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Good morning to you. Last week was incredibly busy in the North Carolina legislature as lawmakers, after months of negotiations, have finally come to a deal on a budget. That budget now sits on the desk of Democrat Governor Josh Stein. We'll get into some of those details coming up here in just a couple of minutes.
However, it is set to be a quiet couple of weeks in Raleigh as the legislative short session continues to walk us through some of those details this morning. Andrew Pomerantz, CarolinaJournal.com. Andrew, you talk about going from 100 to zero. Lawmakers were in full force last week. Crickets being heard at the North Carolina General Assembly till the end of July.
What's the latest that you're following as to when lawmakers might be back? Yeah, hey Nick, good morning. It's been a slow start to this week after a crazy, like you mentioned last week. We came from just having a budget agreement last Sunday, or I guess two Sundays ago now, to a budget there in less than five days, right? And so it was a go-go-go time down at the legislature as they tried to wrap up business before heading home for the July 4th weekend.
We are out until July 27th, currently, or that week of.
So, we expect votes probably the 28th, 29th that week. Speaker Hall not committing to a single date during that week yet. But we'll see them back in Raleigh at least that week to wrap up some of the business that they left unfinished, including potentially that state budget, depending on the actions of Governor Stein later this week or into next week. And so, a number of things left unfinished that they're going to have to work on when they come back at the end of July. But until then, a lot of work happening behind the scenes as we wait for Governor Stein to act on a lot of these bills that are on his desk now.
Yeah, we did see some signings from the governor yesterday. We are, again, still waiting to figure out exactly what he's going to do with the budget. Important to note, it did pass both the North Carolina House and Senate with some pretty broad bipartisan support. The governor's got a little bit less than a week now to either sign or veto the budget, or it would become law automatically. Let's go back to the North Carolina legislature.
This is the short session, Andrew. All the work was supposed to be done in 2025. That's when lawmakers gaveling not long after the start of the year, and in some cases, run almost all the way up until Christmas in the first year after an election. Here we are in 2026, the legislative short session kicking off according to my calendar in later April, working over the last couple of months. Interesting that they're going to come back in July, as I would imagine many of these lawmakers would want to be home in their districts.
They've got elections coming up in early November. Yeah, I think it'll be a quick trip back to Raleigh when we do see them here at the end of July. I would not expect to see them in Raleigh for more than maybe a week or two as they wrap up business. But I think that's what happens, Nick. You know, when they have to sit on things like the state budget all the way into the first week of July, they have no option but potentially to return in July to either handle those governor veto overrides or finish some conference reports that I think are still moving through the process that get held up because of the budget delay.
And so I promise you, they all want to be in their districts. They all want to be out campaigning. I think November, I think they feel it on the calendar just as quick as we do, and maybe even a little bit quicker than we do. But we are heading towards in the end of July that could be really consequential as we head into election season, especially with the budget still outstanding and so many other bills that got a lot of attention during the General Assembly didn't pass till the very end and now are sitting on Governor Stein's desk. And so a number of consequential things that we could see here at the end of July.
I think they feel the pressure and I think it'll be a quick session. Yeah, we could see some additional constitutional amendments as well. One of the big things that we have continually kept an eye on is Senate Bill 50. This has been something that has been put on and then removed from the legislative calendar of the North Carolina House literally for months now. Every time they come back in, always the question: are they going to take up this veto ride on Senate Bill 50?
We did see some other veto override actions from the North Carolina House recently.
However, Andrew 50 does remain on the calendar. That is getting a lot of talk amongst the grassroots conservatives here in the state of North Carolina going forward with constitutional carry. Have you heard any update as to if and when there could possibly be a vote on this, or do the Republicans even have enough for a vote? Yeah, I think it's something that grassroots folks in the Republican Party may continue to be disappointed about. We reported it back, reported on it back when they took up the rest of the slate of veto overrides earlier during the short session, you know, passing with Carla Cunningham, now independent out of Mecklenburg, Shelly Willingham, Democrat, willing to take a walk and allow those veto overrides to happen without their presence in the chamber.
