11% and you can read more about that in the article. But they say that with the federal debt approaching $38 trillion, they asserted that Congress can they can't continue to kind of turn a blind eye or look the other way as these federal dollars are being diverted from families struggling with food insecurity, which is something that we've also talked a lot about.
And they encouraged Stein to take advantage of the opportunity to help drive meaningful change here in North Carolina.
So you can read the full article with all the quotes or the full letters is linked in the article as well. But those are the two main points that they really hit on was Medicaid and SNAP. That full article is over on our website, CarolinaJournal.com. Katie, I do want to touch on one thing. You know, there's been a lot of haymade before this process, during and now after since the Big Beautiful bill has been signed into law.
And I think it's important to note when we look at this response from Republican members in the United States House, they turn to this point that a lot of these numbers, a lot of these horror stories that are being described, particularly by those on the political left, not necessarily is that being backed up by CBO reports or other reports. Seems like a lot of these numbers are materializing almost out of thin air, and they're calling that out pretty clearly. That's exactly right, Nick.
So, yeah, you know, kind of leading up to the signage of this bill, as you said, you know, a lot of these numbers that Stein is using and that others are using to kind of sway people one way or the other in support or not in support of the bill aren't even accurate. And so they really called that out in the letter saying they're not being backed up by CBO analysis. And they're just, you know, they're not even necessarily accurate numbers. Or maybe they're outdated numbers.
So maybe they were accurate at one point, but they're no longer reflecting of the actual numbers. We've got a lot more details on this story. Both letters are linked, Stein's original letter, Congress's response to that, all of that available over on our website, CarolinaJournal.com. Katie Zender joins us on the Carolina Journal News Hour. Yeah.
It's 21 minutes past the hour. Welcome back to the Carolina Journal News Hour. Don't forget, if you miss any portion of our show, weekday mornings, 5 to 6, right here on WBT, you can check out our Carolina Journal News Hour podcast. It's available on Google Play, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, anywhere you get your shows. Just search for the name, hit the subscribe button, and you'll get a new program delivered each and every weekday morning.
You can also watch the show live and after the fact on our Carolina Journal YouTube channel. Turning our attention back to some statewide news this morning, after decades of high hurdles, North Carolina has opened the door to CPA licensures. That's certified public accountants. The Accounting Workforce Development Act, also known as Senate Bill 321, introduced a new pathway to CPA licensures starting January 1st of next year. The bill passed unanimously with 109 votes in The 109 to nothing votes in the House and 45 to 0 votes in the Senate, with the governor then signing it into law officially on July the 1st.
For over 20 years, becoming a CPA meant earning 150 college credits, passing the demanding CPA exam, and completing a year of professional experience. The requirement to earn 150 credits essentially meant that a graduate degree or another 30 credits, which equates to around one extra year of college, since undergraduate programs only offer 120 credit hours. That extra time and cost pushed many students away from pursuing accounting as a career, according to the North Carolina Association of CPAs. The alternative path required a bachelor's degree in accounting, two years of supervised CPA experience, and passing the same exam. Ultimately, this new pathway removes the The need for graduate or additional school.
Additionally, it allows aspiring CPAs to reduce what would be a year of paying for school with the ability to earn money working and gaining work experience. Applicants who qualify through either route can be licensed through the North Carolina State Board of CPA Examiners. The new law is in response to a shortage of licensed CPAs in North Carolina, according to the NCACPA. Factors such as baby boomers retiring, higher education costs, and fewer high school graduates pursuing accounting careers have resulted in this statewide shortage. The financial strain on aspiring CPAs is significant, with North Carolina borrowers carrying over $53 billion in student loan debt, according to the Education Data Initiative.
The average debt for those who hold a master's degree in the United States exceeds more than $60,000. On top of the cost of a fifth year of college, candidates must also pay hundreds of dollars in CPA exam fees, with that application fee for the exam normally being around $230 and each exam costing more than $250. These costs may be necessary more than once as the exam is split into four different sections.
However, the new North Carolina law requires that each must be passed within a 30-month window. Failing to complete all sections in that 30-month timeframe can mean retaking and repaying for expired parts of the exam with the re-examination application fee costing $75. Many accounting firms, including the big four, KPMG, Deloitte, Ernest Young, and PWC, offer reimbursement for CPA exam fees as incentives for some of their younger employees to pursue certification.
