It's 5.05 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 Monday morning to you. 250 years ago, this week, North Carolina made a decision that helped set the United States and put the country or the soon-to-be country on the path to independence. It started on April the 12th, 1776, as delegates meeting in Halifax, North Carolina adopted what became known as the Halifax Resolves, authorizing North Carolina's representatives to vote for independence from Great Britain. The action made North Carolina the first colony to officially empower its delegates to support a break from the crown months before the Declaration of Independence.
As many institutions and organizations mark the 250th anniversary of the nation's founding, we look at this the Halifax Resolve and the historic moment as state leaders, historians, and civic organizations are renewing attention on the document's significance and its enduring place in both North Carolina and American history. helping us connect past actions with their impacts today. For modern readers, the idea of independence may seem straightforward, but at the time, the concept itself was still taking shape. Bob Rosser, who is the project coordinator for North Carolina's America 250 efforts at the John Locke Foundation, told CarolinaJournal.com: We think of independence as an everyday word, but they didn't know what that meant. In the resolve, they call it independency, like democracy or another form of government.
That uncertainty made the decision all more consequential, according to Rosser. Colonial leaders were not simply endorsing a familiar idea, they were stepping into largely uncharted political territory with no guarantees of success. Rosser said that North Carolina's choice was far from inevitable and came at a moment when each colony was weighing its own path forward, with him saying every colony had to make their own choice. North Carolina could have easily stayed loyal to the crown while the colonies from Virginia to Massachusetts fought and won their independence. Or maybe there would have been no victory if North Carolina had not joined the fight.
Since the war that ensued was finally clinched with victories in South Carolina in North Carolina in 1780 and 1781. Evidence from that period shows that leaders in the South were already grappling with the decisions in the early 1776s. In letters written on February 12th of that year, John Penn, who was a member of the Second Continental Congress and future signer of the Declaration of Independence, expressed both confidence and urgency in making Making these decisions. With pen writing more than 250 years ago, now the people to the northward have spirit and revolution. which I doubt not will carry them victorious through the contest.
I hope that we to the southward land shall act like men determined to be free. By April the 12th, North Carolina's Congress answered Penn's earlier call by adopting the Halifax Resolves. Just a little bit of the original text of that document reads in part, Your committee are of the opinion that the House should enter into the following resolve. Resolve that delegates from this colony in the Continental Congress be empowered to concur with other delegates of other colonies in declaring independency, that word coming back again, and forming foreign alliances, resolving it to this colony, the sole and executive right of forming a constitution and laws for this colony, and for appointing delegates from time to time under the direction of a general representative, therefore to meet the delegates of other colonies. colonies for such purposes al sh as shall be hereafter pointed out.
Essentially talking about hiring and uh re selecting individuals to be members of a congressional delegation, some sort of larger government delegation from North Carolina. The adoption of the Halifax Resolves did not emerge in isolation. Just weeks earlier, more than two hundred fifty years ago, North Carolina Patriots secured a decisive victory at what is known as the Battle of Moores Creek Bridge. This battle was a turning point that helped shift momentum towards independence. Fought on February the 27th, 1776, near present-day Wilmington, the battle saw Patriot forces defeat a larger group of Loyalists who were attempting to link up with British troops.
The victory disrupted British efforts to regain control of the colony and weaken loyalist influence in the region. Historians often point to the Morse Creek Bridge and the battle there as one of the first clear Patriot victories of the Revolutionary War in the South and a key factor in emboldening colonial leaders to take more decisive political action. Rosser said that the significance of the victory extended well beyond North Carolina, saying in part, the victory as words spread. Gave other colonies hope and encouragement to keep fighting and keep coming together, that the revolutionary movement was, in fact, real. In the weeks following the battle, that growing confidence translated into political momentum.
With British authorities dismantling and Loyalist resistance weakening significantly, with North Carolina's leaders were in strong positions to take a step forward that formalize in Halifax authorizing a break from Great Britain. As part of North Carolina's America 250 events that have continued to take place and will for the months that follow, the original Halifax Resolves have returned to the state for the first time since 1776 and are now on public display in Halifax County. Governor Josh Stein said that the anniversary highlights the state's early leadership in the push for independence as well as its lasting place in the nation's founding story. with the governor saying in part, North Carolina played a significant role in winning America's independence. The creation and adoption of the Halifax Resolves on April the 12th, 1776 was the first official action by any colony calling for independence from Great Britain, forever cementing North Carolina's place as first in freedom.