And to this day, still unsure, unclear where they are and refuse to answer questions for us of where they were those days.
So, you know, an obvious attempt to kind of get back at Governor Stein for mingling in their primary elections this year. And so with neither of them returning after January, this is something that, you know, Republicans have been pushing to try to get a vote on for a while now. But we are, the Republican Party is still short. Everyone I've spoken to from votes from their own party. They don't have the 71 votes that they've had with the other veto overrides.
They also, I don't think, have the support of. Of those two Democrats to walk out on this particular piece of legislation. And so, last as of just a month ago, we're still hearing that Representative William Brisson and Ted Davis are still against the bill. They were two Republican no votes when the bill originally passed to the General Assembly last session in the 2025-long session. I mean, with 12 Republicans at that point, also not being present for that vote that day.
So, I think we'll see a number of Republicans who are opposed to this, and I think they see it as a bill that could hurt them come November. And so, I think the one chance we do see in this bill passing is that it happens after the election. But until then, I think we'll continue to see this. me to override top up with a calendar. Yeah, great point there.
And there's been a lot of criticism thrown at people like House Speaker Destin Hall saying, Hey, just have the vote, have the vote. From what you're hearing and from I think what a lot of other folks are hearing across the state, there's just not enough Republicans as it stands right now in the General Assembly. They, I guess, presumably the House Speaker could call the vote. It would fail, and then the legislation would be done and would have no path forward. But you just brought up something interesting there, Andrew.
And we have seen this before. Election Day is going to roll around in early November, but the new legislature is not sworn in until the beginning of 2027.
So this will give lawmakers, and we've seen this in the past, time to come back in a couple of weeks after Christmas, ahead of the or a couple of weeks before Christmas, I should say, ahead of the new year to deal with some unfinished business. Because once that calendar flips over to 2027, all the current bills are wiped out. Anything that's unfinished is removed. And we start off what will be the 27-28 legislative long and short session. Yeah, as much as people may not want to hear this, this is something that we could have continually be on the calendar through the end of the year.
If this, you know, it could be one of the last things that the House actually takes up some votes on. You know, of the 12 Republicans who were not present on the day that this originally passed, nine are in competitive districts, according to the Civitas Intex over at the John Locke Foundation.
So within three or four points either way. And so, you know, in those districts that are going to be real toss up in November, this is something that we could see as people lose their elections or win elections feel more empowered to handle and confident to vote on. And something that I think a lot of us are waiting to see if it does pop up in that potential short rush session, depending on the November results at the end of the year. Just kind of recapping our conversation: lawmakers not expected to be back until the end of July. A budget does currently sit on the desk of Democrat Governor Josh Stein, still awaiting his action.
He does have to move on it sometime before July the 12th, or that bill, which is the state budget, will become law automatically. Andrew and our team are going to be keeping a very close eye on that as we remain as we go through the remainder of this week. You can read continuing coverage over on our website this morning, CarolinaJournal.com. Andrew Pomerance joins us on the Carolina Journal News Hour. You're great at protecting your data, but lots of places could still expose you to identity theft.
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Okay. It's 5:20. Welcome back to the Carolina Journal News Hour, Charlotte's FM News Talk, 107.9 FM, WBT, happening this morning. We are learning information and detail that Democrat Governor Josh Stein is set to take action on the state budget, according to a press release from the governor's office, which reads, Advisory, Governor Stein to take action on state budget. It does not say what that action will be.
The governor's two options, of course, are to sign the legislation or veto it. That is set to happen at 10 o'clock this morning at the governor's mansion. We will have continuing coverage throughout the day over on our website, CarolinaJournal.com, and have the latest for you coming up tomorrow morning right here on the Carolina Journal News Hour. As we continue our coverage of a busy week in Raleigh last week and looking at some continued details on Senate Bill 257, which is the 2026 Appropriations Act, also known as the state budget, it could give North Carolinians more options for inpatient rehabilitation care. Included in the budget is a provision repealing portions of certificate of need review for those inpatient rehab services, facilities, and beds starting as soon as October the 1st of 2026.
