It's 5.05 and welcome into a Tuesday edition of the Carolina Journal News Hour, News Talk 1110-993 WBT. I'm Nick Craig. Good morning to you.
Well, it was a busy evening yesterday in the North Carolina General Assembly as the North Carolina Senate gaveled back in around 7 p.m. to take up a variety of measures. They did, in fact, give unanimous approval to a $700 million recovery package for Western North Carolina. This is going on as debates over the North Carolina state budget continues as the state, of course, continues to recover from Hurricane Helene. According to a press release from Senate Leader Phil Berger, this brings the total amount of state funding dedicated to Hurricane Helene relief and recovery to more than $2.1 billion.
According to a joint commentary from Senator Ralph Heiss, Senator Warren Daniel, Senator Kevin Corbyn, and Senator Tim Moffitt, they said, quote, since Hurricane Helene hit, the General Assembly has been fully committed to supporting the recovery needs of western North Carolina. This package is the latest installment of our commitment to helping our neighbors. There is still plenty of work to be done in the West, and we look forward to working with our colleagues to ensure that our mountain communities can rebuild. House Bill 1012 includes $700 million for the Hurricane Helene Reserve. Of that funding, $480 million will be appropriated for immediate needs, including the following.
$5 million to visit North Carolina for tourism promotion, $15 million to the North Carolina Forest Service for wildfire assessment and preparedness. That is very significant. We have been covering some details over the last couple of months with all of the debris, all of the vegetation, all of the downed trees and everything else that is still laying on the ground in western North Carolina. The state currently is the number one risk for wildfires across the United States. Earlier this year, we did see many large fires break out in the western half of the state.
We have heard commentary from Steve Troxler, the Agriculture Commissioner, about the Forest Service and additional monies and resources that they need to get some of that debris cleaned up. To make sure that they are prepared. North Carolina has two main wildfire seasons: spring into early summer and late summer into fall. We are just past that. First part of the season, we'll be heading into the other part, the latter part, coming up here over the next couple of months.
So $15 million there to the North Carolina Forest Service. That is obviously well needed. Continuing with this $480 million, $10 million to repair, modify, or remove dams damaged by Hurricane Helene, $20 million to the Parks and Recreation Trust Fund for state and local parks in the affected areas, $8 million to the Department of Public Instruction for the repair of public school buildings, significant funding needed there, $2.47 million for community colleges that have experienced enrollment declines in the 24-25 years due to Hurricane Helene. This is a major one. $75 million to repair and replace private roads and bridges.
Of this, $25 million will be used to reimburse up to 50% of the costs for projects already completed. There are a lot of private roads, infrastructure, and bridges in North Carolina that are not under the jurisdiction of the North Carolina Department. Of transportation or any local municipality. They are, in fact, privately owned and repaired. And some of the early estimates were hundreds of millions of dollars worth of repairs that, as you can imagine, folks trying to rebuild out West do not have.
So the state is looking to kick in at least a little bit on that. $70 million to continue covering the FEMA state match. $25 million for unmet local government needs, as well as an additional $15 million for a local government capital program grant. That's for counties and other local governments to spend on capital improvements, maybe from damage from the storms out there. $20 million to provide flood mitigation grants for flood mitigation projects and engineering assistance for some of those programs.
$15 million to the Office of the State Fire Marshal to provide additional grants to volunteer fire departments and rescue squads. As well as an additional $100 million to the cash flow loan program for local governments. That program currently being administered by the state treasurer. The bill also includes more than $560 million in repurposed DOT funds for infrastructure needs out in the western half of the state as well.
So, everything considered, you are looking at the state at this point allocating more than $2 billion from the General Assembly from a variety of different pots of money to make up for some of the Obviously, dire financial situations that continue to take place in the western half of North Carolina. This was, in fact, introduced in the North Carolina Senate again last night around 7 p.m. All of this going on while state lawmakers in both the House and the Senate continue to struggle to come to some sort of agreement on exactly how they are going to move forward with this current budget proposal. We'll continue to track the details on House Bill 1012. It is currently sent last night by special messenger to the North Carolina House.
