It's 5.06 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. We start off this morning with a recap of July's Council of State meeting happening earlier this week, typically within the first couple of days of July, as state officials announced a couple of different things. 100,000 new business developments in the first half of 2026, the pending receipt of 3 million eggs as part of a pricing collusion settlement, and the honoring of a recent Medal of Honor recipient from the Vietnam War during that July the 7th meeting.
Secretary of State Elaine Marshall announced that new business creations hit a record high in the first half of the year compared to Comparing it with previous years, Marshall told her fellow Council of State members, I kept saying historic, and each month it is historic. It's escalating and it is wonderful for the business community. For the first time in North Carolina history, we have created more than 100,000 new businesses in the first half of the year. Marshall said that the exact number is 103,866, with the previous first half of the year record being set back in 2021 at 96,000. Secretary Elaine Marshall went on to say that we are on track to exceed 200,000 this year if everything in the second half of the year goes the way that the first did.
We did 19,300 new businesses in the month of June. This breaks down to 877 new business filings with the Secretary of State office every single day. Elaine Marshall said there are only two months in the history of the agency that 19,000 new businesses have been created in a month where that number was surpassed. To put it succinctly, we are on fire when it comes to new business creation. The Secretary reported to the governor that the state's economic relationship with Canada continues to be strong.
Some interesting facts for you. Canada is North Carolina's top trading partner, according to the Secretary of State.
So that's a little bit of a recap there on the business front. A lot of new business creation. Here in the state of North Carolina, coming out of Secretary of State Elaine Marshall. During the same Council of State meeting earlier this week, North Carolina Labor Commissioner Luke Farley. Reflected on what he described as an unforgettable experience in meeting U.S.
Marine Corps Major James Capers Jr., one of only 22 Medal of Honor recipients in North Carolina. Capers, who was awarded the Medal of Honor by President Donald Trump back on June the eighteenth for his service in the Vietnam War, was honored Saturday, July 4th as the Grand Marshal of Raleigh's First in Freedom Parade. Governor Josh Stein called him a, quote, truly unique North Carolinian worthy of respect. Luke Farley, the labor commissioner, said he was struck not only by his heroism, including rescuing his men over four days before evacuating himself from battle, but also by the public's reaction to him during the parade. Farley told his fellow Council of State members, it was just something to be in his presence.
My place in the parade was behind his float as the Grand Marshal. And I just want to tell you, it was incredible to see him go by the crowds. People would stand up, they would cheer, they would shout his name. Farley described this moment as a sort of human wave of appreciation with those going to the parade raising to their feet to provide respect to the individual receiving that Medal of Honor award, U.S. Marine Corps Major James Caper Jr.
Farley said it was just such a gratifying thing to see this up so close. In some other details from the Council of State meeting, Governor Josh Stein thanked State Treasurer Brad Briner for his willingness to lead the newly established Healthcare Affordability Commission. With Chebriner and the North Carolina Secretary of Health and Human Services Director will co-chair. The governor said during the meeting, healthcare is rising at a much faster rate than general inflation. General inflation is rising to as high as it is.
So it's understandable for the state's budget. It's incredibly unsustainable for people's household budgets. People are really struggling with the cost of living. He asserted that the cost of health care has to be lowered, otherwise, all other critical services are going to be pushed out. State Treasurer Brad Breiner described the task force as a bipartisan and cross-section representation of all health care with an ambitious mission to see what, if anything, can actually be done to constrain the accelerating costs increases within the healthcare system here across North Carolina that we see every single year.
That commission begins later this month and will deliver hopefully real findings, according to the state treasurer, by sometime next year. The North Carolina Department of State Treasurer also announced $8 billion in earnings in the pension system, reducing the pension deficit by almost 75%, a substantial percentage there since Breiner took office. Breiner said, That puts us in the position to stop asking so much of taxpayers and to start granting cost of living adjustments, hopefully in 2027.
Some major changes being made to the pension system. And the state health plan system. Both of those are the responsibility of the state treasurer and Brad Breiner, and he has done an absolutely phenomenal job over the last year and a half getting both of those systems back on track for those that have worked and do continue to work for the state of North Carolina. Over to the Attorney General's Office, North Carolina AG Jeff Jackson reported that North Carolina food banks would receive 3 million eggs, excuse me, as part of a settlement against three egg producers who were caught overcharging and breaking the law. This is part of a larger national settlement totaling a whopping 53 million eggs.
