It's 5.05 and welcome in to a Thursday 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. It was a very busy Wednesday in the North Carolina General Assembly, more particularly the North Carolina House, where Republican lawmakers voted to override Governor Josh Stein's veto of four Republican-backed measures, in large part clearing a backlog of stalled pieces of legislation that had been on the House calendar for months. The votes hand the GOP legislative leaders a major win over the Democrat governor. House Speaker Destin Hall, the Republican from Caldwell County, said in a statement after the vetoes, by overriding four more of Governor Stein's vetoes today, we're improving public safety and ending taxpayer-funded, divisive DEI policies for good.
Once again, the House has stood firm to ensure that Governor Stein and his liberal agenda won't get in the way of common sense legislation. All of the overrides passed in a vote of 71 to 47, which is the exact number needed after Democrat absences lowered the threshold for a successful veto override. Two members of the North Carolina General Assembly were absent, Representative Carla Cunningham, the Independent from Mecklenburg County, and Shelly Willingham, the Democrat from Edgecombe County, both of whom who had been in committee meetings earlier in the day, both of them also being defeated in their Democrat primaries by opponents backed by Democrat Governor Josh Stein in the Democrat machine here in the state of North Carolina. Three of the four bills had been awaiting final action after earlier Senate override votes. Until the House brought them forward for debate, the measures remained in legislative limbo, one chamber away from becoming law, but without a clear timeline for final votes.
Going into some of the details, the first veto that lawmakers overrode was Senate Bill 153. That's the North Carolina Border Protection Act, an immigration enforcement measure sponsored by Representatives Phil Berger, by Phil Berger, the Republican from Rockingham County. Representative Reese Purdle, the Republican from Rockingham County in the North Carolina House, described the bill on the House floor yesterday. This bill would require the Secretary of the Department of Public Safety the Secretary of the Department of Adult Corrections, the Commander of the State Highway Patrol, the Director of the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigations, to enter into our agreement with U. S.
Immigrations and Customs to fully cooperate with immigration laws. This bill also requires state law enforcement officials to receive appropriate training provided by ICE and to function under the supervision of ICE when complying with the agreement. Yeah. Cities and counties who violate these laws. and instead adopt sanctuary ordinances will be found to have waived governmental immunity When an illegal alien commits a crime against a person or property located in any city or county limits.
We also need to take tangible steps to ensure that taxpayer funds are being spent wisely, especially when it comes to public benefits. Only those who are eligible for those benefits should receive them. This bill will require the Department of Health and Human Services, the Department of Commerce, the Department of Housing Finance Agency, and all local. Housing authorities to cease providing state-funded benefits and public-funded housing benefits to illegal aliens. These agencies will also be required to develop a plan to update and review eligibility criteria for all state-funded benefits and publicly funded housing benefits to ensure non-citizens residing in the United States without legal permission.
are ineligible to receive those benefits. The Department of Commerce will also be required to adopt and implement policy. to verify that all applicants for unemployment benefits Are legally authorized to reside in the United States prior to receiving first payment of these benefits. by January the 15th, 2026. Finally, it prohibits the UNC system campuses from adopting any policy that does not cooperate with federal immigration enforcement and or adopting a sanctuary school policy.
That's Representative Reese Pertle on the Republican side of the aisle describing the legislation for each of these veto overrides in Raleigh yesterday. One Republican spoke in favor, one Democrat spoke against. For this piece of legislation, we're talking about Senate Bill 153 speaking against it. Representative Maria Severia, the Democrat from Wake County. We must uphold this veto.
Because this bill, again, I say, is overreaching. It asks too much of our law enforcement. It invites constitutional challenges as we see nationally in states that have adopted similar or the same laws. Which again is a burden on us when it comes to budgetary money. And it makes risks an unintended harm to communities all over our state.
without making us meaningfully safe. We live here together. We have neighbors. I want to implore you to think about the people you live around, the people you represent. It could even be donors that give to you.
