For many people, renting is a convenient option. It offers flexibility and may require less responsibility for maintenance. But owning a home can offer a different set of long-term benefits. Instead of paying rent to a landlord each month, homeowners are investing in a property that can potentially increase in value over time. That means your home may become an asset as you continue to live in it.
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We start off with a new lawsuit here in North Carolina. Activist groups working with Democrat operative Mark Elias' law firm. Have filed a federal lawsuit challenging North Carolina's new state guidance for election officials handling mail-in ballots. We talked about this in pretty great detail over the last couple of weeks as the state board of elections approved the latest version of that guidance in a three to two party line vote back on September the 4th. It had been discussed months prior through the months of June and July.
Republican board members supported the revised memos offering the guidance. Democrat board members voted no. That's how we got to that 3-2 party line vote. The North Carolina Alliance for Retired America, North Carolina Asian Americans Together, Down Home North Carolina, and a few individual voters filed the suit Tuesday against the state board of election along with the Durham and Guilford County election boards. The Elias Law Group helped represent the plaintiffs and wrote in the complaint: In this very moment, thousands of North Carolinians are preparing to cast their votes in the 2026 general election.
More than 81,000 voters have already submitted requests for absentee ballots, a secure and reliable method to vote that North Carolina has offered its citizens for decades. The lawsuit continued by saying when a North Carolinian casts an absentee ballot, they rely on their county board of elections and ultimately the North Carolina State Board of Elections to ensure that their ballot is counted and their voice is heard. The North Carolina General Assembly has delegated substantial authority to the state board to implement election code with procedures that safeguard both North Carolinians' constitutional rights to vote and election security. In recent elections, the state board has used its authority to ensure the right to vote, including by absentee ballot. But on september the fourth, twenty twenty six amid a national assault on mail and voting the lawsuit rights, and on the same day that North Carolina began issuing absentee ballots to voters, the State Board dramatically upended the status quo.
The board's new Republican majority rushed to implement 11th-hour absentee ballot restrictions that would inevitably disenfranchise scores of North Carolina voters. They did so without meaningful public notice and over the fierce objections of dissenting members. It's important to note, this is a five-member board, the state board of elections. Three Republicans, two Democrats. A lot of votes since Republicans took control of that board last year have been 3-2 the same way that those votes were 3-2 when the Democrats had control of that board and there were just two Republicans.
The lawsuit goes on to say the state board's new policies will require counties to invalidate absentee ballots for technical errors unrelated to an individual's eligibility to vote. That is, of course, referring to the rule that says that if your ballot comes back unsealed to your local county board of election, it needs to be spoiled and reissued if there is a valid time for that to take place. The suit criticizes a provision to disqualify. qualify ballots if a voter submits a ballot package with an unsealed inner envelope or with the ballot outside of that envelope. Reading, quote, the voter has no opportunity to cure the ballot and save it from rejection, even though the state board's policy allows voters to cure other material issues within their ballot.
The state board offered no sufficient explanation or justification for this unprecedented policy, writes the lawsuit. The suit also objects to a signature verification requirement that was previously prohibited. The state board say that the state board of elections defined neither clear standards nor any instruction to guide county boards' discretion and how to verify signatures. The Elias clients argued this state-sanctioned free-for-all will inevitably subject ballots to varying scrutiny between and within counties, resulting in unequal treatment of voters and arbitrary disenfranchisement, a word used a lot in the lawsuit. It wraps up by saying worse, the State Board's new policy to eliminate its prior ban on signature matching, that is, the process of confirming a voter's identity by comparing the signature on their inner application envelope with other signatures available for the same voter.
Signature matching is notoriously fraught with errors, even when there are standards as it relates to the governing process, which is entirely absent here. The Elias clients are asking a judge to enjoin the state board's policies in the upcoming election and all future elections. The suit has been filed. The absentee process has already begun here in North Carolina. We chatted with Dr.