So, some good news there for food banks and pantries across the state of North Carolina. Jeff Jackson also reported that a North Carolina lawsuit initiated against Meta, that is the apparent company of Facebook and Instagram, is set to proceed to trial in the coming months after Meta's motion for a summary judgment was denied by a U.S. district judge. And that trial is set to begin coming up here in a little more than a month on August the 18th. According to Jackson, he said, The core of this case, as you'll recall, is that there were harms to children that were not fully disclosed, and there was information gathered on those children in violation of the law.
This is a very serious case and a very high priority for us. Finally, State Treasurer Brad Briner announced that a new case, rather, excuse me, North Carolina Attorney General Jeff Jackson announced that a new case was initiated against the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services because they reinterpreted something that Congress passed in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act and that, according to the AG's office, they felt was more than a reinterpretation, however, actually a violation. New work requirements were added to Medicaid in the One Big Beautiful bill for those that do take advantage of the program. Still in doing so, Congress implemented a protection for people described as medically frail. Those with serious illnesses such as cancer, other issues such as muscular dystrophy, cystic fibrosis, ALS, and others would qualify as the most serious illness that you can have, according to Jeff Jackson.
The AG said that CMS ignored this protection and created their own test in a way that would be much harsher, narrower than the protections and probably result in a lot of people losing their insurance. The AG's office estimated that this would affect between 70,000 and 100,000 people in North Carolina, with the AG saying these are the sickest low-income people in our state. We anticipate this matter being heard via a request for preliminary injunction within the next couple of weeks. Full resolution will take a matter of months, but we are confident that we have a strong case here.
So it was a very busy Council of State meeting to kick off the month of July. A lot of news on the business and economic front, some good stuff there. Work being done by state treasurer Brad Breiner to make sure that things like the state health plan and the state pension or retirement system are put in good place. A little bit of a recap from Labor Commissioner Luke Farley on the July the 4th parade that happened in downtown Raleigh, celebrating U.S. Marine Corps Major James Capers Jr., who was a recent Medal of Honor recipient.
And then finally, a couple of legal updates there from Attorney General Jeff Jackson. You can read more on this meeting as we continue to cover each and every Council of State meeting here in North Carolina. You can head on over to our website this morning at CarolinaJournal.com and read additional details. Lots of places can expose you to identity theft. Oh, no.
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Terms apply. It's 520. Welcome back to the Carolina Journal News Hour, Charlotte's FM News Talk, 107.9 FM. WBT, I'm Nick Craig. Good morning to you.
If you are a North Carolinian that is lucky enough to live in one of 19 counties across the state of North Carolina, you are familiar with the process of passing an emissions test as part of your annual safety inspection. Once you hear here in North Carolina, you've got to make your way to a local mechanic, a car dealership, and pass an annual safety inspection.
However, in 19 counties across the state of North Carolina, that also required going through emissions testing as well.
However, there are some changes now as we continue to comb through details in the recently approved and signed state budget. To walk us through the latest on this, Katie Zender, CarolinaJournal.com, joins us on the Carolina Journal News Hour. Katie, this is a big business. The 19 counties listed are typically the most populous, largest counties in the state of North Carolina that are going through this process. State lawmakers look to try and eliminate this vehicle emission standard, but there's also a federal government tie-in here as well.
There's a lot going on. Bring us up to date on the latest. All right, good morning, Nick. Thank you for having me on. Yeah, so in the newly signed state budget, there is a section that would effectively eliminate the requirement for vehicle emissions testing in the remaining 19 counties.
However, that is tied to EPA approval.
So just because the state budget has now been signed, we're still waiting on the EPA to approve some things before this goes into effect. And it does look like that is going to be approved by the EPA, but that just hasn't happened yet. And so when that approval comes through, I believe within 15 days of that approval that this will go into effect. But currently, under law in North Carolina, there are, as you said, 19 counties that are required to perform vehicle emissions inspections, including Mecklenburg County. And these annual and safety inspections are, you know, it's part of the annual safety inspection process that's required across the state.
In the 2020 In 2023 budget, there was language included that eliminated the requirement for an emissions inspection in 18 out of the 19 counties, with Mecklenburg being the only remaining county in the program, according to Sean Taylor, who's the PIO for the Division of Air Quality and Environmental Education at the NC Department of Environmental Quality. This 2023 budget language also kind of narrowed the kinds of vehicles required to adhere to this within Mecklenburg County.
