Hey, it's Howie Mandel, and I am inviting you to witness history as me and my Howie Do-It gaming team take on Gilly the King and Wallow 267's Million Dollars Gaming in an epic Global Gaming League video game showdown. Four rounds, multiple games, one winner, plus a halftime performance by multi-platinum artist Travi McCoy. Watch all the action and see who wins and advances to the championship match against NEO right now at GlobalGamingLeague.com. That's globalgamingleague.com. Everybody games.
It's 5.06 and welcome in to a Monday edition of the Carolina Journal News Hour on Charlotte's FM News Talk, 107.9 FM, WBT, I'm Nick Craig. Good morning to you. We continue to keep a very close eye on the interesting race unfolding in North Carolina's 26th Senate District. That is Rockingham County and northern portions of Guilford County, the race that we've been talking about a lot over the last couple of weeks. Senate leader Phil Berger versus Rockingham County Sheriff Sam Page.
After we've watched recounts and some vote totals over the last couple of weeks, Page currently has a 23-vote lead.
However, we got an interesting letter from Senate Leader Phil Berger that was submitted to the State Board of Elections on Friday demanding some additional recounts in that race to walk us through some of those details this morning. Dr. Andy Jackson from the John Locke Foundation joins us on the Carolina Journal News Hour. Andy, as always, appreciate the time. Taking a look at the letter here from Senate Berger, he says, Senate Leader Phil Berger, he says that he is demanding a hand-eye recount on all undervotes and overvotes in that contest alongside the already sample hand-eye recount that will be taking place.
What do you make of this letter, submitted? Late in the day on Friday.
Well, I think it's pretty clear that we're not going to get a. A recount or a hand recount of all the undervotes and under overvotes. He already asked the Board of Elections about this earlier. They already said, no, we're going to do the normal process or we're going to follow the normal process.
So he's doing it again here. He's unlikely to get it again here because The state board doesn't want to go out of its way to do something different for Phil Berger than they would do for any other candidate, and they follow the normal process. These discretionary recounts are really a way of trying to smooth a process when there's a bump in the road.
Now, this is a close election, but there hasn't been any indication that something had gone wrong where they need to go in and do something extraordinary.
So, they're going to follow the normal process. It's going to be a sample hand-eye recount of 3% rounded up in Rockingham and the portion of Guilford that is in the 26th Senate District.
Well, Andy, you just said something there that I really want to make sure we hone in on, especially with these undervotes and overvotes, which you walked us through last week here on the Carolina Journal News Hour. Literally every single contest that unfolded in North Carolina back on primary day in early March had some level of undervotes and overvotes.
So I think you're making a really important point there when you say you're almost potentially opening some level of Pandora's box if you allow it in this contest. There's plenty of other close races that have potentially hundreds, if not maybe thousands of undervotes or overvotes, depending on where the contest took place here across North Carolina. Right. And this is something that happens every election. We have overvotes where a voter has marked more bubbles than they should.
For example, voting for two people in a two-person race. Or undervotes. Usually somebody decides to skip a race and so nobody's marked. There also are possibilities, for example, with an undervote that maybe somebody marked something so lightly that the vote didn't get picked up by the tabulator. And that's what Phil Berger is hoping that a whole bunch of Phil Berger voters and no Sam Page voters did just that, that somehow Phil Berger fans have a light touch on the ballot and that he would pick some up if they did that.
And certainly election officials do not want to be in a position where they're having to go through that every single time, especially if we end up with a statewide sample or a statewide hand-eye recount. I mean, you really are going to talk about thousands or tens of thousands of ballots across the state.
Well, and Andy, these ballots were just run through tabulators last week in both Rockingham and Guilford counties. We saw those recounts take place as Phil Berger was allowed to request under state law with that 1% threshold. We saw absolutely no difference, no disparity whatsoever in Rockingham County. In Guilford, one vote was removed for Berger. One vote was removed for Page.
The margin has remained at 23.
So it would appear at least there's some level of consistency with these ballots as they have now been run through a tabulator at least two times. Right, and that's what you're probably going to get when we get this sample hand eye count. What they're going to need to do in order to get a full hand eye count of the entire district, they're going to have to show a difference. And then if that extrapolates out to something bigger than the total in the burger page race, then they'll have to recount everything by hand, which is a lot of work. But the thing is, though, we have basically three things that can happen.
We can either get the exact same result, which is fairly rare. We'll get a slight advantage for Burger or a slight advantage for Page.
