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.
Well, happy October the 1st. And as we come on the air live this Wednesday morning, we are officially in the midst of a government shutdown. The government has officially shut down after lawmakers throughout the day on Tuesday adjourned and were not able to come to an agreement on government funding. Ahead of the Senate adjournment yesterday afternoon, the Senate's final vote, 55 to 45, voted in favor of advancing a short-term continuing resolution, also called a CR.
However, the package fell five votes short of the 60-vote filibuster threshold as Republicans and Democrats across the majority of the party cannot get together in Congress to come with a spending package. Senator Catherine Cortez-Masto, the Democrat out of Nevada, as well as Senator Angus King, an independent out of Maine, who caucused with the Democrats, did join Republicans in voting for that legislation. They were two of the 55 votes in favor. Senator Lisa Murkowski, the Republican out of Alaska, who voted Against the GOP funding bill when it came before the Senate last or earlier in the week, flipped her vote in favor of the measure as well.
So, with that, you've got a couple of Democrats that have come across the aisle. All Republicans outside of Senator Rand Paul out of Kentucky voted in favor of that legislation. After the Senate failed to secure that 60-vote threshold for the White House-backed continuing resolution, White House Office and Management Budget Director Russ Voigt sent out a note to all federal agencies saying in part, it is unclear how long Democrats will maintain their untenable posture, making the duration of the shutdown difficult to predict. Regardless, employees should report to work for their next regularly scheduled tour of duty to undertake orderly shutdown activities. We will issue another memorandum indicating that government functions should resume once the President has signed a bill providing for funding appropriations.
Agencies should continue to closely monitor developments and OMB, that's the Office of Management and Budget, will provide further guidance as appropriate. We greatly appreciate your cooperation and the work you and your agencies do on behalf of the American people. Signed Russ Voigt of OMB.
So we've got these as many federal workers show up to their job on this Wednesday. They will begin the process of setting forth some of the plans for, as the OMB director noted, those government shutdown activities that are taking place right now. Republicans sought a short-term extension of the current spending levels to allow lawmakers time to finalize appropriations for the calendar year 2026. And while Democrats are refusing to back any continuing resolution, that does not include changes to health care-related funding passed by Congress in the most recent budget, as both parties appear to believe public opinion is on their side. Democrats insisted on the need to reverse as much as $1 trillion in health care-related spending provisions that came out of the WONA Big Beautiful Bill Act that passed in July earlier this year and make COVID-era Affordable Care Act enhancement premium tax credits permanent.
Democrats say that that plan is necessary to prevent a loss of health coverage by tens of millions of people and avoid a sharp increase in health insurance premiums. While Republicans have said that the Democrats' proposal would add somewhere in the ballpark of $1.5 trillion in spending and is a quote unserious starting point for discussions. On Monday, the President of the United States, Vice President J.D. Vance, and the OMB director did meet with Hakeem Jeffries and Chuck Schumer, the leaders of the Democrat Party in both the House and the Senate, to try and come to a negotiation.
However, they were unable to do so.
So again, as we join you on this Wednesday morning, the federal government is officially shut down. That happened at 12.01. Just to let you know, these are the services that are set to remain open during this government shutdown. The Postal Service will continue to run without an issue. Medicare, Social Security payments will continue.
Air traffic control, things like TSA, so no major delays caused by that at any of our major airports across the state. The court systems, both local, state, and federal, including the United States Supreme Court, will remain operational. Border security does continue to take place. Any disasters Raid, that of course, very relevant here across the state of North Carolina, that has been allocated will continue to flow, as well as federal law enforcement agencies, including the FBI, DEA, and prison staff, will remain operational. The United States Secret Service, which of course is tasked with protecting the president and other high-ranking government officials, and the United States Coast Guard will remain and will continue their activities.
And the military, all active duty personnel, will stay on the job. But nearly half of the Department of War's 7,741,000 civilian employees could face furloughs. Paychecks are going out today on the first of the month.
However, as we look at the calendar, two weeks from now, that's where we could be looking at the possibility of some individuals not getting paychecks on that second pay period of the month, which will be coming up here in two weeks.