Andy Jackson from the John Locke Foundation earlier this week. He walked us through a couple of thousand votes that have been voters that have returned their ballots to this point. We will keep an eye on this, not expecting any major details or changes as we move through the absentee by mail period. Don't expect much to go on there. You can read more details on this story.
Over on our website this morning, CarolinaJournal.com, the headline, Elias Link Groups File Federal Suit Against North Carolina mail and ballot rules. Yeah. In some other statewide news this morning, nearly $23 million in interest-free cash loans are being distributed to communities across western North Carolina that were devastated by Hurricane Helene in September of 2024. This weekend will mark the two-year anniversary, unfortunately, of that storm. North Carolina State Treasurer Brad Brider with the announcement on Wednesday, noting that the application period opened back in August and more than $100 million in requests for 2026 funding were received.
Communities had previously received $150 million in interest-free loans through the program.
So adding this on top of it, we are looking at even more dollars, more tens of millions of dollars flowing out to Western North Carolina. The Haleen Cash Flow Loan Program was established under Senate Bill 382, also known as the Disaster Recovery Act of 2024, which passed in December of that year with the treasurer being commissioned to oversee the program. The General Assembly appropriated some $20 million in this year's budget for cities and communities that need additional funding due to the extent of their damage, ongoing cleanup efforts and cash flow needs while seeking resources through more traditional means, which of course would be entities like FEMA. While 2% of the funds could be used for administrative costs, the treasurer said thanks to the usage of artificial intelligence and automation tools to assist with the logistics of loan tracking and the anticipated repayment schedules, his department was able to reduce the administrative cost and send those funds instead to the communities, not administrative overhead. An additional $2.7 million from previous appropriations are also being distributed to Western North Carolina communities with no administrative costs attached.
There are a bunch of different municipalities, the largest being the town of Lake Lur in Rutherford County, who is set to receive $5 million, and the village of Chimney Rock, also in Rutherford County, set to receive $4 million through this program. The treasurer said in a press release, our first priority is providing much-needed cash flow relief to our mountain communities by getting this money to them as quickly as possible. Our department fully implemented the use of AI in our workflow months ago with the goal of making the administrative tasks easier. This is a perfect example of how harnessing the power of technology not only made the job more efficient, but also meant millions of more dollars headed to communities in needs. Loan awards were based on demonstrated need as determined by the treasurer's office.
Priority considerations were also given in the following order. Any project that addresses public health and public safety needs, projects that local governments have already requested reimbursement from FEMA or other funding sources, and demonstrating that the need has already been documented within these projects. Loans awarded during the 2026 round of cash flow loans must be repaid when the recipient receives FEMA reimbursement for its projects or on June 30th of 2030, whichever comes first. You can read the list of who all is getting more of these cash-free loans. We've got those details over on our website this morning.
CarolinaJournal.com. Look for the headline: nearly $23 million in Helene loans headed to Western North Carolina. Many people believe buying a home requires a large down payment and years of saving, but that's not always the case. Across the country, there are programs designed to help first-time homebuyers take the next step toward home ownership.
Some of these programs offer down payment assistance or grant funding that may help cover part of the upfront cost of purchasing a home. Grants are especially helpful because they generally do not have to be repaid. There are also organizations that provide homebuyer education, financial counseling, and guidance to help individuals understand the home buying process before they begin. The goal is simple: to help more families become informed and prepared for home ownership. If owning a home is something you've been thinking about, start by visiting toolsforhomeownership.com.
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Yeah. It's 5:21. Welcome back to the Carolina Journal News Hour, Charlotte's FM News Talk, 107.9 FM, WBT. Continuing our 2026 election coverage, we are going to be keeping an eye on a lot of races across North Carolina as we extend the stretch into the November the 3rd midterm election. We are focusing on an interesting controversy that is brewing for a Democrat candidate running for the North Carolina General Assembly to walk through some of those details this morning.