We will wait and see what they do with that today. Speaking of the North Carolina House, they are set to gavel back in at 9:30 this morning, and they will be taking up, at least as the schedule reads right now, one veto override. This being for the Criminal Illegal Alien Enforcement Act. That's House Bill 318. We covered the Those details yesterday, right here on the Carolina Journal News Hour, as written and as vetoed by Governor Josh Stein on Friday, House Bill 318 compels law enforcement agencies to honor ICE detainer requests from U.S.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement. This is when an undocumented individual is arrested and an ICE detainer is issued. The legislation requires that local officials must hold a person for up to 48 hours to allow for federal authorities to come in and serve that ICE detainer. The legislation prohibits local governments from adopting sanctuary policies as well as introduces penalties, including potential loss of state funding for noncompliance. Additionally, it requires jail administrators to notify ICE when they reasonably believe someone is in custody and unlawfully present in the United States, even if a detainer has not yet been issued.
One of the reasons that this is likely on the calendar for this morning as a potential veto override is that one Democrat voted for the original version of House Bill 318. That is Representative Clara Cunningham, the Democrat out of Mecklenburg County. She did break with her colleagues in the North Carolina House and voted yes. And as the current power structure is made up in the North Carolina House, they are one vote shy of that three-fifths majority that they need to override a veto. Stein says, Said while he vetoed the bill on Friday because he believes it's unconstitutional.
The governor claims he does, however, support the bill's efforts to require sheriffs to contact federal immigration authorities about people in their custody charged with serious crimes like sexual battery, armed robbery, arson, assault on public officials, and court personnel, as well as other dangerous crimes. The governor said in his veto override: people who commit these crimes should be held accountable whether or not they are here without legal authorization. And those charged with serious offenses ought to receive increased scrutiny from federal immigration officials.
However, the governor noted, I cannot sign this bill, however, because it would require sheriffs to unconstitutionally detain people for up to 48 hours after they would otherwise be released. The Fourth Circuit is clear that local law enforcement officers can. Not keep people in custody solely based on suspected immigration violations. But let me be clear: anyone who commits a serious crime in North Carolina must be prosecuted and held accountable regardless of their immigration status. On Friday, we did hear from House Speaker Destin Hall.
He said, Governor Stein has made one thing clear: he stands with criminal illegal aliens and the most radical elements of his party's base over the safety and security of North Carolinians. Make no mistake, the North Carolina House will override the governor's veto at the earliest opportunity. That opportunity is, again, coming forward this morning for members of the North Carolina House. They are set to gavel in at 9:30 this morning. The first item on the calendar is a reconsideration of House Bill 318.
It will have to reach that supermajority threshold for a veto override, which is three-fifths in both the House and Senate. The House, again, will take a crack at it this morning. The Republicans in the Senate already have that three-fifths majority. The Senate Republicans currently hold a supermajority.
So we are expecting another busy day in the North Carolina General Assembly. Coming up this morning and into this afternoon. We'll keep an eye on the details over on our website, CarolinaJournal.com, and of course, right here on the Carolina Journal News Hour. Good morning. It's 521.
Welcome back to the Carolina Journal News Hour, News Talk 1110-993 WBT. I'm Nick Craig. Good morning to you.
There has been a very contentious piece of legislation working its way through the North Carolina General Assembly over the last week or so, covering it right here on the Carolina Journal News Hour. Legislators in Raleigh want to ban inland shrimping and shrimp trawling throughout the state of North Carolina, as lawmakers claim it puts us pretty much in line with some of our neighbors, including Virginia and South Carolina. And as that late session of the North Carolina Senate continued yesterday evening around 7 p.m., North Carolina senators approved a plan to pay commercial fishermen that are set to be impacted by this proposed inland shrimping trawling ban. The approval comes ahead of a planned Tuesday protest by shrimpers at the state legislature. The bill would provide annual transition payments.
Payments to eligible holders of a commercial fishing license with verified, verifiable lands of shrimp from 2023 to present day. And it did pass in a 45-2 vote last night in the Senate. The payments would last until October the 1st, 2028, and with payments depending on the value of eligible shrimp tickets submitted by a fisherman plus $180. The plan would spend up to $10 million over the next five years if the government handouts to affected shrimpers would go forward, senators clarified on Monday. But it is unlikely to quell the outrage by many in the industry who say it will put them out of business.
