It's 5.05 and welcome in to a Friday edition of the Carolina Journal News Hour, News Talk 1110-993 WBT. I'm Nick Craig. Good morning to you.
Well, it has been a busy week in the North Carolina General Assembly as they wrapped up their scheduled October session. Tensions are still running high between both the North Carolina House and Senate over a Medicaid rebase stallmate and its increasing sticker shock.
So here's what went on this week. The North Carolina House passed several measures on Wednesday that the Senate refused to take into their chamber, accusing the other House of playing politics in sending ineligible bills across the legislative body. On Wednesday, the House approved several health care-related bills, including two measures providing additional funding for the state's Medicaid rebase, as well as another prohibiting Medicaid funding for Planned Parenthood. Neither were measures that the North Carolina Senate called for the House to greenlight in a press statement issued Wednesday afternoon. The statement was released by Senate Appropriations Chairs Brent Jackson, the Republican from Sampson County, Ralph Heiss, the Republican from Mitchell, and Michael Lee, the Republican from New Hanover.
In their joint statement, they said, quote, If the House is serious about providing much needed pay increases for our hardworking men and women in law enforcement and putting an end to tax dollars supporting Planned Parenthood, All they have to do is concur with House Bill 42 and House Bill 192. It's time to stop playing politics and come to the negotiating table. They're not speaking of Democrat Governor Josh Don. They are speaking of their equals over in the North Carolina House and telling them to stop playing politics and come to the negotiating table. Instead, the North Carolina House approved House Bill 491, which was aptly named the Medicaid Rebase Adjustment, which appropriates $190 million in non-recurring funds to support Medicaid operations.
Senate Bill 405 was also passed by the House separately by a unanimous vote, and that adds an additional $90 million.
However, those are recurring funds. In addition to $600 million that has already been allotted for the Medicaid rebase in House Bill 125, which was signed by Governor Josh Stein back in the month of August, according to reports, $100 million of that would go towards managed care administrative costs, leaving only $500 million for the actual rebase itself. If Senate Bill 405 is eventually passed by the Senate, that increases the rebase amount to $690 million. If the Senate were to also pass House Bill 491, it would bring the total rebase amount to some $880 million, which that price tag would be even more than the $819 million that the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services had questioned. And economists now are sounding the alarm in North Carolina over these incredibly high dollar amounts for the Medicase rebase.
Joseph Harris, who is a fiscal policy analyst for the John Locke Foundation, told the Carolina Journal, quote, a nearly $1 billion Medicaid rebase is deeply concerning. Even if the rebase itself does not fund Medicaid expansion, it's clear that expansion is driving up the cost of coverage for traditional groups. At a 15% year, Year-over-year increase, the state is on track to double Medicaid appropriations within five years, a trajectory that is simply unsustainable for taxpayers. House lawmakers also noted that $310 million will remain in the Medicaid contingency reserve for potential additional needs later in the fiscal year.
So that money will just be kind of sitting aside for a rainy day if there is a last-minute shortfall in money. In a rare public glimpse of internal negotiations, Senate leadership's press. Wednesday said that earlier this week the Senate sent to the House a proposal to include the Back the Blue Act and House Bill 192 along with funding for the Medicaid rebase in the latest mini budget. Senate Bill 449. That bill also included reducing proposed funding for the Chi Children's Hospital that has been announced here in North Carolina.
However, a statement from the state Senate reads: The House would not agree to the proposal and ended negotiations. Senate leadership then went on to say that the additional bills that the House considered are ineligible, criticizing the chamber for adjourning without an agreement on the rebase. Among them, the House separately passed Senate Bill 378, which was titled and is titled, Align Medicaid Eligibility with Federal Law. That passed by a vote of 61 to 47, which prohibits Medicaid funding from Planned Parenthood. The legislation aligns state law with the recently enacted one big beautiful bill requiring North Carolina's Medicaid program to remove Planned Parenthood as an approved provider.