The document is on loan from the National Archives and is believed to be the only surviving copy. It is currently being shown and is on display at the Halifax State Historic Site Visitor Center. It will remain there through October the 6th.
So, if you're ever in and around Halifax County, North Carolina, anytime before October the 6th, I definitely encourage you to stop in and take a look at this literally one document that still exists. As state officials say, the return of the document offers a rare chance to connect directly with a defining moment in both state and national history. According to Secretary Pamela Cashwell of the North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources, she says the opportunity to view this 250-year-old document in the place where it was created is truly a once-in-a-lifetime experience. The Halifax Resolves is one of the most important pieces of our state story and is date to embolize on our state flag. We are so excited for North Carolinians to see it in person.
The display is part of a broader commemoration of the 250th anniversary in Halifax. Events taking place over the weekend included a multi-day prelude to the Revolution event featuring reenactments, education programs, and tours of the original site. This is one of just many events that continue to take place across North Carolina as we approach the 250th anniversary of the United States of America.
However, highlighting this morning a major step taken by the colony that is now the state known as North Carolina, the Halifax Resolves back on April the 12th, 1776, more than 250 years ago. We have had a lot of stories about America 250 and the ongoing events in North Carolina. Encourage you to go and read a little bit more about the Halifax Resolves this morning. We've got the details over on our website, CarolinaJournal.com. Look for the story with the headline, 250 years later, Halifax Resolves Still Shape North Carolina's place in history.
Again, those details at CarolinaJournal.com. It's 20 minutes past the hour. Welcome back to the Carolina Journal News Hour, Charlotte's FM News Talk 107.9 FM, WBT, keeping our attention on the state of North Carolina this morning. Got some interesting discussions coming out as it relates to school construction across the state of North Carolina. Even as North Carolina's state lottery sets sales records, the share of proceeds flowing to public education has fallen.
And as school districts are competing for construction grants, well, unfortunately, they are feeling those effects, according to a recent presentation to the North Carolina State Board of Education. The board reviewed the needs-based public school capital fund, which is a lottery-funded grant program for school construction in economically distressed communities. They did that during a meeting back just a couple of weeks ago and a work session. The vice chair in Alan Duncan pointed to what a recent state audit has already flagged. The portion of lottery revenues allocated to the program has declined over recent years.
With Duncan saying during the work session, going back over the course of the last several years, it has become a lesser percentage. That aligns with findings from Republican state auditor Dave Bollick. According to a financial audit that we covered back just a couple of months ago in December, the state auditor's office found that the lottery's contribution to the education lottery fund dipped from $1.07 billion to $1.05 billion in the 24-25 fiscal year.
Meanwhile, total lottery revenues jumped from $5.4 billion to $6.6 billion, more than a billion dollars in additional sales in the same fiscal year, while the money in the education lottery fund dipped. Overall, the share of lottery proceeds devoted To education fell from 23% in the 22-23 fiscal year to just 20% in the 23-24 year to just 16% in the 24-25 year, a massive decline over the span of just a couple of years. State Auditor Dave Bollick said when he released that report back in December: over the last three years, total revenues have increased by a total of over $3 billion, while contributions to public education have fallen flat. His office later launched the first full performance audit of the North Carolina Education Lottery, as one has not happened since 2008. The construction grant program that we are talking about here this morning has seen growing pressure as a result of these changes within the North Carolina education lottery.
Bob Lubke, who is the director of the Center. For Effective Education at the John Locke Foundation highlighted this issue saying, Auditor Dave Bollick has his finger on a significant problem: lottery revenues. Why are revenues booming but the portion going to education flat? It is a question with significant implications. The North Carolina General Assembly approved lottery legislation with the hopes that it would be a stable source of additional revenue for schools, but it has been anything but, in part because the legislature treats it as a cookie jar.
Its refusal to put in statute where the money is going and how much is contributed to the current problems. Schools and the general public are finally learning that the lottery is, in fact, a bad bet. Nathan Maurer, who is the director of the Office of School Facilities at the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction, told board members during that meeting back just a couple of weeks ago that in the current fiscal year cycle, the capital fund received approximately $2 billion in applications from 47 counties. Those were the requests while awarding just over $3. $392 million, which equates to funding roughly $1 in $5 requested by a variety of school systems and education systems across the state of North Carolina.