Some of those companies Companies even offer bonuses for obtaining certification within a certain time frame or provide study materials and paid time off to study and take the exam. As I mentioned, this does have some this legislation does have significant support, including from the North Carolina Association of CPAs. They were backing this legislation with its board voting unanimously in favor of this earlier this year. At a ceremony where Governor Josh Stein took action on several bills, NCACPA board chair Kelly Purrier spoke on the passage of Senate Bill 321, noting Senate Bill 321 represents thoughtful, forward-looking reform. Reforms that address one of the most pressing challenges facing our profession: the shrinking CPA pipeline.
He noted that the broad effect that changes that those of this law may have a broad effect on the state, noting that it opens the door for capable, motivated students and strengthens the pipeline of talent needed to serve our businesses, communities and economy. Stein made the following statement on the passage of Senate Bill 321, quote, this bill gives people more paths to obtaining their CPA license without reducing some of the rigor or lowering our state standards. North Carolina now joins over 20 other states exploring alternatives to the traditional licensor requirements for certified public accountants. Most of those 20 other states aim for those changes by 2026 or 2027. North Carolina already allows CPAs from other states to work in North Carolina without extra certifications, thanks to the recent passage of House Bill 763, the Neighboring State Licensure Recognition Act.
These steps represent a significant push towards reducing workforce barriers in North Carolina. And from reading the commentary there from NCAPA board chair Kelly Peryer, Governor Stein and others that have been actively pushing for this legislation, they are hoping that not only will it put more individuals in high school and college down the path of going through the process of becoming a certified public accountant, but reducing some of the financial strain and getting more of those individuals in the pipeline. We've got some additional details on this story this morning over on our website, CarolinaJournal.com. The headline: New NC Law Creates Alternative Path to CPA licensure. Again, you can read those details at CarolinaJournal.com.
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It's 535. Welcome back to the Carolina Journal News Hour. News Talk 1110-99.3 WBT, a $2 million grant from the state of North Carolina, is helping bring the 2026 Major League Soccer, that's the MLS All-Star Game, to Charlotte. The event set to be held at Bank of America Stadium next year with the MLS Commissioner Don Garber saying Charlotte has turned into a big time soccer city, and we're pleased to bring the 2026 MLS All-Star Game to the Queen City. He noted that the city and region continue to show up for the sport, from packed Charlotte FC crowds to global events like the FIFA Club World Cup and the Copa America over the past two summers, noting that we're excited to bring another marquee event to Charlotte.
The over $2 million in state funding will come from the newly created major events, games and attraction funds under the Department of Commerce, which was approved by the North Carolina General Assembly. That fund was created in late 2023, started generating some revenue in early 2024 with the start of state-regulated sports wagering in North Carolina. Revenues from legalized sports betting have been earmarked to grow tourism and promote North Carolina as a destination for high-profile sporting and entertainment events. Governor Josh Stein said in a press release, I am proud that North Carolina has been chosen to host the 2026 Major League Soccer All-Star Games. Our state's new major events fund puts us in a stronger position to compete for those high-visibility, top-tier events that draw people and their resources to our state.
Visitors to Charlotte will see that North Carolina is a great place to live, work, and play.
However, critics of taxpayer-funded sports incentives argue that while events bring short-term attention, they often fail to deliver long-term job creation or long-term improvements. Brian Balfour, the senior vice president of research at the John Locke Foundation, writes: Major one-off events like this all-star game may provide a very short-term economic sugar high, but typically don't inspire any meaningful or lasting economic growth. For instance, the city of Detroit hosted two major sporting events in the major league, the MLB Major League All-Star Game in the summer of 2005, followed by the Super Bowl in February of 2006. Just prior to the All-Star Game, its unemployment rate was 6.9%.
However, the month after the Super Bowl, that rate had risen to 7.2%. Brian Palforce says that using taxpayer funds for events and attractions like the MLS All-Star game is outside the core scope of government's proper role. He noted that those funds would likely be better used elsewhere to inspire lasting economic growth and impacts. The date for the league's thirtieth All-Star game is set to be announced later this year. You can read some additional details on our website this morning, CarolinaJournal.com.