The Senate also refused to take the Health Care Investment Act passed by the House on Wednesday, which includes long-term provisions for Medicaid operations, such as $49.2 million. $1 million in reoccurring and $34.4 million in non-recurring funds to support managed care across the state. $1 million for the state auditor review, a state auditor to review county-level Medicaid eligibility recommendations and DSS performance, and a directive requiring the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services to develop a plan to improve cost savings and streamline operations. House Speaker Destin Hall, the Republican from Caldwell County, said that the new funding measures were intended to protect providers from rate cuts ordered earlier this month by Governor Josh Stein. The House leadership, that would include House Speaker Destin Hall, said in a statement on Thursday, quote, as of this week, the North Carolina House of Representatives have passed three clean standalone bills to fund the state's Medicaid rebase and protect patients from Governor Josh Stein's unnecessary process.
politically motivated rate cuts. State health officials confirmed that any of these three proposals would lead the administration to drop their cuts. This repeated effort shows that House health care leaders are ready to solve Stein's manufactured crisis and won't let procedural roadblocks stand in the way of delivering for North Carolinians. As I noted, it is not very often that you see and kind of get these press releases that go public that show some of the inner workings of the new champions of both chambers of the North Carolina General Assembly.
Now, for those that are longtime observers of North Carolina politics, it is nothing new that sometimes, not all the time, but sometimes when even when you've got two of the same parties in control in both the House and the Senate, there are roadblocks, there are different priorities. It has happened under Democrat-led general assemblies, and it has happened under Republican-led general assemblies. And in terms of this legislative session, this is not the first issue either that lawmakers have had. As we sit here on the morning of October the 24th, lawmakers in Raleigh still do not have a full budget, and there is very little indication, if any, that that is something that will come forth in the biennium, which will resume early next year. We learned from House Speaker Des.
And this is not set in stone. He admitted that. Excuse me, but he did say that there was a strong likelihood that the North Carolina House, even though they are set to have an additional voting session. Coming up here towards the end of November, he did indicate pretty clearly that there is a large likelihood that there is not another single vote that the North Carolina House takes this year.
Now, obviously, if negotiations do continue with the North Carolina Senate, if they are able to come to some sort of agreement, figure out some of their differences, and work towards a solution on additional things for a mini-budget, the Medicaid rebase, additional funding for Hurricane Helene in Western North Carolina. There is still plenty that can happen over the next three or four weeks that could drive the North Carolina House to have another voting day. It's very possible that the comments there from Speaker Hall or negotiating tactics to try and pull the North Carolina Senate back to the table. Not immediately clear exactly what that is going to look like, but that process does continue, and this Medicaid rebase does continue to. To be a major political issue here across the state of North Carolina.
You can read some additional details on our website this morning, CarolinaJournal.com. We've got quotes from both the North Carolina House and Senate. And some uh details on those price points there. The headline, tensions rise over Medicaid rebase impasse. Again, those details at CarolinaJournal.com.
It's 521. Welcome back to the Carolina Journal News Hour, News Talk 1110-993 WBT. Good Friday morning to you. I'm Nick Craig. The Opportunity Scholarship Program in North Carolina is nearing a key milestone of nearly 100,000 students enrolled.
As of data from october the sixth, it shows ninety eight thousand nine hundred and seventeen students using the Opportunity Scholarship Program. That is a whopping two hundred and four percent increase from just two years ago and an additional twenty three percent increase since last school year. The North Carolina State Education Assistance Authority, which is the state agency that is responsible for overseeing the voucher program, is still taking applications for the spring term, meaning that the total could likely surpass 100,000 individual students enrolled this year. Of all of the enrollments this year, 65,000 plus are renewals, meaning that roughly 15,000 students who held scholarships last year did not renew or did maybe aged out and did not, of course, take advantage of the program. Opportunity scholarship students made up a minority of private school enrollees in the 23-24 school year, just 32,000 of more than 131,000 students, but last year comprised a much larger share of 80,000 out of 135,000 students enrolled.