So, as of right now, really, the only major changes. Things that are immediately shut down is national parks are likely to close during the shutdown. That happened similarly back in 2018, when the last time there was a federal government shutdown. Visitor centers and tours of federal buildings, including the United States Capitol, White House, and FBI building, will not be taking place. And it's not immediately clear, but there's a possibility that the Smithsonian Museum system could close as well.
That would probably be in the event of an extended shutdown. While it's not immediately clear this morning. How long this shutdown will remain? Lawmakers are expected to be back in Washington, D.C., and back on their respective House and Senate floors around 10 o'clock Eastern time this morning.
So we'll wait and see. It could be as quickly as a little bit later on today that Democrats in the Senate cross the aisle and give the Republicans the 60 votes they need to avoid that filibuster. We'll keep an eye on the details right here on the Carolina Journal News Hour. In some other news this morning, a new rapid response report from the North Carolina State Auditor's Office is raising serious concerns about the safety on the Charlotte Area Transportation System, which is known as CATS. This is coming more than a month after the murder of 23-year-old Irena Zaruska.
Zaruska was traveling on the Charlotte Lightrail, which is operated by Katz, back on the night of August the 22nd when an individual by the name of DeCarlos Brown Jr. fatally stabbed her. Brown has a lengthy criminal record and repeated a lengthy criminal record and reportedly did not purchase a ticket to ride the Charlotte Lightrail the night that he stabbed Zaruska in the neck. The report found that Katz right now has fewer armed officers, unfilled security positions, and contracts awarded under questionable procurement practices. This is all while riders face crime rates higher than the national average.
Security spending at Katz has soared from $5.9 million in 2022 to a whopping $18.4 million in 2025.
However, while funding has gone up dramatically, the number of armed security guards on duty has declined by at least 40% over that same three-year time period. This staffing level, which went from around sixty eight armed personnel in twenty eighteen to just thirty nine in twenty twenty five, doesn't give the CAT system the opportunity to place an armed guard on all forty eight cars within the Charlotte light rail, according to the OSA report. Although the city contract allows for as many as 219 armed and unarmed staff to provide security to cats, the report found that just 186 were actually assigned to the Charlotte Transportation System by Professional Security Services, or PSS. That is the group that has the contract to provide security. Those are rather what the numbers look like when Zaruska was stabbed.
State Auditor Dave Bollock said, quote, the safety of the citizens of Charlotte needs to be first and foremost when security decisions are being made. Our report shows that there has been a clear shift away from armed security in Katz's private security contracts.
Some of the other issues, these questionable contracts, in 2022, the city of Charlotte issued what is known as an RFP or a request for proposal. That was in an attempt to find a new security contractor to provide those services to cats. part of the RFP requested security services from businesses that were registered and certified with the city's Charlotte Business Inclusion Program, also known as CBI. According to the auditor's report, the CBI program, quote, seeks to enhance competition and participation of minority, women, and small business enterprises in the city's contracting. The City of Charlotte's website still to this morning highlights that part of CBI's goal is: quote, leveraging the commitment of city leadership.
CBI's goal is to be a national model in business inclusion space. To accomplish this, all city departments have increasingly examined their procurement and set specific minority women and small business enterprise participation goals on a contract-by-contract basis. State Auditor Dave Bollock said in response to that: quote, further limiting any part of a contract providing citizens with security to only firms that meet DEI checkboxes raised questions as to whether politics have taken priority over public safety. As we continue our investigation, we will be examining the decisions that went into designing, soliciting, and approving these security contracts. Immediate reaction to this rapid response report from the auditor's office on Tuesday have come out.
House Speaker Destin Hall called the situation, quote, unacceptable and noted that the North Carolina House will be taking actions based on these findings. We will have some additional coverage over on our website of this rapid response report. That's over at CarolinaJournal.com. Progressive knows we all create validation. Girl, you are not 37.
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However, Irena's law, House Bill 307, wasn't one of them. The governor told reporters after Tuesday's Council of State meeting, after being asked about this piece of legislation and whether he was going to sign it or not. He told reporters, quote, It's just an immensely complicated law, and it's an immensely complicated subject. How do we promote public safety? And I wanna make sure that the law is making us safer instead of making us less safe.