Senator Brent Jackson, the Republican out of Samson County, said he understands people's reluctance to take handouts, but that lawmakers think this is the least they can do to give the fact that their plan cracks down on the industry. The inland shrimping ban is House Bill 442, and the payment proposal is House Bill 441, with the Senator Jackson saying, this program is designed to ease the transition of House Bill 442. We know that it will not solve all of the problems and the discomfort that has been caused and will be caused should 442 become law, but it is a step in the right direction. Most senators are in favor of the band as well as the handouts, but the opponents, all of whom represent coastal communities, are passionate about their opposition. On Monday night, Senator Bobby Hoenig, the Republican out of Dare County, proposed multiple amendments to the bill, but saw his fellow Republicans shoot down all four of his amendments.
Hoenig voted against the bill last week and also opposed. These cash payments to shrimpers program yesterday before storming out of the Senate after the final vote was finished. The proposed ban also passed the Senate nearly unanimously last week, but quickly led to death threats against senators who supported it. We are also learning details this morning about a man in Brunswick County who was charged with communicating threats against Senator Bill Rabin of Brunswick County. According to Chad Flowers, a public information officer for the State Bureau of Investigation, an individual by the name of Anthony Street from Brunswick County, made posts on social media indicating that he was upset over the legislation that would ban shrimp trawling within half a mile of the shore.
According to the arrest warrant, Anthony Street quote unlawfully, willfully, and felonously did knowingly make threats to kill Senator Bill Rabin of the North Carolina State Senate. The warrant goes on to say that in the Facebook post, Street stated that he or they had been warned and that to serve, to lose your life, that all senators in North Carolina need to understand what happened to Melissa Hartman and Jeff Hoffman in Minnesota, noting that the same thing could happen here in North Carolina. With those posts being thrown up on social media, Street was charged Friday with communicating threats to a legislative agent, which is a felony in North Carolina.
However, his bond was set at only $2,000. According to the SBI, he bonded out, but when he made his first court appearance yesterday, a judge revoked that bond and set it at $25,000. As of this morning, Street continues to sit in a Brunswick County jail.
So back to the legislation in discussion this morning. Legislative critics said that the trawling ban, which passed the Senate last week, would in fact destroy the shrimping industry and business in the state and take down other related businesses such as fish processing plants. As written, the legislation would only allow trawling more than half a mile off the coast. Most boats that trawl in the sounds areas of the state, up like for example, in the Pamlico Sound are too small for offshore fishing, critics of the band contended. Ryan Speckman, the co-founder of Local Seafoods based in Raleigh, said this is completely unnecessary.
We have a safe, healthy, sustainable food right off of our coast. There's no good logical reason why we have to close it down.
However, supporters argue that North Carolina is the only state that allows inland shrimp trawling and that the ban would allow other fish species to thrive in areas like the Pamlico Sound, which would be a boon to recreational fishermen from across the state. North Carolina has a long history of political fighting between commercial fishermen and recreational fishermen, whose regulatory goals often conflict. Senate Leader Phil Berger told reporters yesterday: quote, it's a policy issue that probably has been delayed for a long period of time. Should have and it should have been done a while back, and it wasn't. North Carolina is the only state on the East Coast or the Gulf Coast that allows shrimping in inland waters.
The bill banning the inland shrimping restriction did pass the Senate in a 41 to 4 vote, with only four coastal lawmakers voting against the legislation.
However, there is set to be a major protest taking place in Raleigh today as individuals. Who are adamantly against this ban by the General Assembly are set to make it their way to the state capitol. The groups include North Carolina Catch, the North Carolina Watermen United, and other groups advocating for coastal communities. Members of that group say: The future of our coastal communities and North Carolina's access to safe, sustainable shrimp is in their hands. We must show up to help educate lawmakers why House Bill 442 is a flawed bill with dire consequences for the commercial fishing industry, consumers, restaurants, and the entire state's economy.