Dr. Bob Lubke, who is the director of the Center for Effective Education at the John Locke Foundation, said, quote, All the arrows are pointing up for the Opportunity Scholarship Program. Higher enrollment, larger awards, and the possibility of more help from the federal tax credit scholarship. These are all signs that school choice is here to stay. It's just a matter of what choice will look like.
Yes, we won the argument. Did anyone notice? Opportunity scholarships are now available in North Carolina to all K-12 students and are the state voucher program designed to enable families to choose a private education for their children. The program has grown since it started back in the 2014-2015 school year when it served some 1,200 students. Lawmakers opened the scholarship to all families regardless of income last school year and raised the income eligibility limits, changes that coincided with a sharp increase in the award.
This semester, the state has awarded $279.9 million in vouchers and is on pace to distribute about $559 million by the end of the year. This school year. That is up $432 million from last year and $185 million from two years ago. Family income, however, does still determine the award sizes, which range anywhere between $3,400 and $7,600 per student. There are four income tiers ranging from $59,000 for a family of four in the first tier to more than $267,000 for a family of four in the fourth tier.
And the way that this program works is individuals in the lower income tier get the highest award size available close to that or potentially close to that $7,600 per student mark, while families in that higher income tier are only eligible for the minimum there, potentially up to $3,400 per student. North Raleigh Christian Academy has received the most voucher funding to date at just over $3 million. Several other private schools currently exceed $2 million in awards, including Grace Christian School in Sanford, Metro Lina Christian Academy in Indian Trail, Concord Academy in well, Concord, and Liberty Christian Academy in Richlands. Overall, Wake County has the most scholarships awarded at $34 million total, followed by Mecklenburg County at $25 million, Guilford $15 million, Cumberland County $14 million, and Forsyth $12 million. No surprise to see that the state's two largest counties in both Wake and Mech making up those total dollar amounts there.
A North Carolina Department of Public Instruction report found that the state saved about $10 million last school year after about 6,000 students who attended public school in the 23-24 school year switched to private schools and took advantage of the opportunity scholarship program in the 24-25 school year. The report showed that those students received roughly $34 million in scholarships awarded versus an estimated $44 million in an average state per pupil public school allocation. The report from the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction notes that scholarship amounts are generally lower than the average state per pupil allotment while cautioning impacts of varying by timing, student characteristics, and district factors. In addition to making the Opportunity Scholarship Program universally available, North Carolina lawmakers have also been working to make a new federal tax scholarship credit a reality. The tax credit program is part of President Donald Trump's one big beautiful bill, which was enacted by Congress earlier this year, and it would allow North Carolina taxpayers.
To make deductible contributions to designated scholarship-granting organizations or SSOs. Which in turn would issue stipends to students for private school expenses, including tuition and other allowable expenses.
However, the measure was vetoed by Democrat Governor Josh Stein and is pending an override vote in the state House. A recent poll from the American Federation of Children found and continues to find pretty broad support for school choice as well as the new federal tax credit scholarship. 73% said that school choice should be open to all families. 55% support it regardless of income or geography. And in a head-to-head legislative choice, 57% said that they would back a pro-school choice candidate versus 20% for an individual who opposes a continued school choice.
Now, if you'll remember back just a couple of years ago, this school choice argument was a major one in the North Carolina General Assembly. It did pit Democrats and Republicans. Republicans against each other pretty handedly in Raleigh, as of course it was the Republicans that brought this to its fruition back in the 2014-2015 school year, kind of a test pilot demo version of this program. And over the last decade or so, they have worked on steps to not only bolster the program, but allow and make it so that more individuals are available for the OPS, the Opportunity Scholarship program. That has now taken place, and we are getting very close to that 100,000 student mark of individuals taking advantage of the program.
And again, looking at some of that polling from the American Federation of Children, this is a losing political issue for individuals that are against school choice, whether they are Republicans or Democrats. It really doesn't matter. You've got incredible broad support for individuals and families being able to send their child to a school that best fits their needs. If, for example, the public school and their zip code is not sufficient for the learning for their children or their students, having the ability to do so through the Opportunity Scholarship Program and get their individual child or children to different schools throughout their region is a huge win for families and continues to be incredibly popular, not only here in North Carolina, but across the United States. Teachers' Union and other teachers' unions and other left-wing activist groups continue to rally against the opportunity scholarship programs and school choice across the nation.