And so I'm doing a thorough review as I hope people would expect me to do, is what he told reporters. It was signed and presented to the governor after the North Carolina House of Representatives approved it back on September the 23rd by a vote of 81 to 31. House Bill 307 is a sweeping Criminal justice reform bill introduced and advocated after the murder of 23-year-old Ukrainian refugee Irina Zaruska just one month earlier on the Charlotte light rail. The House vote came one day after the measure swiftly cleared the senate committees and passed the Senate floor in a vote of twenty eight to eight, following multiple hours of debate. The legislation tightens pretrial conditions for the release of violent offenders, eliminates cashless bail across the state, and establishes a new protocol for ordering mental health evaluations in the criminal justice system.
It also sets a firmer timeline for appeal in death penalty cases. In addition, it allows for death by firing squad if the death penalty is used in any cases. When asked if he would approve such a provision, given his support of the death penalty as Attorney General, Stein said that he and his office are studying the bill in its entirety to understand what the full impacts of it would be. Carolina Journal had the ability to ask the governor if he had a comment on Monday's United States House Judiciary Committee field hearing, which took place. The title of that Victims of Violent Crime that came about after the murder of Zaruska, he apologized and said he didn't get a chance to view it after being tied up at a press conference in Southport addressing a shooting that left three dead and five injured at a waterfront bar and restaurant.
He did say, however, that everyone should be and feel safe regardless of where they are in the state, telling the Carolina Journal based on that question, quote, every North Carolinian deserves to be safe and deserves to feel safe. You know if they're going home after a long days of work like Arena was, or whether they're having dinner with their partner on a dock by the water. Whether they're going to church like those people in Michigan.
So, people deserve to be safe, and what they deserve from policymakers are real solutions that will actually advance their safety and not politicize these efforts.
So, those that are some of the commentary there from Democrat Governor Josh Stein on Irena's Law. He does have until the end of the week to decide whether he is going to sign this legislation, veto it, or allow it to become law. We will be keeping a very close eye on the activities of the governor and pass them along to you as soon as we get them right here on the Carolina Journal News Hour. A couple of the other things that were signed, Senate Bill 245, which expands remote driver's license services. This is pretty impactful across North Carolina.
It allows for remote renewals of driver's license, eliminating the driving log requirement and authorizes remote issuance for full provisional licenses. The governor said in his signature of Senate Bill 245, quote, this law will enable more people to renew their driver's licenses online. online helping them avoid lines at DMV offices. It will also strengthen the state's ability to protect against cyber threats. The governor, while not signing, did not veto House Bill 925.
That's the Regulatory Reform Act of 2025. That took effect without his signature. It allows authorized on-site wastewater evaluators to prepare a site denial letter for subsurface water stations, an APA exemption for rules to modernize wastewater permitting, and reduces the frequency of oversight for certain public water supplemental treatment facilities, among a variety of other things. There is typically a regulatory act that goes through the General Assembly every year. In this case, the governor did not sign or veto.
However, state law determines that if the governor fails to take action, the bill automatically becomes law again, unless he vetoes it. The governor said, quote, this bill includes a handful of common sense regulatory reforms, and I appreciate the legislature's engagement with state agencies on a number of provisions.
However, I Remain concerned about provisions that negatively impact water quality.
However, his concern obviously cannot be that high as he did not veto the legislation and did allow it to become law. House Bill 925 and Senate Bill 245 being passed by or being approved by the governor. One of the other pieces of legislation also includes a mini-budget as the General Assembly still has not proposed a full budget proposal for this 2025-2026 fiscal year. We'll get some details on that with the editor-in-chief of CarolinaJournal.com, Donna King, coming up here in just a few minutes. When you bundle renters and auto with Progressive, you can save while protecting your most valuable possessions, like your priceless vinyl collection.
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This is after lawmakers yesterday evening adjourned early with no agreement on government funding. Lawmakers will return around 10 o'clock this morning in the Senate to potentially pass some sort of short-term funding package. Ahead of the adjournment yesterday, the Senate voted 55 to 45 in favor of advancing a package that fell just five votes short of the 60-vote filibuster threshold. There were a couple of Democrats, including Senator Catherine Cortez-Masto, the Democrat of Nevada, and Senator Angus King, an independent out of Maine, who did join the Republicans in voting for the legislation. Senator Rand Paul, the Republican out of Kentucky, broke with his party and voted against the funding bill.