Republican and Democrats, we're not only just white, black, Asian, Native American. You know you have constituents that are everyone. And I want you to remember that and where they came from and your promise to make everybody in this state, including your constituents, safe. That's Representative Maria Severia arguing against the legislation regardless of her arguments. Republicans having the vote, the final tally on that, 7147.
That piece of legislation is now law, notwithstanding the governor's veto. The House also completed overrides on three diversity, equity, and inclusion-related bills. The broadest of the three, House Bill 171, equality in state agencies/slash prohibition on DEI, restricts state agencies and local governments from using public funds to promote, fund, implement, or maintain DEI initiatives. Representative Brendan Jones, the Republican from Columbus County, described the bill from the GOP standpoint. 171 says state agencies and local governments cannot use taxpayer money to promote, fund or maintain DEI programs that influence hiring, employment, contracts based on race, sex, ethnicity, national origin, or similar characteristics.
Smash the boxes. Get in. DI offices, DI staff positions, and require DI training in government workplaces. Let's be clear, this bill does not Repeal civil rights laws. It does not stop reasonable accommodations.
It does not interfere with Title IX, the ADA, Title VI, or federal anti-discrimination law. And it does not prohibit holidays, observances, data collection, or Indian education services. What it does is restore common sense. Government hiring should be based on qualifications. Contracts should be based on merit.
And government services should be open and equal to every citizen. That's Representative Brendan Jones on the floor of the North Carolina House yesterday, arguing in favor of House Bill one hundred seventy one in opposition. Representative Almos Quick, the Democrat from Guilford County. This bill is cookie-cutter and unoriginal in a state that prides itself on being first, not next. We were first in flight.
first in the state university system, but now we are attempting to be the very next state to pass a bill that will not withstand history because our nation is diverse. We are diverse. We continue to strive for equity. and we are inclusive. And we, who have fought for centuries to make this nation just that, are standing on the right side of history.
To vote for this bill is to be unoriginal. To be mean-spirited and to be detrimental to the further. progress and success of the state of North Carolina. The world does not look one way. And as we invite the world and even see the world on our televisions watching the World Cup, we see the power of diversity and equity and inclusion.
I ask you to sustain the governor's veto or be on the wrong side of history. That was the argument in favor or against, I should say, House Bill 171, eliminating DEI in state agencies. Same vote there, 71 in favor, 47 against the legislation that did meet the threshold for a veto override.
However, unlike all of the other pieces of legislation overrode in the North Carolina General Assembly yesterday, because the bill originated in the House, it was the House that was required to take the first veto override vote. That legislation, instead of becoming law, immediately now heads to the North Carolina Senate, where they will have to complete the veto override action. Which should not be a problem as Republicans do hold a supermajority in the North Carolina Senate after it receives a vote there, which could happen as early as next week. It will become law, notwithstanding the governor's veto. Shop the Sherwin-Williams 4th of July sale and get 30% off paints and stains June 26th through July 6th.
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See store for details. Delivery available on qualifying orders. It's 5:21. Welcome back to the Carolina Journal News Hour, Charlotte's FM News Talk, 107.9 FM, WBT recovering what was a busy Wednesday in the North Carolina General Assembly after months of waiting for Republican lawmakers in the North Carolina House to take on veto override measures that had been consistently on the calendar.
Well, yesterday was once again veto override day in the General Assembly as these long-stalled measures did finally receive some votes. We already talked about Senate Bill 153. That's the North Carolina Border Protection Act passing in a 71 to 47 vote. That legislation now law. We talked about House Bill 171, which removes DEI or prohibits DEI in state agencies across North Carolina.
That legislation did require a veto override in the House before it made its way to the Senate.
Now that that has been done, Senate lawmakers likely to take that action up sometime in the next week or so, next couple of weeks, I should say, and House Bill 171 will become law. After 171, the House turned to public schools, overriding Governor Stein's veto of Senate Bill 227, eliminating DEI, diversity, equity, and inclusion in public education. Representative Brendan Jones, the Republican from Columbus County, described this legislation on the House floor. This bill is about keeping our schools focused on what they were built to do. Teach children, respect every student, and prepare them for life.