Representatives Edward Goodwin, Carson Smith, both Republicans who represent coastal communities, as well as Representative Pricey Harrison out of Guilford, are scheduled to hold a press conference to discuss the ban. Taking a look at the legislative calendar this morning, that press conference is. Set to take place at 10 o'clock ahead of some of those rallies and protests kicking off in Raleigh. A lot of discussion, a lot of chatter on social media. Unfortunately, some threats being made against lawmakers as Senate Bill or House Bill 442 continues its way through the North Carolina General Assembly.
We will likely have some significant updates on that legislation throughout the day today. Keep tuned to our website, CarolinaJournal.com. We'll bring you the latest as well coming up here on the Carolina Journal News Hour. It's 5:36. Welcome back to the Carolina Journal News Hour.
News Talk 1110-993WBT, recapping what has been a busy two days in the North Carolina General Assembly. Yesterday, the North Carolina Senate, in a late-night session around 7 p.m., gave unanimous approval to a $700 million recovery package for Western North Carolina as it continues to recover from. Hurricane Helene, which affected the state in September of last year. According to a press release from Senator Phil Berger, this brings the total amount of state funding dedicated to hurricane relief and recovery needs to more than $2.1 billion from the North Carolina General Assembly. Lawmakers in a joint press release said, quote, since Hurricane Helene hit, the General Assembly has been fully committed to supporting the recovery needs of Western North Carolina.
This package is the latest installment in our commitment to helping our neighbors. There is still plenty of work to be done in the West, and we look forward to working with our colleagues to ensure that our mountain communities can rebuild. House Bill 10-12 includes $700 million for the Hurricane Helene Reserve. Of that funding, $480 million are appropriated for immediate needs. They include things like helping private roads and bridges be rebuilt for citizens out west, money to the North Carolina Forest Service to continue to deal with an elevated wildfire season threat due to all of the debris that continues to be on the ground, additional monies to local governments for capital improvement projects and flood mitigation out in the western half of the state.
House Bill 1012 was sent via special messenger to the North Carolina House last night for consideration. And as we expecting, are expecting a busy day in the House today. That legislation is not yet on the calendar for the House to take up. That doesn't mean that it can't be added throughout the day today. We'll see what lawmakers in the North Carolina House have to say.
Of course, once it passes the House, if it is to do so, you would see it head over to Governor Josh Stein's desk. We'll continue to track those details right here on the Carolina Journal and News Hour. We have been tracking some details out of a technology company here in North Carolina that has been dealing with some pretty significant financial issues over the last couple of months. That company is named Wolfspeed. Teresa Opeka with CarolinaJournal.com joins us with details on the Carolina Journal News Hour.
Teresa, Wolfspeed has had over six months now of some big-time financial struggles, discussion of Chapter 11 bankruptcy. What's the latest that you've got this morning? Sure, good morning, Nick. Thanks for having me.
So, we've been reporting on this, as you mentioned, for quite a while now.
So, the latest is Wolf Speed, which is based in Durham and they are a semiconductor supplier. They announced on Sunday they plan to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy under a restructuring agreement that they say it's going to strengthen the company's financial profile, but it's also going to give their creditors control of the company. And we reported last week that the bankruptcy was imminent for the company, and it was formerly known as Cree, C-R-E-E, the company's name.
So, but actually, I'm going to a little more specifics about Wolf Speed. They manufacture the semiconductors mainly for silicon carbide and other materials. That goes into a lot of EVs, electric vehicles.
So, there's been also a downshift in electric vehicles, popularity of them. And I know under President Trump, he's Mainly pushing gas-powered vehicles. But they've been having a tough time last year. It all started last year before Trump came into office, and they're About $6.5 billion in debt at the moment.
So this restructuring agreement is going to give them some breathing room and, as they say, make them financially stable. And uh One of the um One of their backers was Apollo Global, which we can get into a little bit, and I can tell you a little more about that as well in a little bit. You know, one of the things that's really unfortunate about this is, Teresa, businesses, they have financial issues all the time. In the case of Wolfspeed, they were part of what is known as a JDIG grant here across the state of North Carolina, and they were set to bring originally at one point more than 1,800 jobs to just one relatively small area at one plant.