Since the program's launch in the 2017-2018 fiscal year, the cumulative gap has widened to $11.9 billion in requests against approximately $2.4 billion in actual awards given. With the director of the program also reporting a 30-year projection of statewide capital needs exceeding more than $60 billion, though he noted limitations on that prediction. saying my ability to predict the future is mixed, but it is an education, it is an educated assessment of what is going to be needed here over the next three decades. The grants are capped by statute at $62 million per high school, $52 million per middle school, and $42 per elementary school, according to the grants and how they are laid out. With Duncan saying that those caps are no longer covering a fully equipped modern high school, telling the group many of these projects that are ongoing have been awarded over the last year or two, they are leaving things out because the money does not match up with all of the needs and what they would be for a fully modern classroom experience.
Continuing by telling the committee, that's not faulting anybody. It's just a statement of where we are. Board Chair Eric Davis also pointed to scheduled state tax reductions and increased Pressures on counties as an additional fund for school construction in dealing with some of these funding shortfalls. With Davis telling the group, the current tax policy in our state is both underfunding public education and other vital services, but it is also passing the burden of what the state should be providing down to the counties. The urban parts of our state that are experiencing the greatest economic growth are in better positions to weather this self-imposed storms.
The rural areas are already living on the edge and are now being pushed further and further down. North Carolina's income tax drops to 3.99% in 2026 under current law, before going down even further to 3.49% in 2027, 2.99% in 2028 if revenue targets are met, with the corporate income tax rate scheduled to be eliminated here. in just the next couple of years by 2030. The comment there from board chair Eric Davis about underfunded public education does remain a very hot political conversation here in North Carolina. We are keeping a very close eye on the North Carolina General Assembly.
We have been without a budget since the start of the fiscal year, which was July the 1st of 2025. Taking a look this morning at the North Carolina General Assembly calendar. And if things stay as they are anticipated right now, we are expecting lawmakers back in Raleigh next week. The House calendar for Tuesday, April the 21st, that is just a little over a week from today, has both the North Carolina House and Senate convening at 12 noon for a short session within the North Carolina legislature, the North Carolina General Assembly. There are mixed reports, mixed rumors floating around Raleigh as to whether or not we will see a full state budget come out of the legislature over the next couple of weeks, or if we will see a plethora of what are described as mini-budgets, funding key projects, for example, like raises for teachers and additional education funding, more money for the good folks out in western North Carolina that are continuing to recover and rebuild after Hurricane Helen, or again, whether we will see that full budget.
We will be keeping a close eye on those details as. The legislature is expected back next week. Of course, a continued coverage of the budget woes and the lack of one over on our website, CarolinaJournal.com. And of course, as soon as we get it, we'll bring it to you right here on the Carolina Journal News Hour. Um It's 5:36.
Welcome back to the Carolina Journal News Hour, Charlotte's FM News Talk 107.9 FM, WBT. I'm Nick Craig. Good Monday morning to you. There is a Vietnamese electric car manufacturer by the name of VinFast. They've been in North Carolina news over the last couple of years.
We've got a very interesting headline this morning over on our website, CarolinaJournal.com, to walk us through some of those details this morning. Teresa Opeka joins us. Teresa, before we get into the most recent news out of VinFast, can you walk our audience through some of the saga that that's been over the last couple of years? Yeah, Nick, thanks so much for having me this morning.
So the company VinFast, which is like you as you said, an EV maker based in Vietnam, promised this huge, huge new first manufacturing automobile manufacturing facility in North Carolina a few years ago. There was a huge groundbreaking in Chatham County and specifically in the town of Moncure, which is like right in the the center of the state. It was going to bring all the hubs. They're going to create all this, you know, all the, it was going to boost the economy so much. It was when former governor Roy Cooper was still in office.
They had this huge groundbreaking, and there was just all these promises. I believe that he called it the crown jewel, or no, VinFast called this new plant the crown jewel for VinFast. That's what it was described as. But there have been several delays. There's been bad reviews about this company.
They're hemorrhaging money, and that's no pun intended. They really are billions of dollars every year. They continue to do that. And now word comes that they actually were going to start manufacturing, I believe it was in 2024. And that kept getting pushed back.
And they pushed it back to 2028. They said this in 2024. We're just taking a break. We need to focus our energy somewhere else. We're going to open up this plant in 2028.
And you did not hear anything for almost over two years now from this company.
Well, earlier this week, they announced that they were going to restart production next month on this plant. And that's not the only news with this, so we can get into that as well. Yeah, we'll walk through some of that. And Teresa, you mentioned VinFast calling this a ground jewel for former Democrat Governor Roy Cooper. This was a major business announcement as the company was originally supposed to bring somewhere in the ballpark of 7,500 jobs to North Carolina, which would be a large employer by any scale.