North Carolina's certificate of need laws, which date all the way back to the 1970s, require healthcare providers to obtain state approval before building or expanding certain facilities, adding beds or services, or buying major medical equipment. The repeal is narrower than a bill filed earlier this session by State Senator Benton Sawyery, the Republican from Johnston County, to fully repeal North Carolina's certificate of need law. Senate Bill 370, that's the bill we're talking about, passed the Senate in a 31 to 17 vote in April of 2025, but has remained in the House Rules Committee since. And there has been no action on that legislation now for more than a year. House Speaker Destin Hall's office refused to comment about the bill's status to Representative Tim Reeder, the Republican from Pitt County, chairman of the House Health Committee.
Reader did not respond to Carolina Journal's request for comment by our publication time. Sawyery, the chairman of the Senate Health Committee, said that the House and Senate could not reach an agreement on full repeal, so he pushed for narrower changes in areas where supporters identified special access issues. Sawyer said in a statement to Carolina Journal: if we can't get broad reform, then I'm going to work on finding targeted areas so that we can make incremental progress. As part of the 2023 Medicaid expansion deal, the General Assembly repealed some certificate of need requirements for some surgery centers and MRI machines. With Sawyer, he said he expects to see results from those reforms in the next few years as new facilities and machines across the state of North Carolina come online.
And he hopes that they will show opponents and the public that certificate of need reforms can have a stabilizing effect on prices and access. Brian Balfour, who is the senior vice president of research at the John Locke Foundation, said that inpatient rehabilitation repeal is a small but important step in the right direction. Balfour said in part, government interference is the main cause of spiraling health care costs and supply shortages. Repealing our certificate of need law would be an important step in unraveling some of that interference. A 2021 report from the John Locke Foundation found that certificate of need laws are associated with 30% fewer hospitals per capita, 13% fewer hospital beds, 14% longer emergency room wait times, and 3% higher spending.
The North Carolina Healthcare Association, which does represent healthcare systems across the state and is a major supporter of maintaining certificate of need laws, said that it is concerned by this provision in the budget. A spokesperson told the Carolina Journal: North Carolina certificate of need programs help ensure that healthcare resources are allocated efficiently. Equitably across the state, preventing costly duplication of services while supporting access to essential care, including charity care and services in rural and underserved communities. The spokesperson went on to say: hospitals are still assessing the full impact of previous certificate of need modifications, and additional changes could dispute the balance that protects access to care for patients across North Carolina. The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services also says that they are still evaluating some of the language in the state budget, with a spokesperson telling Carolina Journal: while we're still evaluating to understand the specific impact of the changes put forth in the budget, we will continue to work with lawmakers towards our shared goal, a healthier North Carolina for all.
Blue Cross, North Carolina, the largest health insurer in the state, declined to comment on some of these changes. With the John Locke Foundation filing an amicus brief in April supporting a New Bern doctor's challenge to North Carolina certificate of need laws, that case is currently before the state's court of appeals.
So, that is another provision that we are watching in the state budget that, if signed by Democrat Governor Josh Stein today, could make access to inpatient rehab care more accessible and affordable across North Carolina. In some other details on the state budget, for the first time since 2013, a Republican senator has voted against the full budget. It still passed the chamber both times in the North Carolina Senate.
However, Senators Bobby Hoenig, the Republican from Curituck, and Norman Sanderson, the Republican from Pamlico, voted against Senate. Bill 257 both on second reading Wednesday last Wednesday over a provision that required tolls on all state ferry routes. Neither senator voted against the budget on its final reading, which happened last Thursday. Hoenig was absent while Sanderson voted for the bill. The state budget, as written now, would require the ferry division to begin collecting tolls on all seven of its ferry routes no later than January the 1st of 2027, with three of the routes currently being tolled.