However, hard to look at some of these polls and some of these numbers showing its broad support and think that that is likely a strong political strategy moving forward. We'll keep our eyes on these enrollment numbers as we head later into this year and early next, and we'll provide them the details over on our website, CarolinaJournal.com, and right here on the Carolina Journal. Journal News Hour. If you want to read a little more about the Opportunity Scholarship Program, this article's headline: NC Opportunity Scholarship Enrollment Nears 100K. And again, that's available over at CarolinaJournal.com.
It's 5:37. Welcome back to the Carolina Journal News Hour, News Talk 1110-99.3 WBT recapping our big North Carolina political story this week. New congressional districts are now in effect across North Carolina after passing both the North Carolina House and Senate earlier this week. As lawmakers made it abundantly clear that they were doing this to try and combat some redistricting efforts in Democrat-majority states like California.
So there are some changes to the first and third congressional districts. Wilson, Wayne, Greene, and Lenore counties are moving from District 1 to District 3. Craven, Beaufort, Pamlico, Carteret, Hyde, and Dare counties are moving from District 3 into District 1. The governor does not have the ability to veto these congressional maps passed by lawmakers in Raleigh, and candidate filing for these two newly drawn districts will open in early December. We are learning information this morning that Congressman Greg Murphy will run in the third congressional district.
There was some rumor and reports that he was deciding between the first and third. current Democrat Congressman Don Davis, who represents the first congressional district, has not made it clear what district he will run in yet. We will be keeping an eye on those details in the coming weeks as we head closer to that candidate filing date in early December. We'll continue to cover it over on our website, CarolinaJournal.com, and right here on the Carolina Journal News Hour, where it's now 5.39, News Talk 1110-993, WBT. In 2024, the Eastern Ban of Cherokee Indians opened up the state's first recreational medical marijuana facility.
Obviously, that taking place on Cherokee land in western North Carolina.
However, since it opened, there have been some questions from our Senate delegation up in Washington, D.C., about some of the logistics as to how this is going down. Those renewed calls are now coming out this morning to walk us through some of those details. Teresa Opaca, CarolinaJournal.com, joins us on the news hour. Teresa, Senator Tillis is raising some interesting questions as to how the Cherokee Indians are getting the pot from the facilities in which they're growing to their dispensary store, which is on Cherokee property. What are you tracking out of Washington, D.C.?
Sure. Good morning, Nick. Thanks for having me.
So, yes, Senator Tillis talked last week and also last year, along with Senator Budd, about that dispensary and they called it a superstore for the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians for selling marijuana and how you would. Buy it at their store, but transporting it along certain state lines, would that violate federal law?
Well, Senator Tillis was in a hearing with United States Attorney General Pam Bondi last week and wanted to make her aware of that. And also, he also started out by saying that possibly they are allegedly marketing this marijuana to children because behind him on poster board, you were seeing look like you know. childlike lettering. You had pumpkin spice and space rockets, things of that nature. But he had questions about how they are selling it outside of their boundary in Western Carol Western North Carolina, which he said is a violation of federal law.
Yeah, you bring up something interesting, and Senator Tillis noted this as well. It appears that the actual facility where they're growing the marijuana or the pot is not actually on the land in which they are selling it, and they are allowed to sell on their own land. They have their own jurisdiction over it. And the argument is, Teresa, they're using North Carolina highways, state roadways or federal roadways to transport this pot back and forth. And if that's the case, that's not only breaking federal law, but state law as well.
Correct. It's still illegal in North Carolina. And as he pointed out, several states surrounding North Carolina, including Tennessee, Georgia, South Carolina, that it's illegal to do that. He also brought up that they have an app that you could buy the pot on.
So, like he said, well, pot marijuana, call it, you know, you can call it various different names. But basically, he said, I assume that they are not delivering it outside of the boundary because I think that would be illegal. Those were his words, which he would be correct if that's what, you know, what was happening.