But unfortunately, Teresa, we have seen with many of these large-scale business announcements that have been made in the state over the last 10 years, more than half of them don't come to fruition. And it would appear that VinFast is unfortunately falling into that category. That's right, that's right.
So it was announced that we were going from that hiring goal of 7,500 employees. All the way down to 1400. That's about 80% or so of a cut. Yeah. Yeah.
Yeah, that's not good. But there's a problem with that. The incentives package, the state and local officials promised to VINFAST, that may not. Come to fruition for the company because it's all based on hiring targets.
So, that job development investment grant, or better known as JDIG, of up to 316.1 million in state reimbursements over three decades, along with $400 million incentive package from Chatham County, they're contingent on the company meeting that hiring goal of $7,500 and investing $4 billion. And the state also is spending $450 million on infrastructure around the site, including a new highway to gain access in and out of the site. You can go into that as well. There's ramifications that have already taken place with that.
So, unless somehow they can turn this around and say, oh, we're going to meet that $7,500 job requirement with all those jobs coming in, they're not going to get those reimbursements from the state. And that's a huge, huge problem. I don't. This is my opinion, but I don't see a good way of this actually happening. And I mean, I could be wrong.
I'm not in the business sector. And I've been following this for a number of years. There have been so many, it just seems like this company has one thing plaguing it after the other. It's doing fairly well in its home country at Vietnam, and it shifted gears and pun intended focusing on markets in Asia. They had a big groundbreaking a few years ago over there.
It seems, but they're also selling their vehicles to themselves in their home country. They are losing billions of dollars every year. They just, you know, they've had such bad reviews. It just seems like it's not a good bet for this company to follow through.
So it was a big shock to see that, oh, they're going to restart production in April. And you're like, wow. Really?
Okay.
So, I mean, the proof's in the pudding. Gonna have to wait and see. But it just doesn't seem like this is gonna be a good long shot. And especially if they can't deliver on those jobs that they promised, the state's not gonna give them the money.
So I just don't see this Coming to a good end. For for North Carolina or for the company.
Well, and Teresa, unfortunately, some of this is external market factors. You and I have talked a couple of times about VinFast over the last few years, and we've highlighted every single time the demand for electric vehicles, at least in the United States, continues on a downward trend. That's not to say that EVEs aren't practical for some people. That's not to say that it's not really cool technology, which it absolutely is, but consumer demand is not currently meeting the current EV manufacturing. You'd find it probably hard to believe that a brand new company coming into the United States would be able to break market trends on where EVs are generally going right now, anyway.
That's right. That's right. You know, and it's not a well-known company. It's made some headway. They've had some dealerships here in North Carolina as well, or some other dealerships taking on that franchise, if you will, but some of them have closed already.
So you're more likely to buy an EV from, say, Tesla, or maybe there's something from Toyota, or people are now turning back to hybrids, right? They're getting the best of both worlds. And probably focusing more maybe now on the EVs, now the gas prices are going up. But for Slovak, as far as VinFast, you also had that tax credit ending last year. I believe it was in October, the tax credit.
So that also put a ding into things. But things here in this country have really cooled as far as for electric vehicles. As you mentioned, you've got to be in the right. Right market for that, you're not going to see a lot of people in rural North Carolina getting an EV. I mean, there might be, but your charge is not going to last all that long if you're in that type of an area.
It might last in Charlotte or Raleigh or even like Wilmington, somewhere there might be some more chargers, but say a really rural part of the state, you're going to find it very hard to find those, you know, few and far between.
So it's just, Unfortunately, the right mix of ingredients have not been good for this company, you know, further along. And you're just. It all adds up to not a good ending. Again, I'm not in the business sector, but I've been following the story for a number of years, and it just does not look good. Even though saying, oh, they're going to push ahead and start up the factory and construction on the factory next month, there's been so many delays, so many scaling down of the original assembly plant.
Um it just doesn't look good. Teresa, you mentioned a few minutes ago that the J. Digg grant, a job development investment grant, and nearly $400 million from Chatham County, all of that was contingent on that $7,500 hiring goal, which does not appear it's coming anywhere near fruition right now. But you also highlighted nearly half a billion dollars that the state spent on infrastructure. Teresa, unless you're going to go and dig up the pipes and asphalt and put it down somewhere else, that money is spent and gone, and there's no way to recover those costs, is there?