Andrew Pomerance, CarolinaJournal.com, joins us on the Carolina Journal News Hour. Andrew, no surprise. We've seen this in the past. Past social media comments catching up with those seeking elected office. What's the latest that you're following?
Yeah, hey, Nick, good morning. One of the more shocking, I think, election stories to come out of North Carolina this cycle is related to candidate, Democrat candidate Shelly Hayden, out of Guilford County, running for a seat that is currently held by Representative John Bloss out there, House District 62. And this is a district that is a lean Republican. It's an R plus two over at the Civitas Parson Index. And so a seat that was labeled really early in this race as crucial if Democrats want to regain a majority in the House.
And so obviously a big blow for them. And it came out this week that her social media comments have long gone on that have been quite provocative, especially when addressing the MAGA movement or related to President Trump. And the first comment that kind of caught people's attention this week, the first post, is she responded to a post talking about. other countries and rooting for them over the United States. And in response to that, she said, I think our only hope is an attack on U.
S.
soil, preferably Alabama or Louisiana, where the stupid people live, right?
So this was a about a year ago, she commented this, but pop up the week of nine eleven. A lot of people's attentions and drew more attention to this race where just two weeks ago, we had reported that a couple of police reports were filed at her home, which she kind of disputes the claims of, but we reported that she was actually listed as the suspect and her husband the victim in those reports. citing domestic violence. And she came out and put out a statement that was since been deleted on social media saying that, you know, it was a tough time in her marriage. And she was actually the victim in one of the instances and is not sure why she was listed the suspect.
But, you know, so this is an ongoing, I think, controversy surrounding this candidate out there in House District 62, like I said, out in Guilford County. And I think a real blow to what the Democrats, I think, hoped would be potentially a majority year for them. Yeah, no question about it. There's a lot on the line for both political parties. Over the last 15 years, we've seen Republicans hold those majorities in the North Carolina General Assembly.
We're not making election predictions here, Andrew, but with a blue wave expected during a midterm election here in 2026, looking like some of the best odds and best opportunities for Democrats to flip, at least with the North Carolina House that they've had in many years. Her response when criticized on this was even almost more bizarre than her original comment. She spoke to the Assembly. Would you read through part of her statement? Yeah, she spoke to the assembly and we've gone back and forth with her a little bit and her comment to them, I think even the assembly's reports where we're shocked by.
And she says, you know, I sacrificed myself just like Jesus sacrified himself on the cross and Martin Luther King and Abraham Lincoln and all the people that put themselves out there to sacrifice for a country. If a few angry moments on social media are the end, then so be it. MAGA will keep winning if we can continue with not standing up for what's right, right? And so her response is, I mean, comparing herself to both Jesus Christ, Martin Luther King, and Abraham Lincoln, after coming out and making some of these, you know, really comments are anti-American. She, the post that's kind of circulating today or last Friday, you know, is her in front of a Nazi concentration camp and saying this is where all the Trump supporters should go, right?
And she continually referred online in some of these comments to Adolf Hitler, Nazi Germany, and the Holocaust, referring them directly to MAGA and Republican supporters and other elected officials and they should go there to die and getting close to surpassing Hitler. She called Trump in one post. And so comparing yourself to Jesus and then also calling other folks Nazis is quite the Point view for Shelly Hayden. Yeah, and the image literally posting a picture of herself smiling in her caption, concentration camp in Germany. This is where Trump supporters belong is a completely unhinged thing to publicly post on social media.
Andrew, you know, the social media age is here, and it's going to be interesting over the next 20 or 30 years as folks in their early 20s have a long history of posting on social media. But I think it's important to note for our audience here as we talk about this story. These are not posts that date back 10 or 15 years.
Some of these things have been posted within the last 12 months. These are relatively new posts, and you can't fall in the excuse of, I was a stupid teenager. I didn't really understand what I was posting. I was trying to be edgy and kind of on the line as many teenagers go through that phase. She was a grown adult when she made these posts, correct?