However, here's the catch, Nick. These changes cannot go into effect until the EPA approves North Carolina's revised air quality plan that was submitted. By the DEQ in October of 2024. Once this is approved, the plan would eliminate the federal requirement in all 19 counties, which are currently subject to the emissions inspection.
Now I spoke with Representative Dean Arp, who's a Republican out of Union County. And he said that over the years, the cars have been produced to the higher air quality standards, and as a result, the air has gotten cleaner from the air quality standpoint. He said, What they've been doing is, in recognition of that, they've been rolling back the counties that meet the clean air standards.
So, if you're in a county that rolls back or that meets these clean air standards, those requirements are being rolled back, which is what is being done here with those 18 out of the 19 counties that would roll back that approval as part of the air quality plan.
However, we're still waiting on EPA approval for that.
So, he said, now in this budget, the one that was just signed by Stein on Tuesday, we roll it back for Mecklenburg County as well, but that's still being contingent on EPA approval.
Now, they do expect EPA, or the EPA has proposed approving the plan, and if it's finalized, it would eliminate emissions testing in the 18 counties outlined in the 2023 budget. And then Mecklenburg would be the only remaining county required under state law to perform the emissions inspection, even if the federal requirement is removed.
So, what has happening in the state budget is if the EPA approves an amendment to North Carolina's state implementation plan. That is what would roll back the requirement in Mecklenburg County as well.
So there's a couple of different EPA approvals here that we're waiting for approval on in order to trigger these rollbacks. But that's kind of what's happening here. And then The EPA put out a press release where the regional administrator, who is Kevin McOhmber, he said, through cooperative federalism, the EPA is working with North Carolina to lower costs for their residents while maintaining protection for human health and the environment. Katie, there's a lot of different moving pieces here. For those that are wondering, and they've probably dealt with this, those 19 counties do tend to be the ones that have some of the larger populations.
Just to list off a couple of them: Bunkham, that's, of course, where the city of Asheville is. Cumberland County, that's where Fayetteville is. Durham is in that list as well. Forsyth County, Mecklenburg, New Hanover, Wake Union, as you just mentioned there, from Representative Arpin. For any individuals that have a car that is newer than 20 years old, going through this process of through your annual safety inspection of getting this emissions test can be a pretty big financial burden.
If you've got a check engine light on in your car, which for the most part is not a major mechanical issue, typically dealing with those sensors related to emissions issues, Katie, that can cost a consumer potentially thousands of dollars, depending on what the issue is, simply to pass that emissions test, which is required to, of course, renew your vehicle registration across the state of North Carolina. Right, that's exactly right, Nick. And you mentioned at the beginning and kicking off this interview that this is a pretty big industry.
So, one thing that John Sanders, who's the director of the Center for Food, Power, and Life here at John Locke, told me is if If these rollbacks go into effect, it would actually reduce the cost of the annual inspection by more than half.
So currently that cost is about $30. It would bring it down to about $13.60 for the safety inspection. And so, for as we look at that, the vast majority of North Carolina, almost 80% of the state is paying that $13 fee without that emissions standard. It's just these 19 counties now in North Carolina that are paying that fee. May not sound like a lot in the grand scheme of things, it's probably not for a lot of individuals.
And it's not often, Katie, you can say, hey, cut the price to something in half. If only we could see that with our electrical bills, our water bills, and some of our other utilities, that would be a great start here across North Carolina. Right, that's exactly right, Nick. And like I said, it does look like EPA is going to approve these things. And so, hopefully, we'll see these things being rolled back here.
You know, hopefully, in the next couple of months to a year, there's language specifically in the bill that says that the NCDEQ Secretary has to give notice of EP approval within 15 days of its effective date.
So, once the EPA approval comes through, within 15 days of when that becomes effective, the NCDEQ Secretary has to give notice of that.
So, for folks that have their inspections due here in the next couple of months, probably a little bit of a patient waiting game, I guess, maybe later on this year or early next, depending on when the EPA eventually gets around, as we believe is the case, gets around to approving some of these revised air quality plan standards submitted by the DEQ back just a couple of years ago. That will be some good relief for drivers across the state. Katie, we know that you'll be keeping a close eye on that, waiting for that EPA announcement. You can get continuing coverage. It's a relatively complicated issue over on our website this morning, CarolinaJournal.com.