Turning our attention this morning to an ongoing legal battle that we have been watching between a small town in Orange County, North Carolina, and the state's largest electrical producer and provider, Duke Energy. The town there seeks to unravel North Carolina's energy regulation system with its climate change lawsuit against Duke Energy. That's a key point in Duke's latest state business court filing in its legal battle against the town of Carborough. The town seeks money and damages for alleged negative impacts of Duke Energy's climate policies on the town's finances. Carborough's chief concern is with how Duke Energy and its subsidiaries generate electricity for their customers.
Duke's lawyers wrote in a brief Monday supporting a motion to dismiss the lawsuit. They write that Carrboro would change the generation fuel mix used over the past 50 plus years to result in lower carbon emissions. The court filing continues by writing, however, Carborough's arguments ignore that the regulatory framework for public electricity utilities in North Carolina dictates the policies and considerations that drive generation fuel mix decisions, all of which are approved by the State Utilities Commission. Duke Energy does not unilaterally select its generation fuel mix. Rather, that mix is expressly approved by the State Utilities Commission under the policy directive of the legislature and the governor.
Further, the public and others are permitted to have and do have, in fact, provide input over time on these decisions. Duke's lawyers wrote: Carborough's lawsuit seeks to upend that framework. And pursues Carborough's broad policy goals through torque litigation. By seeking to penalize Duke Energy for damages that allegedly arose because of those fuel mix choices and the resulting emissions. Carborough asks this court to second guess the power generation decisions made by the legislative and regulatory bodies across North Carolina, and similarly in each state where Duke Energy subsidiaries serve customers.
The brief added: Carborough's authority is subject to statutory limits and does not permit it to second-gas generation fuel mix decisions determined by regulatory authorities. The only path to Carrboro's alleged damages is based on interstate and cumulative global emissions, according to Duke's lawyers. Courts across the country have found that a state cannot apply its law to claim adjacent interstate greenhouse gas emissions. Here, there is no untangling of Duke Energy's emissions from greenhouse gas emissions emitted and regulated beyond North Carolina's borders. Duke Energy has filed two separate motions to dismiss the case.
Carborough responded on May the 1st to the initial motion that Duke filed with the utility asking the court to dismiss claims that were never asserted. That's in the town's lawsuit, Carborough's lawyers wrote, attempting to recast the allegations of the complaint into a lawsuit that Carborough has not actually pled. Duke Energy urges the court to dismiss this action as non-junctionable, but this court could conclude that this case is non-junctionable only by ignoring Carborough's actual complaint and instead relying on Duke's inaccurate characterization of the case that Carborough actually filed. Here, Carborough seeks monetary damages and only monetary damage. Voluntary damages for the concrete economic losses flowing from Duke's deceptive campaigns as it relates to greenhouse gas emissions.
Contrary to Duke's assertion, otherwise, a resolution for this action does not require that the court regulate or even address Duke's emissions. Carborough does not seek an injunction to reduce Duke Energy's emissions or fossil fuel sales. In short, Carborough's complaint is not regulatory in nature. To the contrary, it is based upon well-established tort principles commonly adjudicated by this court. Carborough originally filed the suit all the way back in December of 2024.
The town is working with left-of-center activist group NC Warren, which is funding the ongoing litigation. Duke Energy filed paperwork in January to move the case from Orange County Superior Court to the North Carolina Business Court, where it sits right now. And according to their court filings earlier this week, they are once again asking this to at least some of these claims to be moved on. We've been tracking this really from the start over on our website, CarolinaJournal.com. You can read more details on this latest briefing from the attorneys for Duke Energy on Monday, plus everything going back to the middle and latter parts of last year when this lawsuit originally spawned.
Again, all of those details on our website, CarolinaJournal.com. It's 5:51. Good morning again. Welcome back to the Carolina Journal News Hour, News Talk 11:10, 99.3 WBT. Earlier this week, the North Carolina Republican.