Senate Bill 227 says public schools should not promote concepts that divide students by race or sex. It says no child should be taught that one race or sex is superior to another. No child should be told that they're inherently racist, sexist, oppressive, guilty, or morally defined because of the race or sex they were born with. That is not censorship. That is common sense.
The spill protects the history. It expressly allows instruction. Representative Jones, just one second. For what purpose, the gentleman from Guilford represent Clickwright. Is it permissible to ask Representative Jones a question as to what he thinks black children have been going through since history has been started?
You hear over and over again. Members, as the member knows, You can't, there is no debate on the previous question having been passed. The majority leader has up to three minutes. The minority leader has up to three minutes. And so, therefore, Representative Jones, the gentleman continues to have the floor.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This also protects speech, independent research, and anything required by state or federal law. And it makes clear that schools must prohibit discrimination, including antisemitism, in employer conduct policies and student codes of conduct. Members, every child in North Klein deserves to walk into a classroom and be treated as an individual, not as a category.
It's not a stereotype, it's not a symbol of guilt or grievance. We want schools teaching reading, writing, math, history, science, and civics. We want schools to teach children how to think. and not what political doctrine they must believe. The governor vetoed this bill.
that stands for dignity, nondiscrimination, honesty, and equal treatment. Today, we should override that veto. Let us stand with parents and students. Let us stand with teachers who want to teach and not indoctrinate. I urge the body to vote yes.
That's Representative Brendan Jones. You heard some of the internal debate within the legislature during every single four of the veto override votes that took place yesterday. Democrats attempting to gain control of the floor and argue the bill and debate the bill's sponsor, as was relayed by House Speaker Destin Hall. The rules passed by the North Carolina House back in April of 2025 when the question is called, meaning moving forward with a vote, each side, both the Republican, the majority and the Democrat minority, are given three minutes per side to debate the legislation arguing against this bill. Representative Zach Hawkins, the Democrat from Durham County.
President Trump and Republican lawmakers have spent the past few months and the past few years now tearing down scholarship programs, erasing military recognitions and historical records, even putting our national security at risk because of DEI. And with this bill, we put our reputation Of being able to make sure that we are building out not only the current students that are in our classrooms, but those are the current people who will work in our jobs. And what the workforce says that we need to do is be able to invest in every single child, make sure that they feel seen, heard, and supported, so they can go off and reach those goals that each one of these companies that are coming to North Carolina and they ask for diversity. that they can bring those jobs to fruition and they can build the type of North Carolina. that we can be proud of.
One popular talking point of DEI is it elevates underqualified students. Um, based on race and background, it does just the opposite again. It makes sure that those kids feel seen, heard, understand they understand that no matter where they come from, that they can make it in North Carolina. And I have to make sure that I also push back on what my colleague just mentioned. That it is not about indoctrination.
It is not about the things that you've heard in that opening. It is about making sure that at the end of the day, we don't lose sight of our North Star. And that is to make sure that every child has an opportunity to succeed. That's Representative Zach Hawkins on the floor of the North Carolina House yesterday, arguing in favor or arguing, keeping the governor's veto of Senate Bill or Senate Bill 227, eliminating DEI in public education. That vote, as all the others that we've talked about here this morning, 71 to 47, meeting the threshold, meeting the criteria for a veto override, and that piece of legislation is now law.
The final override, another DEI piece of legislation, Senate Bill 558, eliminating DEI in public higher education. The majority and the Republican majority did not argue this legislation on the floor.
However, the final word was given to Representative Robert Reeves, the Democrat minority leader in Raleigh. It is smart. If you want to get these bills passed, to keep couching it in race, it is smart to keep couching it in different minority groups. The country became what it became because every single person that got on these shores had an opportunity. To posit.