Katie Zender joins us on the Carolina Journal News Hour. It's 5:36. Welcome back to the Carolina Journal News Hour, Charlotte's FM News Talk 107.9 FM. WBT, good Thursday morning to you. I'm Nick Craig.
Well, Governor Josh Stein's desk is now completely empty after taking action on more pieces of legislation this week that were approved by the North Carolina General Assembly. It's been a busy couple of days at the governor's mansion, signing a few bills on Monday, then signing the state budget on Tuesday. Also, signing 12 other pieces of legislation and vetoing some on Tuesday afternoon as well. We'll start off with House Bill 437, which is titled is Drug-Free Zones/slash Unauthorized Public Camping. which seeks to create a limited framework for cities and counties across the state to establish regulated camping sites under state oversight, as well as creating drug-free zones around homeless shelters and service providers.
The proposal would prohibit local governments from allowing unauthorized public camping or sleeping on public property, including sidewalks, parks, public buildings, and right-of-ways. Under the legislation, local governments could establish designated camping areas only if they determine that there are insufficient shelter beds available for the local homeless population. Any designated site would be limited to a continuous period of no more than one year and would require state certification before becoming operational. The sites would also be required to provide sanitation services, restroom access, running water, security measures, and coordination with behavioral health providers offering mental health and substance abuse treatment resources. State agencies would have the authority to inspect designated sites and recommend closure if minimum standards are no longer being met.
The governor said in a press release: We all want people experiencing homelessness to get back on their feet and live in safe, affordable housing. Yet this poorly constructed bill makes that goal harder and creates another significant unfunded mandate for local governments. The bill also fundamentally misunderstands, excuse me, how people suffering from addiction get healthy. The Democrat governor stated that if government threatens criminal liability against those who seek treatment and against people, organization, and churches trying to help them, that government standing in the way of those services that promotes health and safety and people's problems are actually making things worse. The governor went on to say, I have long called for a funding to crack down on drug trafficking, invest in behavioral health, and expand affordable housing options because homelessness and substance misuse are real problems that deserve real solutions, not this bill.
The bill passed the North Carolina House on June the 30th in a vote of 73 to 40 with five Democrats, including Representative Shelly Willingham. The Democrat from Edgecombe County voting in favor. Supporters argue that the legislation creates a structured alternative to current unmanaged encampments across the state of North Carolina while providing basic services and oversight. According to Senator Brad Overkash, the Republican from Gaston County, he said last month in discussing this bill, it does allow local governments to choose a designated area that's certified as safe, that's drug-free, that has access to sanitation, and the use of restroom facilities. It allows for humane treatment of these homeless persons among us.
Representative Brian Biggs, the Republican from Randolph County, who sponsored the camping language, has said designated sites would be required to include those things like security measures, connections to treatment, and support services, and responded to the governor's veto of the legislation, saying in part, if Governor Stein was serious about helping homeless people, he would have signed this legislation into law. His veto puts North Carolina at the risk of missing out on critical federal funding that would have helped move people out of unsafe encampments. and into stable housing and support services. The governor's refusal to address homelessness only allows more people to sink deeper into addiction and mental illness while making our communities less safe. That legislation has been vetoed, and as the General Assembly looks to come back to Raleigh in just a couple of weeks towards the end of July, this will likely be added to the calendar in both chambers for a veto override, the only veto this week from Democrat Governor Josh Stein.
He also went on to sign 12 bills into law, including Senate Bill 474, which is a reappraisal moratorium and makes various adjustments for counties. That was among the 12 bills that the governor signed into law. The original version would have exempted counties like Buncombe, which hosts the city of Asheville, from a moratorium of the use of property tax valuations for one year under Senate Bill 889, which the governor signed into law back on June the 19th. The measure failed on June the 23rd in the Senate, but an amended version passed the House and Senate on June 30th. In it, Bunkham County would have to go, quote, revenue neutral or bring in the exact same amount of property tax dollars as previous years despite newly readdressed property values.
The governor said in a press release, when I signed Senate Bill 889, I called on the General Assembly to pass Senate Bill 747 to protect Buncombe County and other jurisdictions recovering from Hurricane Helene. The version sent to my desk does not do that. Instead, it continues to impede Buncombe County's recovery efforts. Nevertheless, this bill provides legal clarity to local governments adopting new budgets after the statutory deadline, so I have signed it into law. According to the Asheville Citizen Times, by going revenue neutral, the county would have to make deep cuts to its $484 million approved budget or raise tax rates to make up the value lost from switching to the 2021 schedule of values.