So, yeah, how are you getting it from point A to point B? Are you buying it and smoking it right there? Or are you taking it? And of course, but the app that he questioned, that raises some other questions as well. Yeah, and you know, going back to one of the things you brought up at the beginning, Teresa, this discussion of marketing.
This has been a longtime issue. We've seen even the Secretary of State and Elaine Marshall over the last couple of years busting quickie shops and convenience stores across the state of North Carolina for selling THC-infused various chips and snacks and drinks and things like that that are clearly and obviously being marketed towards kids. And in other cases, ripping off intellectual property. You look at brands like Doritos and Oreo and Pepsi, where you've got individuals manufacturing counterfeit Doritos that are laced with THC and they're being sold all across the state of North Carolina. It's been a big emphasis of her and her office as well.
That's right. You know, I was at the most recent Council of State meeting where she was there and she was like kind of passing it out to all the different heads of state. You know, you had the Secretary of Labor and you had Treasurer there. She's like, here, take a look. It was kind of cute in a way.
Like, looking how. Knockoffs actually look, you know, and like you say, you mentioned about the different names, Doritos, Oreos, how there's different knockoffs of that. But she said, you know, she wanted to make parents especially aware this time of the year, Halloween being right around the corner, that those things are being produced and sold in those types of stores. And also, they had some incidents on school buses. One in particular was in Fayetteville, where they had some kids that got very sick from eating THC-laced gummies.
It was kind of like a thing, you know, they were talking about getting rid of demons or something, something crazy like that. But she said, by the time they got to school, an adult realized what happened and got them treatment, they're okay. Unfortunately, in Virginia, that was not the case.
So, yeah, her office has done a really, really great service over the last few years with the state's anti-counterfeit trademark task force. They've brought in over $700,000 worth of that type of THC and also seizure of at least 30 weapons and 1,800 kilos of. marijuana produced Products rather, and other illicit drugs, and hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash.
So, her office has been a big proponent of fighting this as well. And like I say, it's good to mention it now that Halloween is coming up. Yeah, no question about that. Let's turn back to this meeting in Washington, D.C.
So, Senator Tillis is bringing up some of these concerns. He's talking to the state's country's top law enforcement officer in the Attorney General in Pam Bondi. Did she have any immediate response or reaction to some of the concerns that Senator Tillis raised? She said she was not aware of the app or actually of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, but she said she would definitely have her office take a look into that. Also, Senator Tillis talked about illegal vapes coming into the country from China.
And so she brought up that fact as well that those types of vapes could possibly have the equivalent of 20 cigarettes in a vape. Flavored ones are illegal. And of course, they are again targeting children. And some of them actually have video games attached to them. Did not know that either, but she brought that up and she says they're investigating that, trying to get ahead of the game because some of them.
But she says next on the horizon is being laced with fentanyl.
So she said her office is trying to get ahead of that.
So, again, she wasn't too familiar with the Eastern Vana Cherokee Indians or their dispensary or their marijuana selling. you know, that they have going on or the app, but she said her office would definitely be taking a look into it. Teresa, turning our attention stateside, the pot or marijuana debate is one that has been growing in the General Assembly over the last couple of years. We heard back just in the last legislative session calls from lawmakers on both sides of the political aisle to move forward with medical legalization in the state of North Carolina. We really haven't seen a whole lot of movement on that.
As other lawmakers argue, well, as soon as you make it legal for medical use, you're right on the road to full-on decriminalization or recreational use. This is going to be an issue that North Carolina is likely going to have to face probably within the next couple of years as so many other states move towards medical or some full-on recreational. Yeah, I would believe so. I know certain states, you know, like you say, you already got Colorado, I believe Virginia, up to the north of us, they already have legalized marijuana itself. Pennsylvania has legalized medical They still haven't legalized full-on marijuana.
I think New Jersey has as well. But they are talking about that pulling in some revenue.