The budget does not specify how much the new tolls would be, but it would create a $150 annual resident commuter pass. The fare for a typical ferry currently ranges from $7 to $15 on the state's existing tolled ferries. Again, only three of those depending on the route. In coastal communities, ferries are a part of the state highway system connecting residents to jobs. jobs, school, medical appointments, grocery stores, and other basic services in areas where bridges are limited or non-existent.
Bobby Hoenig, the state senator from Currituck County, said, I made a promise to my constituents a long time ago that I would vote no for a ferry tax. For that reason, I have to vote no on this budget. Sanderson said that lawmakers should wait for a pending ferry division audit before expanding ferry tolls. House Bill 1094 would require state auditor Dave Bollick to conduct an audit and report his new findings to lawmakers as soon as late as January the 5th of next year. With Sanderson saying on the Senate floor, I'm just asking us to reconsider this part of the budget and give us a chance to get through this audit that we have requested.
To see if there are other ways that we can save money in the ferry system and not have to tell the citizens of North Carolina who already pay gas taxes. Both Hoenig and Sanderson say they supported much of the budget, including historic raises for teachers and state employees, but said that the ferry toll provision would hurt their coastal constituents too much to back the final spending plan. The vote marks another rare break between the coastal senators and Republican leadership. In June of 2025, Hoenig and Sanderson were among four Senate Republicans who opposed a GOP-backed shrimp trawling bill along the coast that we covered in pretty great detail over at Carolina Journal, getting a lot of action back in June of 2025. Mitch Coke from the John Locke Foundation said that the budget no votes were unexpected, but came in an unusual political moment with Coke saying this is Senator Phil Berger's last budget as president pro tem, so neither Hoenig nor fellow no vote Senator Sanderson need to worry much long term in terms of negative impacts for crossing.
the Senate leaders, the Senate's current leader. Coke I said Hoenig likely also feels low pressure to follow potty lines because he is not running for re-election. In addition, with nine Democrats voting for the budget, he said that Republican leaders probably feel less pressure to keep every GOP senator on board. We are again watching and keeping track of tabs on Democrat Governor Josh Stein, who is set to take action on the state budget as early as 10 o'clock this morning from the governor's mansion. We'll be keeping you up to date throughout the day on our various social media channels and over on our website, CarolinaJournal.com.
Mm. 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 Tuesday morning to you.
We are tracking some pretty interesting political developments out of Rockingham County, North Carolina. If that sounds vaguely familiar to you, remember earlier this year, a major primary election taking place in Rockingham and northern Guilford counties during the March the 3rd primary. That pitted the Rockingham County Sheriff in Sam Page against the current leader of the North Carolina Senate in Phil Berger. And while those two names are the ones that we're talking about, it's actually a different burger in this discussion this morning. A new lawsuit walks through some of those details this morning.
Mitch Kokai from the John Locke Foundation joins us here on the Carolina Journal News Hour. Mitch, I guess the folks up in Rockingham County and the political sphere up there just needed a little bit more drama. This is dealing with, as I understand it, one of Phil Berger's children, his son, who's a county commissioner. That's exactly right. As you mentioned, this was the major election during the March primary season when Phil Berger, longtime Senate leader, fell to the Rockingham County Sheriff Sam Page by just 23 votes.
And so Page unseats the nation's longest-serving legislative chamber leader and is likely to go on to win a seat in the General Assembly. He does face general election opposition. But meanwhile, he has now filed a lawsuit against one of Phil Berger's higher-profile children. The other, Phil Berger Jr., is a state Supreme Court justice, but the one the suit is filed against is Kevin Berger, who is, as you mentioned, a Rockingham County commissioner. And the lawsuit from Sam Page claims retaliation.