Absolutely. It was in the last year or two. And when pressed about a lot of these, she's quick to say: if I've hurt someone's feelings, I apologize, but I don't apologize for what I said. She's really stood by a lot of what she said and not come out in a manner that is, I apologize, I made a mistake. I didn't mean to say these things.
But really, in. And so defending a lot of what she says and, you know, portraying herself as this angry social media personality that lets herself go when she gets frustrated in this manner. And so I think you're right. I think it's important to note: one, that all these posts were within the last two years, she's standing behind them. And two, you know, we've not heard a true apology yet from her about some of these things she's saying.
And a, you know, just. A real apology in the manner of, you know, really rejecting some of the associations she made between both MAGA and Hitler. And then also this comment about, you know, we need an attack on American soil. And so a very strange situation. You know, you assume, you know, a lot of times when old social media posts come up, the first thing the person who posted them does is apologize, right?
I was young. I made a mistake. I didn't mean to say these things. And that has not been her message. Like we just talked about comparing herself to Jesus Christ in her rebuttal.
And so a very strange situation developing here. And, you know, it's gotten the attention of a lot of the lawmakers down in Raleigh. Yeah. And I think most folks will give people some grace following on the excuse of, hey, I was young, dumb, and stupid when I was making those posts at 17 on Facebook or some other social media platforms. Not the case here.
Let's jump into a little bit of that reaction. No question about it, Andrew, as you just recounted some of the insane posts from this candidate running for the North Carolina General Assembly, some big time lawmakers, including the speaker of the North Carolina House. In Destin Hall, jumping in on this as well. What does he have to say? Yeah, you know, he and other Republicans in the House leadership have really tried to tie this candidate to Josh Stein and the rest of the House Democratic leadership.
You know, she's been someone who they've had their finger on for a long time, hoping that she would run.
Someone who's been at a lot of these campaign events. I've seen her in pictures with former Governor Roy Cooper running for the Senate, House leadership, Anita Earls, right, Supreme Court Justice and Earl's on the ballot again.
So someone who's not unfamiliar in Democratic circles. And so Dustin Hall says, you know, a candidate backrolled and backed by Josh Stein, House Democratic leadership is calling for an attack on American soil. Absolutely disgusting, which I think we can all agree with right here in the week of 9-11. And so, you know, or last week. And so, you know, so much going on in this story.
You know, Representative Alan Chester out of Nash County, for a veteran himself, you know, goes on to really dive into this issue and say, you know, this is something that is disqualifying. You know, we can go to Ross. And we have disagreements about taxes in schools, but we cannot disagree about whether it's acceptable. Hope an attack lands on our country or our neighbors, right? And so, a lot of harsh words coming from the Republican side.
And I think, you know, just a harsh criticism coming from the Democratic caucus. House Democratic caucus said this week that they will no longer be supporting her campaign, both financially or with their organization. I saw the Guilford County Democratic Party put out a statement condemning her and saying that they are also no longer going to help her in her seeking office. Important to note here that she is beyond the deadline to withdraw from the race and have her. Name removed from the ballot.
So that is not something that Democrats can look to do and replace her in that manner. But they can pull their support and they are doing so rather quickly here. Yeah, well, Andrew, that's exactly what I was going to ask you with absentee ballots going out a little over a week ago here across North Carolina. Any candidate that where controversy comes up and they feel like they're being pushed out of the race at this point because printed ballots have been sent out, there's really nothing that can be done if that candidate decides to withdraw. Those ballots are going out one way or the other.
And this is an issue, right, that I'm sure both Democratic campaigners and Republican campaigners have known about for a while. You know, she even went on the record and said that, you know, she hired a social media advisor to go through her posts earlier in the campaign. And so, you know, this is something I'm sure has been boiling under the surface. These are longtime posts, like I've said, in groups targeting North Carolina politics. And so she seems to be rather familiar in those groups.