So the only way this will work out for Burger is if we have an advantage for Burger. Maybe up in the realm, and I haven't done the exact math on this, depends on how big the units are that they sample, because it could be a precinct, which is a couple hundred votes, or an early voting site, a couple thousand votes. But you're looking at somewhere between Five to ten more votes for Berger in those in that sample. And if that happens, well, then we're in for a really long time because they're going to have to go through and do this for all of the ballots. Yeah, and of course, having to pick out just those specific ballots in the northern portion of Guilford County will be a kind of interesting to watch out as or watch as well.
Andy, a little bit later on today, the State Board of Election is going to announce what locations, as you just mentioned, either an early voting site or an election day voting location for this sample hand-eye recount. This is something that is conducted after every election that takes place in North Carolina. Walk us through why election officials do this and why something like this plays out after every election. Yeah, well, this is done essentially as a check in order to make sure that things are done correctly.
Now, I tend to be in the minority, at least among people I talk to, in that I generally prefer the machine counts. We human beings tend to be really bad at repetitive tasks like counting ballots over and over and over again for several hours. And so you tend to have more variation in these hand-eye counts. But if there is a systematic flaw, With the tabulators, you're not going to find that by just running it through the same tabulators again.
So, this is a way of seeing if there was this kind of systematic flaw that would cause a reversal if you counted it a different way. Looking at the letter here from Phil Berger, once again delivered to the North Carolina State Board of Elections on Friday, he talks about those undervotes and overvotes that which we already mentioned in both Rockingham and Guilford County and goes through and makes a couple of other demands from the State Board of Elections. You mentioned this earlier, but I just want to have you kind of reclarify this. You feel confident based on what you've seen already from the North Carolina State Board of Elections at their meeting last week that he is likely to not be successful in making this challenge and plea to the state board? No, they have procedures in place.
I don't think that they have any desire to deviate from those set procedures in this one case. Because then, if we have another candidate coming around, they'll ask, Well, why did you do it for Phil Berger, but you didn't do it for me? And I think that is a kettle of fish that the state board just doesn't want to open up.
So, I think we're going to see that normal procedure. They're going to pick those locations to do the sample recount later today, and then the counties will get to it. Andy, you joined us on Friday and we talked about some of the, and this is completely separate from some of the ballot petitions that Berger and his team made late last week. Both the Rockingham and Guilford County Board of Elections have meetings scheduled coming up. I believe it's this week and then early parts of next week.
That is something that the county board of elections have to determine whether they want to move forward with, correct? That is correct. And there is an appeal process for those as well.
So, you know, once again, as we talked about last week, this is the Berger team, you know, launching a full spread of torpedoes, seeing what hits. And it could be a combination. I think, you know, if they can kind of pick up five, six, seven votes through the protest, and maybe they catch a break and they're able to pick up. You know, a d you know, a cup maybe. 15, 16 votes on a full hand-eye recount of the entire district.
We add all those up together, then it could put them over the top. It's certainly a long shot, but that's what they need to do. I don't think they can count on either the protest or the recount to get them all the votes that they need. Andy, I'm going to ask you to shake your magic eight ball and tell us when is this all going to be said and done as we watch this process continue to play out over the next couple of weeks. But wait functionally, well You could say it's going to end in early April when the state board finally certifies all the elections, assuming that all the protests are done with the county here and that the recount is completed.
But certainly the language of the letter that Berger is using, he's talking about violations of the Equal Protection Clause of the North Carolina and federal constitutions. We could be looking at a lawsuit which could make this drag out for weeks, if not months. It obviously remains a very dynamic situation. We've been getting pretty much an update almost every day or two over the last couple of weeks. We encourage our audience to read the latest over on our website, CarolinaJournal.com.
We appreciate the information this morning. Dr. Andy Jackson from the John Locke Foundation joins us on the Carolina Journal News Hour. Has the news been getting you down? I'm Megan McArdle, and I'm here to help.
I'm the host of a news show from Washington Post Opinion called Reasonably Optimistic. And it's an antidote to the pessimism that's riddling America right now. Every Wednesday, I'm going to talk to people who see a path forward. It does seem to me that there is some awakening of a desire to act together, to solve problems where they are. No, I am a believer in America, and it's worth fighting for.
Join me Wednesdays on YouTube or wherever you get your podcasts. Support is available 24-7 with VerboCare. We're here day or night. ready whenever you need help. Because a great trip starts with the right support.