After the Senate failed to secure a supermajority for this White House-backed funding bill, the White House's Office of Management and Budget Director in Russ Voigt ordered federal officials to begin playing out their plans for an orderly shutdown, and that will be taking place as soon as today. Earlier in the week, Voigt directed agencies to prepare plans for layoffs in the event of a shutdown. And ahead of the shutdown, a resolution sponsored by Democrats was rejected forty seven to fifty three along party lines. Republicans were seeking a short-term extension of current spending levels to allow lawmakers time to finalize appropriations for 2026. This is while Democrats are refusing to back any continuing resolution or CR that does not include changes to health care-related funding passed by Congress in the most recent budget bill.
As both parties appear to believe public opinion is on their side, and as of that, as it stands right now, it's still early in the day. I'll note both parties seemingly digging their feet deeper into the sand on this issue and sticking with it.
So, that's the big split that you've got between the two political parties on this shutdown. As it stands right now, the vast majority of federal government services will remain operational at least for the next two weeks. That includes the United States Postal Service, Social Security payments will continue, air traffic control and TSA, the court system, whether that be a local, state, or federal court, border security will remain, disaster aid that has already been allocated will continue to roll out from the federal government. Law enforcement agencies, including things like the FBI, DEA, that's the Drug Enforcement Agency, ATF, and prison staff will remain operational as well as the Secret Service and Coast Guard. And for the military, all active duty personnel will stay on the job.
All of them are receiving a federal paycheck this morning on October the 1st, but nearly half of the Department of War's 741,000 civilian employees could face furloughs as that would be if the government shutdown does continue and lag on for multiple days. Really, the immediate impacts will include visitor centers and tours of federal government buildings, including things like the Capitol, White House, and FBI building, will not take place. National parks have closed during previous shutdowns. It's not immediately clear if they will be shutting down today or maybe later this week. And the Smithsonian Museum system could close in the event of.
An extended shutdown as well. Really, the timeline to keep an eye on this morning is October the 15th. That is when the next paychecks for federal government employees would be scheduled to go out. We will see what lawmakers have to say and do over the next couple of days and the next couple of weeks as we approach that October the 15th deadline. We'll keep an eye on the details right here on the Carolina Journal News Hour, where it's now 5:40, News Talk 11:10, 99.3, WBT.
While we sit here on the first day of October, we have been waiting since July for a full budget from the North Carolina General Assembly. The impasse has still continued between the North Carolina House and Senate stalling that full budget.
However, we have seen a couple of mini-budgets over the last couple of months, and we've got details on a new one just signed into law by Governor Josh Stein this week. To walk us through some of those details, the editor-in-chief of CarolinaJournal.com, Donna Kinga, joins us on the news hour. Donna, it's unfortunate lawmakers haven't been able to get a full budget figured out, but some main priorities, obviously, from the legislature and the governor are getting dealt with. Yes, they are.
So we saw that Governor Stein signed this, what we're calling a mini budget. It was passed by the North Carolina General Assembly while they were in town last week. It has some, you know, we can really identify what some of those priorities are that it Went through the legislature. It's been signed by the governor. They found, I guess, some common ground in some of these things.
Among the things that go into it is $65 million in one-time dollars for storm relief, but also some infrastructure projects, economic development projects. One of the ones we're watching in the Triangle is money for what they call the Centennial Authority. What it really is, is to spruce up and change and build out that sort of entertainment district around Carter Finley Stadium and the Lenovo Center in Raleigh. It's where the Hurricanes play, the NHL Hockey League team, and then, of course, where NC State plays football and basketball. $35 million probably doesn't even scratch the surface of what this project will ultimately cost, but it is $35 million to start getting that rolling to renovate that sports arena, that regional entertainment and sports arena.
So that money is in there. There's also a few little things in there that we're watching pretty closely. One of them is that the Office of the State Auditor is asking. For two more floors for really growing the staff that they have there, with additional duties that have been assigned by the state legislature, but also some housekeeping things for community college funds, and then some money for specialty high schools in North Carolina and schools like the School for the Deaf and things like that, tuition grants for the School of Mathematics.