And so I'm sure this is not something that is catching Democrats by surprise this last week here, but something that is now being, you know, a lot of tension is being thrown at it. I think some of those older tweets may be coming up now. And so we'll see whether or not, you know, how Democrats continue to respond to this. We still have not heard from former Governor Roy Cooper condemning the statement or Governor Josh Stein. And so I assume eventually we will hear from them on this issue as they get pressed by reporters on it.
But until then, we will continue to see kind of the Democratic establishment kind of, you know, Further distance themselves from her. Yeah, well, she admitted she'd spent $30,000 paying a firm to go through and scrub her social media. Hopefully, she's able to get a refund on that because, obviously, with everything coming out over the last couple of days, Andrew, they obviously didn't do a thorough job of that. This is going to be a lot of stuff going on over the next couple of weeks here as we kick off early voting starting in middle October. As we approach Election Day on November the 3rd, we will have comprehensive coverage of everything as it relates to the 2026 midterm elections over on our website, CarolinaJournal.com.
We appreciate the update this morning. Andrew Pomerance joins us on the Carolina Journal News Hour. Have you ever thought about the difference between paying rent and owning a home? When you rent, your monthly payment helps cover the cost of living there, but it usually doesn't build anything for your future. Home ownership is different.
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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. A good Thursday morning to you. We have got a brand new report out this morning from the North Carolina Chamber looking at some of the details and the state's competitiveness against others as it relates to business across the Tarheel State.
To walk us through some of the details in that report, it's my pleasure to welcome Andrew Pomerance, CarolinaJournal.com to the news hour this morning. Andrew, I guess for those that follow national headlines, CNBC has consistently had North Carolina in the first or second slot in terms of a top states in the nation for business over the last five or six years, falling unfortunately to the Buckeye State this year in Ohio. But nevertheless, business climate's still pretty good here in North Carolina. What's the latest that you're following? Yeah.
Hey, Nick. Good morning. Happy Thursday. Like you mentioned, just a couple of weeks ago, North Carolina was named CNBC's number two state in business, having been number one last year. Ohio jumping up the rankings this year, and Virginia falling down to third right behind us.
And so, you know, continuingly to be economically competitive here in the mid-Atlantic, both between us and Virginia in terms of business competitiveness. And this new North Carolina Chamber Foundation report points to some of those reasons why North Carolina continues to be one of those top states for business and a reason why businesses continue to want to come to North Carolina. You know, it's important for those that have watched our coverage of the General Assembly both last year and here during the short session, a lot of the discussion, a lot of the arguments from Democrats as it relates to continued tax policy here in North Carolina, Andrew, is that businesses are getting these massive breaks as it relates to taxes.
However, looking at this report from the North Carolina chamber, it seems like that business tax rate is what's putting us in the position to drive this continued business to the state. It is. And you know what? As the corporate income tax has continued to decline from about 6% back in 2014 to where it is now and just above 2.5%. going down to 2% for this year, those reductions actually come along with increases in the total amount of corporate income tax collected.
So the total amount collected, despite that decrease, has been up over 15% over the past decade.
So that's more tax revenue flowing to the state, right? As those tax rates continue to come down as well, individual income tax collections have increased by over 60% and sales and use tax has grown by 109%, right?
So we continue to see, you know, as we lower those corporate tax rates here across the state of North Carolina, we see an increase in both corporate taxes and then also individual income taxes, right, that the state has been able to use to reinvest in things like education and our policing across the state of North Carolina. Yeah, the more competitive the climate, at least that's what many conservatives and those on the political right will argue, the more business that you can lure to the state even at a lower rate will increase that. Of course, many of those businesses hiring employees, those employees paying a personal income tax rate here in North Carolina, a little bit of a rising tide kind of raises all ships analogy. Yeah, and you know, the report found that the total effective business tax rate, so the TEBRT, or TR, sorry, there, was 3.2% in fiscal year 2024.
So these are all 2024 numbers, right? And that is below the national average of 4.5%. And I think most importantly, the lowest among all 50%.
So that measure compares state and local taxes paid by businesses with the state's economic size.