Bring incredible sound into every corner of your home with the new WimSound Smart Speaker. Get high-resolution audio with a 1.8-inch touchscreen, smart control, and modern design in one powerful speaker for just $299. From quiet mornings to lively family gatherings, WimSound makes every moment sound better and feel better too. Create a home filled with sound you love. Ready to upgrade your sound?
Shop now at Amazon and search WimSound. That's W-I-I-M-S-O-U-N-D. Mm. It's 21 minutes past the hour. Welcome back to the Carolina Journal News Hour, Charlotte's FM News Talk 107.9 FM, WBT.
Former North Carolina Lieutenant Governor and Republican gubernatorial candidate Mark Robinson is back in the news this morning after he broke his silence last week in a wide-ranging interview on a brand new program called After the Call, which is a faith-focused video program released on March the 19th. Robinson, whose rapid rise from an unknown Greensboro factory worker in 2018 to statewide elected office in less than two years made him a national figure, opened up publicly for the first time about the CNN expose that consumed the final weeks of the 2024 campaign in which he was running for governor against now sitting governor Josh Stein. The personal failings he said helped him make him a target and what he believes comes next for his Life. In the interview, Robinson reflected on the months following his lopsided loss to at the time Attorney General Josh Stein in that gubernatorial race, describing it as some of the lowest and darkest periods of his life. Robinson said that the period following the election loss was more difficult than the night than which the scandal first broke, describing it as a time of deep personal reflection and regret.
During the campaign, he said he kept the fight focused on him, but once it ended, he said the full weight of what happened truly set in. Saying during the interview, I had thoughts at that moment I never had in my life before. I literally felt like, What are you going to do now? You're never going to be the same. Robinson said spending time with his grandchildren has helped pull him through, noting that they were unaware of the political turmoil surrounding him.
He also said that he enrolled at Liberty University to pursue a master's degree after leaving office, but acknowledged struggling to concentrate in the aftermath of the campaign. For those that are not familiar with the rise of Mark Robinson, it wasn't all that long ago. It hit back in 2018 during a Greensboro City Council meeting that took place. That meeting was a specially called meeting to address potential restrictions on the city's gun show in the wake of the Parkland School shooting in Florida. Robinson, then a factory worker with no political experience, said that he decided to attend the meeting as an observer, but decided to speak up publicly after growing frustrated with what he heard from under attendees.
Robinson said during the speech in 2018, the American Revolution didn't start with a shot heard around the world. It started with a murmuring. It started with craftsmen and farmers meeting in taverns talking about ideas like independence. That's where it started. The video of his speech spread widely on social media, eventually surpassing some 150 million views, drawing national media attention and invitations for him to speak at political events not only here in the United States, but across the globe.
Robinson added that he decided to seek elected office following the speech's viral spread. After consulting with Republican advisors in 2020, he decided to enter the race for lieutenant governor. He won the nine-candidate primary with 33% of the vote, just barely avoiding a runoff, and went on to win the general election later that year, becoming North Carolina's first black lieutenant governor. As Lieutenant Governor, Robinson served as the president of the Senate and was a vocal advocate for parental rights in education and Second Amendment issues across North Carolina. He announced his campaign for governor in 2023, very handily secured the Republican nomination, and received the endorsement of President Donald Trump.
Then, of course, came September 2024. That is when CNN published a report alleging that Robinson had made sexually and racially charged posts on an online adult website, including a litany of, again, those pretty widespreading sexual and racially charged posts. Robinson said that he was alone in a hotel room when his campaign manager texted him with some of the details. Robinson was asked what his immediate reaction was during the podcast that ran last week. This is what he said.
And so you're in a hotel room. Looking forward. Go on. Yeah. Everything I Worried.
Yeah. It's now out. Yeah. It's coming out. Yeah.
What do I do?
Well, how do I handle this?
Well My initial thought is: you know, I want to fight this. I'm going to stand up. I want to tackle this head-on. You know, I want to get right in and tackle this head-on. Tell people exactly what happened, how I think it happened, and how it transpired.
Own what I need to own, own the parts of it that I need to own. disprove the parts of it that are not true. But I sat back and I thought about it and I said It's not time. If this was a year before the election. There would be time.
There was eight weeks until the election. Yeah. That was eight weeks before my election, of course, eight weeks before the election of the President of the United States. And at this point, President Trump and I had become very good friends. And I realized how important it was for President Trump.
uh to win that race. And I knew that we were, not only was I in the fight for my life. that the country literally was in the fight for its life. The country couldn't have stood four more years. of Joe Biden-like policies, which would have come under uh President Trump's uh opponent.