Some of these projects that they've been watching that are important as they get through the budget process. But you're right, no big budget yet, and there's a lot of things in there that still haven't been taken care of. Touching on storm relief, that's one of the largest things in this mini-budget. There is bipartisan support that more money needs to be sent out west as we have now crossed that one-year mark since Hurricane Helene left so much devastation and destruction in its wake. And with that, Donna, there's also been a lot of finger pointing up at Washington, D.C., whether we're talking about FEMA or Congress about getting some more of that money that has already been allocated here to the state.
Seems like maybe the General Assembly is maybe trying to plug some of those holes, play as a stopgap measure while some of that more, some more of those federal funds roll in. Yes, so that $65 million is pretty specific. It's coming from the State Emergency Response and Disaster Relief Fund. They also have Tropical Storm Chantal. Remember, that kind of hit Alamance County in that area.
They have some damage there that they want to address.
Some of this money also goes to what they call an audit dashboard so that you and I and other North Carolinians can go in and see where storm relief money is flowing. That's one of the things we had a problem with when we look back at NCOR and some of the management bureaucracy issues that they had following Hurricanes Florence and Matthew. They also are making repairs to Warren Wilson College, UNC Asheville, some of those things that really, really took a hit during Hurricane Helene. As we look at this going forward, the lawmakers in Raleigh do have a couple of voting days left here before the end of the year, a couple of days coming up later this month, a couple next month. Donna, is there any possibility at this point that we see a full budget here before the calendar flips over to 2026?
Or are we just going to be coasting on mini budgets through the rest of this year and into next? You know, there was a time even two weeks ago that I thought maybe I'd been hearing that they were reaching some agreements, but with the passage of this mini budget, likely others to come, I think it's looking less and less likely we'll have a big budget before the end of the year. It's not the end of the world, though, certainly. What it really means is that our old budget continues to take effect under state law, so it doesn't make those big changes. We don't have shutdowns like you would, say, in the federal government, which we're watching really closely.
So these kind of things also identify the priorities for the state legislature and where they can find that agreement perhaps with the governor. Do you think this is a little bit of a political black eye for Republicans? They do, of course, have majorities in both the House and the Senate. Governor Stein, in his capacity and other prominent Democrats in the General Assembly, seem to be able to use this inability for the Republicans to get together on a budget as kind of a punching bag, Donna. It seems like there's some truth to it.
I mean, it could be, certainly. I mean, we've got a midterm election coming up in 2026. Democrats will likely push on it because we hear them say that every time these mini budgets come to the floor, we hear Democrats saying, well, why don't we have a big budget? And what I think we're really seeing is this reflection, the breakdown between the two chambers on whether they can agree to keep Taxes from keep taxes going down. That we have a system in place where there are triggers.
That as long as economic development and revenues are coming in, that our state taxes will continue to go down automatically. And I think there's some disagreement between the Senate, who wants to keep those triggers moving, keep those taxes going down, and the House, who is worried and wants to slow the triggers and not decrease taxes. I think that, you know. Historically, what we've seen over the last decade is that that march toward lower taxes is actually working really well in North Carolina. It's bringing a lot of companies here without having to give them incentives, although the incentives are still making the rounds, it seems, to some of those lucky corporations who are chosen by bureaucrats to get extra money and extra funding and extra support.
The Senate and the folks who want to see taxes keep going down say, look, taxes need to go down for everybody, not just those who get incentives. Absolutely. We've got continued coverage this morning on this mini budget passed by the General Assembly, now signed by Democrat Governor Josh Stein. You can read those details by visiting our website, CarolinaJournal.com. When you bundle renters and auto with Progressive, you can save while protecting your most valuable possessions, like your priceless vinyl collection.
Sure, you sleep on a futon because the money most people would have spent on a bed you spent on more records. But forget the fact that you can stream just about any song ever created for a few dollars a month. No, no, you need to listen to music in the most difficult way possible.
So go ahead and get Progressive so you can save while protecting the things that matter to you. Progressive Capital Insurance Company and affiliates and other insurers not available in all stage of situations. When you bundle renters and auto with Progressive, you can save while protecting your most valuable possessions, like your priceless vinyl collection. Sure, you sleep on a futon because the money most people would have spent on a bed you spent on more records. But forget the fact that you can stream just about any song ever created for a few dollars a month.