Now, he sued both the county, Rockingham County itself, and Kevin Berger individually. And the claim is that the county government, including Kevin Berger and led by Kevin Berger, Kevin Berger retaliated against Page for running against Phil Berger Sr. And the way in which this retaliation took place was targeting what ends up being Sam Page's retirement income from his 20-plus years, I think almost nearly 30 years as the sheriff of Rockingham County.
So basically, the crux of this lawsuit is Sam Page decides to run against Phil Berger. Kevin Berger and his colleagues on the county commissioners, at least the majority of them, don't like that. And so they are targeting Sam Page and saying that he does not deserve the salary that he's getting and that they have a way to take some of that away. Once they take away some of that salary, that affects how much money gets into his retirement account.
So how much money he will be earning for retirement from here on in, continuing, even if he has service in the General Assembly, he would get. Retirement from his years of sheriff as sheriff. And so this federal lawsuit claims retaliation. The claim includes First and 14th Amendment violations that by speaking out and running against Phil Berger, the county is retaliating against him. And also, under a state law that prevents a county from lowering the salary of an elected official while they're serving in office.
So that's even though this is in federal court, one of the claims is on this state level challenge. And so it'll be interesting to see what happens. In the days since this suit has been filed, it's been pretty quiet. We haven't seen any quick action. Although in the suit itself, Sam Page and his lawyers are basically saying they would like to get some quick action because the final decisions that will help determine.
how much money goes into his retirement fund and thus how much he'll be able to get from the state from years on out is going to be determined relatively quickly.
So we may see some action on this sooner rather than later. Mitch, you kind of led me into my question here. Interesting, when you go over and check out some of the details over on our website, CarolinaJournal.com, this was filed in federal court.
Now, you mentioned a couple of the arguments dealing with the United States Constitution, but also state law. Mitch, you follow a lot of legal challenges. You've joined us, I don't even know how many hundreds of times here on the Carolina Journal News Hour. Is it a little bit surprising to you that this was initially filed in federal court? Not a surprise for a couple of reasons.
I think from the perspective of legally, because some of the violations that are alleged are federal constitutional violations, violations of the First and the 14th Amendments, that basically makes it a good candidate for a federal court case, even though also tacked on to it is this state-level charge of illegally lowering the salary of a county official while he's serving in office. That if that was the only claim in the suit, that would almost certainly have to be in state court and would not be in federal court. The fact that there are the federal violations alleged makes it a good candidate for a federal suit. But also, I think you see that politically, it probably makes sense for Sam Page and his legal team to file this in federal court, because if it goes through state court, ultimately, it could get to the state Supreme Court. And as has been mentioned, And one of the other people who sits at the state Supreme Court is Phil Berger Jr.
So that's someone who, although knowing Justice Phil Berger Jr., he is someone who would be very inclined to weigh all sides of the case, give a fair ruling. He almost certainly would have to step away from this case because one of the named defendants is his brother, and one of the people also involved in the whole controversy is his father, who lost the election to pay to Sam Page.
So state court. The Page team might have thought it might be a little bit trickier road for us where there are more people here who might be supporters or even in some ways beholden to Phil Berger Sr. because of his role in the state senate. But the fact that you have the federal constitutional claims also made it not a stretch. It's not as if, oh, this is really a state level case and we're just going to try to see if the federal courts will take it.
Because there are federal constitutional violations that are alleged, having it start in federal court probably makes constitutional and legal sense along with political sense. Yeah, there's a lot of different factors there. You mentioned the position that Justice Phil Berger Jr. is in. It would be a very interesting one if something like this were in state court and did rise to the level of our state's highest court.
And I will say that one thing that probably weighs into the idea of Phil Berger Jr. recusing himself, if this were a state-level case, is that he did recuse himself recently when the state Supreme Court decided to take up a case dealing with the rezoning for a probable casino in Rockingham County. That also is a decision that involves his brother, Kevin Berger. And Phil Berger Jr. recused himself from the decision to take that case.