Robinson also acknowledged during the interview that some of what was reported in that CNN expose piece was and did have a basis in truth, particularly surrounding his lifelong struggle with pornography, which he said he was admitting openly and publicly for the first time and did so during that interview, while maintaining other elements were fabricated or distorted from out-of-context conversations. Robinson lost the governor's race to Stein by roughly 14 percentage points. It is one of the most lopsided gubernatorial losses in North Carolina history over the last 40 years. Top Republicans pointed to the fallout from Robinson's candidacy as a drag on down ballot races. At the time, Senate leader Phil Berger, the Republican from Rockingham County, said that the CNN story had a significant impact in that race and probably had some slight impact in other races, particularly those that took place across the state.
Looking at races like Lieutenant Governor and Attorney General, while then incoming House Speaker Destin Hall noticed that Democrats redirected over $4 million from the governor's race to down ballot contests in the final week after concluding that Stein no longer needed the money due to the expose piece from CNN. Robinson also acknowledged in the interview that he ignored advice in the summer of 2024 to completely or largely overhaul his campaign team, a decision that he said he now regrets and called one of the biggest mistakes of his campaign. Many folks asking what is next for the former lieutenant governor. He said during the interview that he has no interest in running for elected office again, and instead he wants to use his story to reach out to men who are fighting some of the same battles that he did. Also noting that he is considering, has not decided to do so yet, but is considering working with a Christian therapist to better understand some of the root causes of his struggle.
We've got the full Interview linked up and some more thoughts from David Bass who wrote this story this morning over on our website, CarolinaJournal.com. Look for the headline: Mark Robinson breaks silence on scandal, personal failures in new interview. The Bleacher Report app is your destination for sports. Right now, the NBA is heating up, March Madness is here, and MLB is almost back. Every day there's a new headline, a new highlight, a new moment you've got to see for yourself.
That's why I stay locked in with the Bleacher Report app. For me, it's about staying connected to my sports. I can follow the teams I care about, get real-time scores, breaking news, and highlights all in one place. Download the Bleacher Report app today so you never miss a moment. It's 5:37.
Welcome back to the Carolina Journal News Hour, Charlotte's FM News Talk, 107.9 WBT. Democrat Governor Josh Stein continues to spar with lawmakers in Raleigh over a lack of a full budget here in North Carolina. To walk us through the latest this morning, Teresa Opaca, CarolinaJournal.com, joins us on the news hour. Teresa, late last week, Governor Stein was at Central Piedmont Community College in Charlotte and once again was laying in on the General Assembly, asking them to pass his $1.4 billion critical needs budget. What's the latest that you're following from the governor?
Sure. Good morning, Nick. Thanks for having me. Yeah, so he released this budget earlier this month, saying that there hasn't been a new budget. North Carolina was the only state last year that Didn't pass a budget and hasn't had one in over two and a half years.
So there's so many needs that need to be met. That's why he's calling it a critical needs budget. He focused last week in Charlotte on public safety. And as you said, he was at Central Piedmont Community College. And he had members from the State Highway Patrol, state troopers, and also the State Bureau of Investigations alongside him to make his point that they need to give raises to law enforcement.
They're doing so much and doing without. And cost of living has gone up. Other increases have come up as well. And there's just no budget. And yeah, he's, as you say, sparring with the legislature to get back into Raleigh and pass a budget for these raises and for some other things he's called out in his budget.
And for those that have not followed this process very closely, the new fiscal year started July the 1st of 2025. Here we are approaching the end of March, so it's obviously been quite some time. Lawmakers, Teresa, have not been in Raleigh over the last three months or so as the primary season has now coming on, at least for most contests. Of course, keeping an eye on a couple of those close ones here in North Carolina. They are expected back sometime in the next couple of weeks, but I do wonder with the ongoing drama in the 26th Senate District between Senate leader Phil Berger and Rockingham County Sheriff Sam Page, if that will not delay lawmakers getting back to Raleigh and dealing with anything, not even the budget, but literally any legislation.
Yeah, what drama, Nick? What are you talking about? I'm just a great point. Yeah, I have no idea. Yeah, yeah, very good point.
Just trying to have a little fun in the morning. Yeah, it, yes, it's going to be remains to be seen about what's going to happen with that. But yeah, it's. You know That's probably the first thing on everybody's mind right now: is that contest and other things coming up? I don't see where.