In my mind, that suddenly these groups with no economic power, no ability to control things, no ability to make anything happen until 1965, before all groups here that weren't white males had a chance to vote, did they have a chance to affect their governments and their communities? Still no access to capital, still no access to the powers of government, because at the end of the day, the most powerful people. And this Government in North Carolina or right here in this legislature. And I don't think any of us would pretend that everybody is represented and all interests are represented.
So let's call it what it is. And what it is right now is: folks have used everything that has made this country great. and they have just made it so their voices could be heard. And what we are doing today is doing everything we can to physically push those voices down. What I will tell, and I mostly talk to my caucus here, you're going to feel bad, you're going to be angry, you're going to be dejected.
But the one thing that this country got started with was the right to vote. And so they can shut you down in government institutions. They can shut you down when you walk on the street. They can charge you with felonies when you go out and you try to voice your disagreement with their beliefs. But they can't at this time stop you from voting.
That's Representative Robert Reeves seemingly arguing a DEI bill, not necessarily on topic with his final comments in Raleigh, regardless of the minority leaders' arguments. 7147 and Senate Bill 558, eliminating DEI in a public higher education, did meet the threshold required and is now law here in North Carolina. One thing to note: the North Carolina House did not take up Senate Bill 50. That is the Freedom to Carry NC Act, which is a concealed carry measure that would allow constitutional carry across the state of North Carolina. That bill has been one of the more uncertain override votes for House Republicans, with at least two GOP members previously voting against it.
That is a problem that Republicans will have to deal with if they're going to take this up before the end of the legislative session. Under the North Carolina Constitution, veto overrides require approval from three. Of members present and voting in the chamber. With all 120 members present, the North Carolina House Republican majority is just one vote short of the 72 votes needed to override a veto without Democrat support. But as I mentioned, two lawmakers absent for these votes yesterday: Representative Carla Cunningham, the Independent from Mecklenburg County, and Democrat Shelly Willingham from Edgecombe County, both taking a walk during these votes, allowing Republicans to override these vetoes with just 71 votes.
We've got continued coverage of a busy Wednesday in Raleigh. Those details are available this morning over on our website, CarolinaJournal.com. Look for the story with the headline: NC House Overrides Stein Vetoes on Immigration and DEI. When you're a maintenance engineer in a beverage manufacturing plant, you keep production lines moving and quality on track because there is no room for slowdowns. With Granger's vast selection of high quality motors, sensors, belts, and hard-to-find parts, you can get what you need fast and all in one place.
So nothing gets in the way of getting the job done. Call 1-800GRANGER, clickranger.com, or just stop by. Granger, for the ones who get it done. It's 5:38. Welcome back to the Carolina Journal News Hour, Charlotte's FM News Talk, 107.9 FM, WBT.
I'm Nick Craig. Good Thursday morning to you. For those in southeastern North Carolina, the company by the name of Como's has been in the news a lot over the past decade.
Some terms like PFAS, PFOS, forever chemicals have been very hot topics of conversation as it relates to water contamination, predominantly in the southeastern half of North Carolina. We've got a major settlement between the United States Department of Justice and Como's, the major chemical manufacturer, to walk us through the nearly half a billion dollar settlement. Mitch Cokei from the John Locke Foundation joins us on the Carolina Journal News Hour. Mitch, for those that are not in the southeast half of our state, this has been a major topic for the last decade. Local water utilities have had to spend hundreds of millions of dollars implementing filtration systems to deal with some of these forever chemicals that they accuse Como's, previously DuPont, dumped into the waterways, most prominently the Cape Fear River here in southeastern North Carolina.
It's a major settlement. What do you make of it? It is a major settlement, and folks who've been following this, Nick, probably know that North Carolina has already had a lawsuit against Comoz that led to some settlement arrangements in which Camours has to spend hundreds of millions of dollars dealing with some of the issues in North Carolina. But this is a major settlement that involves Comoor's facilities in three different states, and it was led largely, the settlement agreement, largely by West Virginia.
So the U.S. Department of Justice put out an announcement that DOJ, the Environmental Protection Agency, and West Virginia's main environmental department had come to this agreement. It's not actually $450 million, which was the headline, but it's estimated that that's going to be the total cost.