U.S. House delegation sent a letter, a response letter, to Democrat Governor Josh Stein regarding his concerns about the U.S.'s Senate's reconciliation bill. That was the one big, beautiful bill. The letter addressed concerns about Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, also known as SNAP. The lawmakers wrote in their response.
We agree we must preserve and strengthen these programs for our shared constituents who depend on them. We also know that this bill will greatly benefit our constituents by prioritizing our most vulnerable and their access to resources, bringing in more take-home pay monthly, increasing resources for families with children, and preventing the largest tax hike in U.S. history. Following the passage of the Senate Reconciliation Bill by the United States House of Representatives, the governor released a statement criticizing the bill, particularly its provisions regarding Medicaid and SNAP benefits. Governor Stein wrote at the time, more than half a million people stand to lose their health care.
Tens of thousands working in clean energy and manufacturing could lose their jobs. Electricity bills could rise nearly 20 percent. And 1.4 million people, including some 600,000 children, could find themselves without the help that they need to afford food. This bill is a disgrace, and I am disappointed in those who did not stand up for the people they serve. choosing instead to ignore warnings from local leaders and groups across the state who have sounded the alarm about the dangers in this bill.
North Carolina Republican House members resisted Governor Stein's claims and alleged that the numbers he cited were inflated and outdated, as well as not being based on analysis from the Congressional Budget Office's report, as well as the actual impact of the bill or the legislation that was actually signed into law. The lawmakers addressed some of those concerns, saying, This landmark legislation protects our most vulnerable and middle-class families. For years, able-bodied individual adults have had better and quicker access to Medicaid services, delaying care for our elderly, disabled, blind, children, and single and pregnant mothers. We have heard numerous stories of vulnerable patients waiting years for hospital-at-home services, medical equipment, special need waivers, and more. This bill restores integrity and sustainability to our health care program so those vulnerable patients can access care when they need it.
The governor describes SNAP as a vital food assistance program for over 1.4 million North Carolinians utilizing the currently fully funded federal program, with the governor noting, we cannot simply accept these harmful impacts. The General Assembly must step up to protect our bipartisan Medicaid expansion law and food assistance through SNAP. The state's GOP House delegation also pushed back on this point, noting HR One also ensures SNAP works the way Congress intended it to. By reinforcing work, restoring program integrity, and insulating long overdue accountability incentives for state to control costs, enhance efficiencies, and improve outcomes, wrote the lawmakers. As you know, unlike the Medicaid program, the federal government covers 100% of the costs of SNAP benefits, and the state pays 0%.
Since 2019, SNAP rolls have increased by 17% from $36 million to $42 million, and the overall cost of the program has grown by 83%, ballooning from $60 billion to more than $110 billion annually. Moreover, states who administer the SNAP program collectively make over $10 billion per year in errorist payments, both overpayments and underpayments to participants. According to the North Carolina Republican House delegation, the national average error rate has surged to 11%, which is nearly double what that number was back in 2019. North Carolina's error rate is 10%, exceeding its pre-COVID average of less than 6% at the time. With the federal debt approaching $38 trillion, they asserted that Congress can no longer look the other way as federal dollars are being diverted away from families struggling with food insecurity.
They encouraged Governor Stein to take advantage of the opportunity to help drive meaningful change. Not only for SNAP, but for the Medicaid program as well. That governor, again, signed by the North Carolina congressional delegation, the Republicans. That included Representatives Richard Hutchson, Greg Murphy, Virginia Fox, Addison McDowell, Congressman David Rauser, Mark Harris, Pat Harrigan, Chuck Edwards, Bradnot, and Tim Moore, who, of course, was the former Speaker of the North Carolina House, now up in Washington, D.C. We have got a copy this morning of the entire letter, which runs about a page and a half, sent to Governor Josh Stein back on July the 15th.
You can read that full letter. You can also read Stein's original letter, which again called out some of the changes in the one big, beautiful bill that the governor says could have a major impact on the state of North Carolina and North Carolina families. We've got the original letter and that response this morning over on our website, CarolinaJournal.com.
Well that's going to do it for a Thursday edition of the Carolina Journal News Hour. WBT News is next, followed by Good Morning BT. We're back with you tomorrow morning, 5 to 6, right here on News Talk 1110 and 99.3 WBT.