So you've got that on one hand. But you look at Colorado having several issues with people being impaired with driving. I mean, I could smell one when I'm driving by sometimes. I could smell it. It's just like, oh, that's kind of scary.
So yeah, I believe North Carolina is going to have to deal with this issue sooner than later, especially maybe when it comes to the medical marijuana. There are more proponents for that than versus just the recreational.
So something I think the General Assembly is definitely going to have to take up in the next several months to maybe the next year or two. Yeah, no question about that. That growing pressure from around the nation will force lawmakers here in North Carolina to likely act on something like medical marijuana. We'll keep an eye on that. Teresa, there was a lot more back and forth between Tillis and some other lawmakers in D.C.
You've got a bunch of full quotes from that hearing. Where can folks go and get those details this morning? Sure, they can head on over to CarolinaJournal.com. We appreciate the details this morning. Teresa Opeka joins us on the Carolina Journal News Hour.
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WBT Good morning again. It's 553. Welcome back to the Carolina Journal News Hour, News Talk 1110-993 WBT. As the Carolina Journal continues to examine the impacts of federal tariff policy on North Carolina's major industry, the spotlight this morning turns to automobiles and auto parts manufacturing. Market experts say that as tariffs reduce imports, it reduces supply and drives up prices for consumers.
On April 3rd of this year, a 25% tariff was implemented on automobiles, cars, and trucks, and things of that nature. A month later, on May the 3rd, a 25% tariff was imposed on auto parts. Products subject to auto or auto part tariffs are also not subject to a 50% tariff on steel and aluminum products and steel not melted and poured in the United States. While domestic tariffs are not stacked, domestic manufacturers could be purchasing imported steel or even imported auto parts.
However, a domestic car would not be subject to the auto tariff. Foreign manufacturers exporting automobiles to the United States would be subject to that 25% tariff, but an American manufacturer using foreign steel would be subject to the steel tariffs. The only way to avoid being hit with those tariffs entirely would be for American steel to be used in the manufacturing of American cars. As of August the 7th, the tariffs were implemented. Import duties on automotive industries totaled some $11.8 billion at that point back in early August.
Joseph Harris, who is a fiscal policy analyst for the John Locke Foundation, told the Carolina Journal in the spring, the Trump administration imposed a 25% tariff on imported vehicles and vehicle parts. Year to date, through July, exports have increased from $699.1 million to a whopping $955.6 million. representing a rise of approximately thirty seven percent. The strongest month of growth occurred in March when exporters uh when exports climbed to one hundred ninety seven million dollars, more than double the ninety five million recorded a recorded just one year earlier. Throughout July, year-to-date exports of vehicles and vehicle parts climbed from $691 to $955, $955 million, representing that 37% growth according to the Economic Development Partnership of North Carolina.
For 2024, the category was North Carolina's seventh largest export with a total value of $1.3 billion. As of July year-to-date data, North Carolina's imports of vehicle and vehicle parts has declined pretty dramatically, approximately a 26% decline from $4.4 billion to just $3.3 billion. According to that EDPNC data, in 2024, these products represented the state's fourth largest import category, valued at $7.1 billion. Joseph Harris said in 2024, vehicles and vehicle parts ranked as North Carolina's fourth largest import. But since those tariffs took effect in April and May, monthly shipments have fallen sharply.
Compared to last year, imports from April through July continued to decline, representing a decrease of approximately 39%. Put differently, for every five vehicles imported during that same period in 2024, only about three were imported this year. Although domestic producers have seen a modest uptick in activity, exports have surged by roughly $250 million year to date, according to Harris.
Meanwhile, North Carolina consumers, well, they're facing fewer options. The $1.1 billion drop in imports reflects $1.1 billion worth of affordable vehicles and parts that were previously available to consumers.
However, are no longer accessible this year. That shift highlights how trade restrictions often impose greater costs on consumers than the benefits they provide to domestic producers. You can read some additional details on this story by visiting our website, CarolinaJournal.com. That's going to do it for a Friday edition. We're back with you Monday, 5 to 6, right here on News Talk 1110 and 99.3 WBT.