So a lot of folks may be preparing to work for this company. A lot of investment made up by the state in terms of infrastructure. They've been laying off people over the last six or eight months.
So the state of North Carolina is already on the hook for this. And many people, unfortunately, over in the Durham area, have already lost their jobs. That's right. That's right. So, yeah, layoffs started last year.
They had last year, about this time, they had about 5,000 workers worldwide. Most were in the research triangle area, you know, Raleigh-Durham area. But the company started showing troubling signs last November. They announced they were reducing their workforce by about 20%. Most of them came from the Durham location.
And they also started to other places also across the country. They were giving layoffs and across the world. More layoffs came about a month or so ago when they announced that they were laying off about 73 workers from its new materials factory in Siler City in Chatham County. Those layoffs are going to take place on August 9th. Of course, when we say new, they were the recipient of a CHIPS Act grant from the Biden and Harris administration.
They haven't gotten the money because. Of course, they needed to, you know, keep up their end of the bargain. But that was a new factory. Like you said, they all pinned their hopes on that.
So, yeah, they've had layoffs, they've had all this debt, trying to get back on their feet. It's not been a good year for Wolfspeed. And also, they let their CEO go last year, their former CEO.
So they're trying to turn things around. But their stock price tumbled yesterday, 58 cents a share. It was eighty seven cents a share last week. That's still nothing. But I mean, it's continuing to drop.
So it's just not good news. And it's a definite not good news on when they try to say they're going to be restructuring on chapter eleven. You mentioned this Apollo global management group. They've been in the discussion a lot. They're the largest creditor of Wolfspeed, and they've been essentially driving a lot of these restructuring talks as it relates to the Chapter 11.
Have we heard anything from them over the last couple of weeks about how this is going to work for them going forward? They've invested billions of dollars into this company. Yeah, they um they They secured a financing deal with the company back in October, and that deal would be long enough to. You say slash billions of debt for the company for Wolf Speed.
So looking at that, Just going through that, that Apollo Global hold $1.5 billion in senior secured loans. They're going to be paid back first under the Chapter 11 agreement. That's according to reports. And that group, they have the right to approve any new secure financing. They were also responsible for rejecting all restructuring offers a couple months ago.
And, you know, they so they're number one on that list.
So they're getting paid back first because they have so much money that's tied up with Wolfspeed. Yeah, they're essentially and have been essentially driving that ship over the last couple of months because they own so much of that debt from Wolf Speed.
Now, Teresa, Chapter 11 bankruptcy is not unfortunately that common, or you know, it's something that happens to businesses pretty regularly, and companies many times do emerge from Chapter 11 bankruptcy and go forward. But as you're noting, especially in this industry, heavily focused on electric vehicles, we've seen a huge downtick in those sales over the last couple of years, really. You can only imagine, even if they are able to come out of this Chapter 11 in a better financial position, they're still going into a marketplace where they're probably set to face some significant headwinds just based on the economic conditions of the EV marketplace right now. That's right. That's right.
I mean, it's really changed. The EV market has changed on a dime, so to speak, the last couple of years. And we had, you know, former Governor Cooper pushing EV vehicles, state vehicles. We had all of that stuff. That was a big, big, big push.
You know, we also have that agreement for VinFast, a Vietnamese electric vehicle company that was supposed to be based in having one of their plants based in Chatham County. All that stuff riding, of course, on a J Dig grant as well. But even that company, right now, if you want to pivot to VinFast for a moment, they You don't hear anything about that. They're pivoting over to, I believe it's India, the Indian market, and also their own in Vietnam. They're opening different plants up there, but they're not really focusing on the U.S.
anymore. And they are also getting in more and more debt as more reports come out every month, keeping an eye on that as well.
So it just seems like there's a bit of a downturn and a downturn with the economy.