No, no. You need to listen to music in the most difficult way possible.
So, go ahead and get progressive so you can save while protecting the things that matter to you. Progressive Capital Turance company affiliates and other insurers not available in all stage of situations. When you bundle renters and auto with Progressive, you can save while protecting your most valuable possessions, like your priceless vinyl collection. Sure, you sleep on a futon because the money most people would have spent on a bed you spent on more records. But forget the fact that you can stream just about any song ever created for a few dollars a month.
No, no. You need to listen to music in the most difficult way possible.
So go ahead and get progressive so you can save while protecting the things that matter to you. Progressive Capital Insurance Company and affiliates and other insurers are not available in all stage of situations. It's time for WBT's Talktoberfest 2025. You can join us every Saturday and Sunday in the month of Toktober at 6 p.m. on the WBT Facebook live feed for a fun, interactive conversation with all of the great hosts here on News Talk 1110 and 99.3 WBT.
I will be on this Sunday with Brent Winterbull. You can find out additional details by visiting our website this morning, wbt.com. It's now 5.53. Welcome back to the Carolina Journal News Hour, News Talk 1110, 99.3 WBT. As we look at a new rapid response report from the North Carolina State Auditor's Office, it is raising serious concerns about safety on the Charlotte Area Transit System, also known as CATS, this all coming more than a month after the brutal, horrific murder of 23-year-old Irena Zaruska.
The 23-year-old was traveling. On the Charlotte light rail, which is operated by Cats, on the evening of August the 22nd, when an individual by the name of DeCarlos Brown Jr. is seen in video surveillance, fatally stabbing her in the neck. Brown has a lengthy criminal record and reportedly did not purchase a ticket to ride the light rail the night that he stabbed Zaruska and was riding the light rail completely for free. The report found that Katz has fewer armed officers than previous years, numerous unfilled security positions and contracts awarded under very questionable procurement practices, all while riders face crime rates higher than the national average.
Looking at the security spending, this is remarkable. CATS and the amount that they spend on security has ballooned. It was just $5.9 million in 2022. That number has jumped all the way up to $18.4 million in 2025. Yet the number of armed security guards on duty has declined by at least 40% over that same time period.
This staffing level, which was around 68 in 2018, is now just 39 in 2025, which does not allow CATS to place an armed officer or guard on all 48 cars of the light rail, according to the OSA report. Although the city contract allows for as many as 219 armed and unarmed security staff, the report found that there was just one hundred and eighty-six actually assigned to Katz by the company that they contracted with, Professional Security Services, or PSS, at the time that Zaruska was murdered. State Auditor Dave Bollick said, quote, The safety of citizens of Charlotte need to be first and foremost when security decisions are being made. Our report shows there has been a clear shift away from armed security in the CATS private security contracts. One of the other major issues brought forth in this report was an RFP or a request for proposal from 2022, requested security services from businesses that were registered or certified with the city's Charlotte Business Inclusion Program, or CBI.
According to the auditor's report, the CBI program, quote, seeks to enhance a competition and participation of minority women and small business enterprises in city contracting. With that, the state auditor Dave Bollick blasted the decision from the city of Charlotte and Katz, saying, quote, further limiting any part of a contract providing citizens with security to only firms that meet DEI checkboxes raised questions as to whether politics have taken a priority over public safety. As we continue our investigation, we will be examining the decisions that went into designing, soliciting, and approving these security contracts. Now, reaction has started to trickle in from the report released by the auditor's office on Tuesday afternoon. Those responses also include House Speaker Destin Hall, who called the situation unacceptable and noted that the North Carolina House will be taking action based on the findings in this rapid response report.
Lawmakers do have some voting days coming up later this month. They will be back the week of October the 20th, potentially for a couple of days to deal with a variety of issues, potentially some veto overrides, and at least reading in between the lines in the commentary there from House Speaker Destin Hall, potentially deal with some additional details surrounding Katz and the Charlotte City Council based on this report. We've got additional coverage and details on this rapid response report over on our website, CarolinaJournal.com. That's going to do it for a Wednesday edition of WBT News is next, followed by Good Morning BT. We're back with you tomorrow morning, 5-6, right here by News Talk 11.10 and 99.3, WBT News.