So one would suspect that if this were a state-level case, that he would feel compelled even more to step away from this case, having his brother be a name defendant.
So, you mentioned at the beginning here a couple of different, well, one individual involved and then an entity involved. We've got Kevin Berger, the Rockingham County Commissioner who's named in this suit, but then also the county itself. That's kind of an interesting dynamic, as I mentioned at the top. And as you've already mentioned, Sam Page, who is now running for the North Carolina General Assembly, has been, I think, 28 or 29 years, Mitch, as you noted, has been the duly sworn sheriff in Rockingham County, a very longtime serving member of a local government. Interesting to see the county in here as well.
Yes, and I think that probably almost has to take place because the decision that's being challenged was a decision by the Guilford County Commissioners.
Now, Kevin Berger is named, and Sam Page is obviously saying during the course of this complaint that Kevin Berger was really leading the charge here. But the decision about what to do with Sam Page's pay and what to do with his retirement money. That is all being made by the Guilford County Board of Commissioners.
So you almost certainly had to see either a suit filed against Guilford County or filing it against all of the Guilford County Commissioners who were involved in their official capacity.
So I think suing the county probably makes this a simplified case because the name defendants are Guilford County and Kevin Berger. Rockingham County there for Rockingham County, yes. Yes, I should say Guilford. That district, of course, deals with Guilford and Rockingham County, but we're talking about Rockingham County.
So let's walk through some of the next steps here. As you mentioned, as this was filed back a little over a week ago, not necessarily any action, at least up until this point. All right, Mitch, my favorite question I like asking you: how quickly does something like this progress through? We're talking about the federal court system here. What do you think?
Well, it could take months or years. What would be interesting to see is if there's going to be some type of motion for a preliminary injunction, some sort of emergency motion, because as I mentioned a little while ago, the decisions about what kind of money to put into Sam Page's retirement account have to take place relatively soon. It's not something that's years away. It's basically he's done being the sheriff at the end of this year.
So, Rockingham County's decisions about his future really. have to be decided fairly soon. And so we might see some sort of motion for a preliminary injunction. And then you could see relatively quick action that would kind of decide the case. Because if there's a preliminary injunction, that means he's likely to win the suit in general.
And so that would probably ultimately decide what happens. But so far, no motion yet for a preliminary injunction. And without such a motion, it could be months before we see any briefing in the case and months and even maybe a year or more before we'd see some sort of trial.
So my guess is the next thing to watch for is some sort of motion for a preliminary injunction against Kevin Berger and Rockingham County. And I would be shocked if Sam Page's lawyers don't put something like that together in the not too distant future. It's a nice little cherry on top of all of the interesting political drama we've seen up in Rockingham County, also northern portions of Guilford County as well.
Well, where that Senate district exists, we'll be keeping a close eye on this legal challenge 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. Good morning again. It's 5:56.
Welcome back to the Carolina Journal News Hour, Charlotte's FM News Talk, 107.9 FM. WBT expecting a busy day at the governor's mansion. As Democrat Governor Josh Stein, according to a press release from his office, says that he is set to take action on the state budget coming up at 10 o'clock this morning. The governor's two options as it relates to action on the budget is to sign it into law or veto the legislation. The latter of those two options could force lawmakers to head back to Raleigh ahead of their end of July date to potentially deal with a veto override on the budget, which did receive very strong bipartisan support last week when it was voted on Wednesday and Thursday in the North Carolina House and Senate.
As we approach the 10 o'clock hour here this morning, make sure you are heading on over to our website, CarolinaJournal.com, and following the Carolina Journal News Hour, or the Carolina Journal on all of our social media channels. We'll have the latest coming up for you tomorrow morning right here on the Carolina Journal News Hour. That's going to do it for a Tuesday edition. WBT News is next, followed by Good Morning BT. We're back tomorrow morning, 5 to 6, right here on Charlotte's FM News Talk, 107.9 FM, WBT.
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