You know, not going to say that nobody deserves a raise, of course, they do, and they're doing so much, and law enforcement's there to protect everybody in the state. But I don't know if that's on a top list of priorities right now or other things in Stein's critical needs budget. I think there's other things that they're kind of worrying about at this point, but we'll have to wait and see, like you say, when they come back to Raleigh and meet up to see what they are going to be focusing on. Teresa, I'm glad you made that point. That's exactly where I was going to go with this.
As for folks, again, that are not familiar with how this process plays out in North Carolina, the governor is actually really not part of the budget process. Yes, he does sign off on legislation that comes out of the North Carolina General Assembly, but he has no statutory authority in the budget process. He either signs or vetoes it like any other piece of legislation. I think it's probably important to remind our audience once again this morning: these are simply recommendations from Governor Josh Stein. Lawmakers don't have to take any of this into account.
Damn it. That is correct. That is correct. And that has happened before. You know, it happens under many governors.
You know, former Governor Cooper, same thing. They can make recommendations. They can, you know, really be really nice about it and all of that. But yeah, they don't have the final say as far as what goes into the budget. But definitely they can offer their opinions and what they feel.
But it all boils down to what the state house and state senate come up with and come to an agreement with. And that's the bottom line.
So, and he can veto it. Then they can also try to override it. But yeah, the governor does not have the final say when it comes to the budget. One of the other things that I found interesting in your article, which our audience can go and read this morning over on our website, CarolinaJournal.com, you wrote about Governor Stein's emphasis on the Department of Corrections. This is an interesting kind of situation, Teresa.
We've covered a lot, of course, over since the summer of last year: the brutal murder of Irina Zarutska in Charlotte, aboard the Charlotte light rail, some pretty significant allegations being made against people like Roy Cooper and Josh Stein and other Democrat-elected officials across North Carolina for what many feel is soft on crime policies and not holding individuals accountable. In relation to that, if you want to hold people accountable for what they do and have these more stringent bail requirements, you do, in fact, need a fully funded Department of Corrections so that there's individuals that can work and keep these inmates safe. Yeah. Yeah, most definitely. He made the point earlier in the month, and he made it again: there's approximately a thousand more inmates than there were three years ago.
And healthcare costs have increased over roughly about 10% over the past three years. And he said, this is the big number: the Department of Corrections needs $80 million to get back into the black and has been forced to ask vendors to float them on their bills. That was the wording he used earlier in the month.
So. That's a pretty significant figure, and to say, well, you know. maybe we try to do this with some people like, hey, can you can you make an exception for me? I'm going to pay you later on, or I don't quite have the money, but this is the Department of Corrections.
So yeah, it's a it definitely needs to be taken a look at for sure. Another key entity here in North Carolina that people have heard of over the years is the State Bureau of Investigation. That's the SBI. They are integral in a lot of law enforcement that goes on here in North Carolina. Any officer involved shooting, any issues that are taking place within whether we're talking about a municipal police department or a sheriff's department, even the State Highway Patrol, that is when the State Bureau of Investigation jumps in as well, as the governor pointed to, nearly 21% increase in investigations over the past year.
They're hemorrhaging cash as well. Correct, correct. Yeah, 21% in investigations, then also 33% in processing crime scenes.
So, yeah, they're facing a serious budget deficit as well. And you mentioned all these important things that they do. Like you say, they're looking at hostage situations, murder, financial crimes, human trafficking, drug trafficking, also things that relate to like children being exploited online.
So, yeah, they are facing a little bit of a crisis as well, and trying to get some more money and more funding for that department. Teresa, you mentioned this back when we chatted a couple of weeks ago when the governor first laid out these requests in early March. You did get a response from House Speaker Destin Halls, one of his spokespeople in the immediate aftermath back on March the 9th. What did House Speaker Hall and what is leadership in Raleigh having to say about this? Yeah, so as far as for the public safety for the raises for state troopers and law enforcement corrections officers, you know, the spokesperson said they, well, in general, all of Stein's proposed budget requests raised serious concerns and proposed raises for teachers.
Or actually less than was already passed in the House. And what they had is an average 8.7% pay raise for teachers compared to Stein's proposed 6%. For law enforcement, what the House has proposed is 13% raise for law enforcement, plus additional bonuses exceeding the governor's proposed 10% and other raises as well.
So they're saying that they have proposed much more than what the governor has proposed.
Well obviously keep an eye on this situation as lawmakers are expected to be back in Raleigh at least tentatively right now in the next couple of weeks. You can read more on Teresa's story by visiting our website this morning, CarolinaJournal.com. Teresa Opeka joins us on the Carolina Journal News Hour. Good morning again. It's 5:52.