So yeah, if Wolfsby gets its all its finances maybe squared away or as much as possible, get all that debt restructured, it's going to have a hard time coming back from all that. This is the industry they're going to rely on when they do come back from that restructuring. Teresa, there's a lot of backstory here. Again, you've been tracking this now for over a year at this point. Where can folks go and not only read this latest these latest details about them officially filing for Chapter eleven bankruptcy, but some of the history over the last year?
Sure, they can head on over to CarolinaJournal.com. Teresa Opeka joins us this morning on the Carolina Journal News Hour. Good morning. It is Ryan Seacrest here. There was a recent social media trend, which consisted of flying on a plane with no music, no movies, no entertainment.
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Again, it's 552. Welcome back to the Carolina Journal News Hour, News Talk 1110-993WBT. Turning our attention back to Raleigh this morning, a three-judge panel is set to hear arguments today in a lawsuit filed by Democrat Governor Josh Stein challenging Republican-backed changes to how key state appointments are made in North Carolina. What is being discussed is whether the General Assembly has overstepped its constitutional authority by curbing the governor's power over executive agencies and judicial appointments. The most immediate dispute centers on the state's utilities commission.
A new law set to take effect next week, a week from today, July the 1st, would strip the governor of his appointment and give it to the state treasurer in Brad Briner, who has already named former Environmental Secretary Donald Vandervaart to the post. Stein has said that the Stein's attorneys have said, quote, these transparent power grabs expand the legislation, expand the legislature power beyond what our constitutional framers envisioned. They argue that changes violate the Separation of Powers Act by giving lawmakers effective control over executive agencies and restricting the governor's appointment powers. Without a constitutional amendment.
However, on the flip side, legislative leaders and state treasurer Brad Breiner strongly disagree. In their court filings, they defend the law as a legitimate exercise of the legislature's broad authority to organize state government and assign duties to duly elected members of the Council of State. Legislative attorneys wrote: Contrary to the governor's claims, Senate Bills 166 and 382 are a valid expression of the General Assembly's power. They argue that the state constitution does not limit the legislature from restructuring agencies or assessing appointment powers unless expressly prohibited. The lawsuit is also being shaped by the recent Stein v.
Berger ruling, in which the state Supreme Court upheld a law allowing the state auditor, who is now Dave Bollick, to appoint members to the North Carolina. Carolina Board of Elections. Breiner's lawyers say that the precedent applies here too, noting: quote: If the General Assembly can give the auditor authority over the State Board of Elections, it can certainly give one utility commission seat to the state treasurer.
However, Stein's attorneys disagree with that, saying that the Utilities Commission restructuring goes too far. Before the change, the governor appointed three of the five commissioners and selected the chair. Under Senate Bill 382, one of those appointments shifts to the treasurer and the governor loses his authority to name the chair. Stein's lawyers argue these changes will cause immediate and irreputable harm. Citing various violations of Article III and other sections of the state constitution.
His attorneys contend the move undermines the governor's ability to carry out executive responsibility and enforce law. All parties are asking the court for a summary judgment. That would mean that they are seeking for the judges to rule on this without a trial. Superior court, this is going to be heard by the superior court. They will be presiding over the case.
Again, oral arguments will take place throughout the day today. It is not immediately clear how quickly the justices of the North Carolina Superior Court will rule on this decision. But again, looking at the calendar this morning and the very tight timeline, this Senate Bill 382 is set to go into effect one week from today.
So you can imagine that both parties are going to want a pretty fast ruling from the Superior Court. As soon as we get any additional details on this, we'll bring it to you on our website, CarolinaJournal.com, and of course, right here on the Carolina Journal NewsHour. We are also expecting a busy day in the North Carolina General Assembly. The House calendar published last night indicates that the North Carolina House is set to deal with a veto override of House Bill 318. That legislation was vetoed by the governor on, was vetoed by the governor on Friday.
This legislation compels law enforcement agencies across the state to honor ICE detainer requests from immigration and customs enforcement when an undocumented individual is arrested and a detainer is issued. We'll watch all of that throughout the day today and keep you up to date right here on the Carolina Journal News Hour. That's going to do it for a Tuesday edition. WBT News is next, followed by Good Morning BT. We're back with you tomorrow morning, 5-6, right here on News Talk 1110 and 99.3, WBT News.