So Comoz is going to pay a civil penalty in the $20-plus million dollar range and then come up with some other things that it does that all total are going to probably. end up costing about $450 million, including some items that will take place in West Virginia, some in New Jersey, and some in North Carolina. And they're ending up resolving a complaint that had been filed under Clean Water Act and other federal laws that this settlement says that Kimores had been alleged to have been violating.
So major agreement that essentially it looks as if ends the federal government's process in looking at what Kimores was doing, not only here in North Carolina, but in these other states. We're talking about the Ohio River, Cape Fear River, Delaware River, all of them affected by these PFAS forever chemicals.
Now, as this is happening, we should also mention that North Carolina isn't done with Kimores. We already had the lawsuit that was filed by the Department of Environmental Quality, and there was the resolution of that, which is forcing Kimores to take some steps to help with the cleanup of the. the water quality here. But then there's also a separate suit. That Attorney General, then Attorney General Jeff Josh Stein, now Attorney General Jeff Jackson, is overseeing the Stein suit that is suing Kamour's for other grounds than what the Department of Environmental Quality sued him over.
And so that case. Had been scheduled to go to a big hearing at the state business court, but Comoz appealed to the state Supreme Court. The state Supreme Court stepped in, blocked the trial court proceedings, and now coming up in September, the state Supreme Court is going to address the issue of whether Jeff Jackson, as the Attorney General, is allowed to pursue another suit against Kimours after the Department of Environmental Quality already reached an agreement with Kimours over some of these same issues.
So that's going to be an important thing to watch. Major development. From the federal government, it looks like the federal government has, I don't know if it's finalized everything that it had against K'mores, but it certainly seems as if what the federal government was caring about with West Virginia, New Jersey, and North Carolina now has been resolved. But we're continuing to see things happening at the state level.
So this is far from over, even though this major piece of the federal government puzzle seems to have been settled now. Mitch, there's no surprise that this has been a pretty lengthy legal back and forth you're talking about before Commor's was spun off as part of DuPont when these original allegations were made, which some of them go back 30 or 40 years predominantly with the Effayetteville work site in southeastern North Carolina, where the largest chemical companies in the world.
So no surprise there that this is kind of dragged through the court systems. But on the other side, there's the real-world impacts and implications of this as well, Mitch. As I mentioned, that the open water utilities across southeastern North Carolina have had to invest tens, hundreds of millions of dollars into water infrastructure to try and filter out some of these forever chemicals. And as we know with public utilities, they are ratepayer-funded entities, meaning that unfortunately, a lot of the ratepayers in the southeast half of our state have been left holding the bag while these legal challenges continue to proliferate through the court system. That's right.
And I think part of the reason for the litigation is to try to help recover what some of these ratepayers are having to fund now. Because before the lawsuit settlement and before any legal action is resolved, steps already had to be taken to get the PFAS chemicals out of the water. I mean, it's one thing to sue Camours and DuPont and say you're responsible for this, but as you're pursuing that, you also have to take the public health steps to address the water quality.
So, some of what is happening with these court issues now is to help address recovery from what's already been paid up front to help deal with the impact of this. I think the other thing that's interesting is you mentioned DuPont and the fact that some of this litigation, or at least the discussion of the litigation, goes back decades. One thing that was clearly stated in the U.S. Department of Justice's announcement of this settlement with Camours is that this does not affect DuPont. DuPont, uh, may continue to be have federal complaints pursued against it for its role in what happened before it spun off these plants to Camour's.
So the legal issues are far from being resolved, even though we have this major settlement that's going to total somewhere in the neighborhood of $450 million. It's far from the end of the Kimours story.
So if you're one of those people out there saying, oh, hey, this is it. And now this is all we're going to get out of this company. It's probably not true. There are probably going to be some more things happening on this front, both at the state level and potentially at the federal level, dealing with DuPont's role in all of this. Yeah, great point there about DuPont.