Welcome back to the Carolina Journal News Hour, Charlotte's FM News Talk 107.9. WBT, keeping a close eye on the very interesting race that is unfolding in North Carolina's 26th Senate District. That, of course, is the race between the Senate leader Phil Berger and Rockingham County Sheriff Sam Page. In a letter that was sent Friday from the leader of the North Carolina Senate in Phil Berger, he is now asking the North Carolina State Board of Elections to conduct a hand-eye recount in that race against Page. Following a machine recount, Berger continued to trail Page by 23 votes.
In the letter sent Friday, Berger requests either a full hand-eye recount of all ballots in the race, which there's a little over 26,000 ballots total, or at minimum, a review of ballots flagged as overvotes or undervotes. Berger stated in the letter, Quote, in such a close election, we must be certain that every lawful vote is counted. He pointed to 222 ballots not counted due to them being either overvotes or undervotes, arguing that even a small number of misread ballots could alter the outcome. In a statement released Friday, Patrick Sebastian, who is Sam Page's post-election advisor, accused Berger of asking for special treatment and attempting to change the election rules after losing. Sebastian wrote in his letter, North Carolina law is clear and it applies to everyone.
Senator Berger doesn't just get to rewrite it because he doesn't like the outcome. Jonathan Feltz, a spokesperson for the Berger team, said that some voters may have not had their voices heard in the race, echoing some of the similar comments from Berger saying there are 222 voters who voted in Senate District 26 who never had their voice heard or voice counted in this election. That's 199 more voters than the current margin of this race and could obviously impact the results if the voters are not suppressed. North Carolina's recount process does allow for a sample hand recount after a machine recount, which will include 3% of precincts and or early voting locations during the election. A full hand-eye recount can only be ordered if the sample reveals some levels of some discrepancies that would be considered large enough to potentially change the outcome of the election.
Sebastian went on to say, every ballot has already been counted twice and the result has not changed. Phil Berger lost this race. Berger continues to argue that the state board of elections has the authority to order broader recounts when necessary to complete the canvas and ensure accuracy, particularly in elections that are this close. According to guidance, however, from the North Carolina State Board of Elections, that sample hand-eye recount will begin within two business days of the request. This letter was sent late in the day.
Friday from Berger to the North Carolina State Board of Elections.
So that would put our current timeline on that recount starting as early as today, potentially tomorrow by the latest. We will be keeping a very close eye on all of that. The North Carolina State Board of Elections does have a meeting that is, I believe, scheduled for 10 o'clock this morning as well to discuss some of these issues. Both the Rockingham and Guilford County Board of Elections do have meetings on the books over the next week and a half or so to deal with a completely separate matter in this very tight election between Senate leader Phil Berger and Rockingham County Sheriff Sam Page, dealing with some protests, 13 votes in total, or voters in total, I should say, that the Berger team has brought forward and protested those votes. It's not immediately clear exactly how those counties will deal with those protests or if the North Carolina State Board of Elections will provide any additional guidance.
We are watching this process roll out here throughout. Out this week. We will likely have a couple of additional updates. We encourage you to keep up to date with the latest by visiting our website, CarolinaJournal.com. You can see our top story right now.
Berger asks for hand recount in Race Against Page. It is set to be a relatively busy week across the state of North Carolina as we continue to watch lawmakers as they are expected to make their way back to Raleigh here over the next couple of weeks. An ongoing debate between the legislative leaders and the governor and Josh Stein over continued calls for lawmakers to pass a budget. And while neither the House nor the Senate is in full session this week, we are expecting some behind-the-scenes conversations to continue to take place over the budget. Will lawmakers come back and pass a full budget?
Will we be looking at a series of some mini budgets as well? Of course, continued aid and funding for Western North Carolina does remain on the top of mind, not only for lawmakers out in the western half of the state, but lawmakers across the entire General Assembly and Democrat Governor Josh Stein.
So we'll be walking you through all the details this week right here on the Carolina Journal News. Hour.
Well, that's going to do it for a Monday edition. WBT News is next. Followed by Good Morning BT. We're back with you tomorrow morning, 5 to 6, right here on Charlotte's FM News Talk 107.9 WBT. Spring is calling, weddings, patio sessions, barbecues, and you want that drink vibe without sacrificing tomorrow.
That's RKZero Proof. As the world's first zero-proof spirits brand, RK created the warm molecule, giving you the smooth kick of whiskey or tequila with zero alcohol, zero calories, zero sugar, and all the peace of mind you need to enjoy every moment. Step into the zero proof season at RKZeroProof.com.