The reason this is going on is that so many properties were damaged or destroyed out in western North Carolina. They are many counties and municipalities are having trouble assessing the value of those pieces of property due to the ongoing recovery and construction. Regardless of some of the governor's objections, he did sign Senate Bill 474 into law. He also signed House Bill 920, which is called Virtual Currency Kiosk Consumer Protection Act, which would place virtual currency kiosk operators under the supervision of the state commissioner of banks. Virtual currency kiosks are often called crypto ATMs.
You may have seen those in. Various gas stations and convenience stores across the state, the bill would require operators to be licensed as money transmitters and follow new consumer protection standards aimed at protecting against fraud. The governor said in a press release: As technology changes and scammers get more sophisticated, our laws must keep up. According to the FBI, each year Americans lose millions of dollars in frauds and scams involving cryptocurrency kiosks, including more than $12 million lost in North Carolina. This bill protects people from fraud when they use virtual currency kiosks, requires the machines to be licensed and regulated under state law, places limits on daily transactions, and provides scam alert signs, live customer service, receipts for transactions, and the ability To cancel a transaction that is still in progress.
These fixes will help us keep people safe from bad actors. Representative Neil Jackson, the Republican from Moore County, said during a committee discussion on this legislation back in the month of June, saying it's the Wild West out there. There is no regulation whatsoever in North Carolina. That is what we're trying to do here. Representative Jackson said that senior citizens are the primary target of crypto scams and that North Carolina is among the hardest hit states with more than 4,300 fraud complaints in twenty twenty five alone.
Jackson said more than half of the victims are over the age of 60, with seniors losing more than $257 million last year due to a variety of these scams. The governor also signed House Bill 133. That's the North Carolina Farmland and Military Protection Act, which prohibits the acquisition of agricultural lands and other sensitive land, including land within a 50-mile radius around military installations by foreign governments that are deemed adversarial by the United States Department of State. Nations prohibited are tied to the international traffic and arms regulations, which the federal government updates on a semi-regular basis and puts those nations into that. And therefore, following some of that federal regulator or some of the federal characterization there, North Carolina would not allow those sales here in North Carolina.
A couple of other pieces of legislation: House Bill 372, the Home-Based Business Fairness Act, the House Bill 1094, a ferry division audit/slash DMV omnibus, Senate Bill 648, Winter Sports Safety and Accidents, House Bill 747, Wildlife Resource Changes, and a couple of other pieces of legislation as well. You can read more on all of those by heading on over to our website this morning, CarolinaJournal.com. Look for the story with the headline: Stein Veto's Homelessness Bill signs 12 others into law. 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.
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Welcome back to the Carolina Journal News Hour, Charlotte's FM News Talk 107.9 FM, WBT. Governor Josh Stein is asking the North Carolina Supreme Court to extend its deadline for written briefs in two cases pitting the Democrat governor against top Republican legislative leaders. Stein's request would lead to final briefings being submitted in late October. All parties in the two cases have agreed to the extended schedule according to court filings this week. North Carolina's highest court, the state Supreme Court, agreed last month, we talked about that here on the Carolina Journal News Hour, to hear both of these cases.
One involves appointment changes for seven state boards and commissions. The other focuses on statewide judicial vacancies, a state utilities commission appointment, and the state building code council. Stein's lawyers filed motions Wednesday in both cases, with the governor asking to delay the current July the 20th deadline for opening briefs by nearly a month. Opening briefs in both cases would be due August the 18th under the governor's proposal. Opposing parties would file briefs by October the 2nd, and all final replies would be due by the end of October on the 27th.
Lawyers for all parties in the two of these cases have confers, and according to details filed in the judicial system. The proposed schedule is agreed to upon both of the all of the parties in the case. One case called Stein v. Berger, the other Stein v. Hall, talking about the leader of the North Carolina House and Speaker Destin Hall, and the leader of the North Carolina Senate in President Pro Tem Phil Berger.
This is one of many legal challenges that we have been tracking that pit the Democrat governor against Republican legislative leaders. And so it appears that we won't have any additional details on this until sometime in late August. And then as we approach the end of the year. getting into the month of October. We'll be keeping you up to date with this legal challenge and many others that could have some pretty major impacts across North Carolina right here on the Carolina Journal News Hour.
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 FM, WBT. Yeah.