When some of this started making its way into the public light, Mitch, a couple of the sites that we're talking about, including the Fayetteville Works Plant, which is not actually in Cumberland County or in the city of Fayetteville, was spun off into Camours, a completely separate entity, not under the umbrella of DuPont anymore.
So you mentioned that this state lawsuit. And kind of gave us a little bit of an update on where we stand with that right now. Any idea on the timeline? Obviously, this settlement from the DOJ was just announced yesterday. And so while the announcement is here, obviously some of this stuff could take potentially months to play out as all the final deal is kind of hammered out there between the Department of Justice and Comoz.
What about for some of these state issues that have remained pretty hot priorities?
Well, remember, there's already one legal action that took place between the Department of Environmental Quality and Commours and DuPont. And so there's already things happening because of the resolution of that litigation. The second suit, which is the suit that then Attorney General Josh Stein filed and now current State Attorney General Jeff Jackson is following, that was scheduled to go to a hearing, I believe it was last year, before a trial judge. And that hearing had to be canceled because Kamours and DuPont went to the state Supreme Court to get a stay.
Now the state's highest court, the Supreme Court, will hold oral arguments in September on whether the Attorney General can even pursue this suit.
So it's likely that you would wait at least a couple of months, if not several months or many, many months before getting a Supreme Court ruling on whether Jackson can pursue his suit. If Jackson can pursue a suit, you have to go all the way back to the trial court, where they at least had gone through enough of a set of proceedings so that it was... If not a trial, very close to what would be a trial, but still you're months away from anything happening with the Attorney General's suit.
So while some pieces of the already resolved state litigation are playing out, and we will see the results of this federal settlement playing out in the coming months, the other lawsuit that the Attorney General of North Carolina is pursuing will have to wait probably months before we see any resolution on that. And just recapping that federal settlement, $22.5 million worth of civil penalties against Komores that they will pay as it relates to that and upwards of $90 million over a 15-year period of time to the three states in discussion, West Virginia, North Carolina, and New Jersey. We've got a lot more coverage this morning over on our website, CarolinaJournal.com. We appreciate the update this morning. Mitch Kokai from the John Locke Foundation joins us on the Carolina Journal News Hour.
Uh Good morning again. It's 5:55. Welcome back to the Carolina Journal News Hour, Charlotte's FM News Talk 107.9 FM, WBT recapping our top story this morning: a busy Wednesday in Raleigh as the North Carolina General Assembly, more particularly the North Carolina House, voting on four veto overrides, overriding Governor Josh Stein's vetoes from earlier this year. These pieces of legislation, three dealing with diversity, equity, and inclusion, one dealing with immigration and border protection, and requiring additional conversations between local law enforcement agencies and state officials. Governor Josh Stein released a press release after these veto overrides saying, as this legislature leaves teachers and law enforcement officers waiting for hard-earned and desperately needed pay raises, members of the General Assembly are Stoking the cultural wars that divide us rather than fulfilling their long-overdue responsibility of passing a budget.
It is time for them to do their jobs for the people of North Carolina. Instead, they are overriding my veto on bills to whitewash the diversity that makes our state strong and to take state law enforcement officers away from their existing state duties, forcing them to act as federal immigration agents. Many of these bills, or all of these bills, I should say, have been heavily debated in the past five, six, seven different opportunities for debate in both the North Carolina House and Senate. These veto overrides had been sitting on the calendar for months in the North Carolina General Assembly every time. Lawmakers made their way back to Raleigh.
The big question was: would those veto overrides be taking place? Four out of five have. The only one withstanding right now is Senate Bill 50. That is constitutional, a constitutional carry measure here in North Carolina. As it stands right now, Republican lawmakers do not have enough votes to get to the three-fifths majority needed for a veto override in the North Carolina House.
Obviously, time is running out on that. It would need to be done before the legislative short session ends here in the next couple of weeks. You can read continuing coverage of these veto overrides over on our website this morning, CarolinaJournal.com. That's going to do it for a Thursday 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.