No, there's not. There's not. The only thing that could be recovered, and what is mentioned in the article and citing other sources, is that the state has an option to repurchase the land from the company at the same price as the property at the 2022 sale. That's the only thing that could happen. And they definitely need to start production by July.
But as far as that, you know, nearly half a million dollars being spent, that's gone. And the sad part, and I always come back to this human interest part of it, there's been so many businesses, 27 homes, five businesses, along with Mary Oaks Baptist Church. This church was in that area since 1888. Unfortunately, that met with a wrecking ball last June. It was completely demolished.
I know VinFast offered them a piece of land nearby so they could rebuild the church or move it. Unfortunately, that did not happen. I'm not sure of the whole circumstance why that wasn't moved or whatever, but you're seeing all this happen. You see that in other eminent domain cases is what this was. And it's just a sad fact that if this doesn't happen, doesn't come to fruition, you've lost this historic church.
All its members have to look somewhere else to go, already have businesses, homes destroyed. And, you know, it's not a sure bet that this is going to happen.
So there's a lot of different factors in this story. It's a very, you know, complicated and somewhat sad story on that side of the spectrum. Yes, there's still a lot of moving parts here. As Teresa just noted, they are expected to start construction potentially as early as next month. We'll wait and see what those details look like.
Teresa, where can folks go and get additional details? Sure, they can head on over to 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 FM, WBT, rounding out our show on this Monday morning with some statewide news as the Guilford County Election Director says that it is, quote, highly unlikely that voters eligible to cast ballots in last month's Senate District 26 Republican primary did not get the proper ballot. With the county elections director in Charlie Calcutt offering the assessment in a one-page memo that was sent on Friday. Senate leader Phil Berger, the Republican out of Rockingham County, filed an election protest after the March the 3rd primary, suggesting that up to eight Guilford County voters eligible to vote in the D26 primary did not receive the proper ballot.
Now, it is important to note that that issue is now moot, as on March 24th, Berger conceded the election to Rockingham County Sheriff Sam Page, who won the race in Rockingham and Guilford County by just 23 votes.
However, the elections director memo, which was sent to Guilford and state election board members, as well as state election staff, addresses the issues raised by Berger's protest. saying in part. Specifically, there were allegations that certain candidates and the Republican North Carolina Senate District 26 contest did not appear on ballots of voters eligible for those contests. And this was due to an error by precinct officials. Guilford County has multiple North Carolina Senate districts, and some ballots included this contest, while others did not.
The memo went on to say, the purpose of this document is to discuss our site's procedures and elaborate on certain reconciliation process noted at the time of the allegations, as well as future reconciliation of our ballot tabulator in our post-Canvas process. The elections director wrote in part, first, each early voting site in Guilford is equipped with at least one laptop computer and barcode scanner system that is used to ensure that each voter is given the proper ballot style. A voter's authorization. Authorization to vote or ATV has a barcode that simply contains the ballot style assigned to the voter. Each ballot has a similar barcode which just contains the ballot style.
For example, R021 or D012. Before handing the voter a ballot, each barcode is scanned by a precinct official. If the barcode matches, the system produces a voice prompt indicating that a ballot style has matched. Despite this, there still could be a precinct official error that led to a voter being provided with the wrong ballot style. During our Canvas period, the election director wrote in this one-page memo on Friday, I was able to determine the number of voters who should have been provided with a ballot with North Carolina's 26th Senate District from our early voting management system.
I was successfully able to reconcile this number with the number of ballots cast in the early voting tabulators that is contained within North Carolina's Senate District 26 contest. With this result, we know that there were no ballot disruption errors, or there was an equal number of offsetting errors where North Carolina 26 eligible voters were provided ballots omitting the 26 district race, and then the same number. North Carolina 26 Senate District, 26 ineligible voters were provided with a ballot, including that contest as well. The election director went on to say: finally, after the final certification of the election, there is a 30-day sort process where early voting ballots are hand-sorted into their precinct groups and retabulated so that the data can be provided at the precinct level instead of all grouped as one early voting result. After this process, we were able to reconcile the voters eligible for North Carolina's 26th Senate District with ballots cast containing that race.
Though, similar to the reconciliation illustrated above, this precinct-level reconciliation is conducted on smaller groupings of ballots, 165 precincts, that would have been more easily demonstrated the offsetting error dilemma.
So, with this, again, the point relatively moot, as Phil Berg. Has conceded that race to Rockingham County Sheriff Sam Page. You can read additional coverage over on our website, CarolinaJournal.com. 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 FM, WBT.