So it's looking at the overall tax burden on businesses. And it's importantly for states like North Carolina, where we have a smaller population, maybe compared to a Texas or a Florida or California that have larger populations and so have naturally larger tax bases. And so to be number one in that category, I think in particular, is something that the chamber will point to and say, as a state, North Carolina continues to aggressively be a leading state for business and a state that will continue to be moving forward. And obviously we've seen that change pretty dramatically over the last 15 years or so. Let's go back to the North Carolina Chamber.
The president there, the president of the North Carolina Chamber Foundation, said that this is a direct result of some of these policy changes we've seen from lawmakers in Raleigh since 2010. Yeah, right. It's all about the continued smart tax incentives and structures that have been put in place by the North Carolina General Assembly now under the leadership of outgoing Senate Majority Leader Phil Berger over the past 15 years, right? This has been something that he has been leaser focused on. In comparison, comparing ourselves with other states across the East Coast to remain competitive, they note that North Carolina has continued to provide a clearer picture for businesses about where North Carolina aims to be and where they currently are.
And we have, as a state, continued to adjust legislation to make that happen. We talk about the corporate income tax rate and some of these other tax rates. And we saw the House take up Senate Bill 1080 this year that would lower the rate on both personal and corporate income taxes from 7% to 3.5%.
Now, that is a constitutional amendment that. Uh Voters will see on the ballots come November, right? And so that passed out both chambers with overwhelming majorities: 30 to 18 out of the Senate and 73 to 46 out of the House. And, you know, we are already below that. I'm sure a lot of us are thinking we're already below that 3.5% rate here in North Carolina.
But that cap would actually go into effect for the future and make sure that we can't bounce back above it. If, you know, if partisan leadership changes or if the state wants to go in a different way, this keeps North Carolina as a state that businesses will want to come to and continue to invest in going forward. Andrew, you have spent a lot of time down at the legislature, especially here in 2026 during the legislative short session, which has been relatively long, all things in comparison. Is it fair to say that Republican lawmakers that push forward this constitutional amendment, and truly in fact the more than 7.6 million voters registered here across the state will have the opportunity to vote on, but that they would argue that this is a necessary constitutional amendment due to some of these reports, like we're seeing out of the North Carolina Chamber, that these policies essentially need to be cemented in stone? I think that's the argument they continue to make, right, Nick?
It's that these policies have worked. We've continued to see them work. And to provide stability, which the Chamber acknowledges is one of the most important things you can do for business climates across the state, to provide the stability and the comfort for business. businesses to know they can come invest here in North Carolina and have a future set up to do so. Make those big, big investments that we all want to see come to North Carolina.
This type of cap allows them that security and that knowledge knowing that where North Carolina is is where they continue to be going forward. As we've already mentioned, North Carolina is already number one in the nation for this.
So many folks might think, all right, everything's going great, no room for improvement, but there is some detail in this report about some things that North Carolina could improve on, which would seemingly only guarantee our continued spot in these rankings or these percentages. One of the things that we've talked about a lot over the last couple of years, the franchise tax. That is something that is pretty unique here in North Carolina and affects all businesses, big and small. Yeah, something that the John Locke Foundation, along with the chambers, continued to point out as a potential roadblock for why North Carolina could see challenges going forward is this franchise tax, right? And unlike a corporate income tax, which is based on just standard profits, the North Carolina franchise tax is actually imposed based on a corporate tax base tied to net worth.
So, meaning, you know, a company can actually owe franchise tax in a year that didn't generate a profit at all. Maybe they're just investing into the state. And this is a pretty small tax in all things comparison. It's only 10% of 1%, but in comparison to a national average, right, that is five times more than the national average. And so it's a pretty stark difference for a state that claims to be so pro-business that we still have this sort of outdated franchise tax on the books.
And as we've kind of moved into a more modern tax-based structure, this is something that a lot of states have gotten rid of. And North Carolina remains one of only A handful of states that still has this sort of tax in place. And so, something that both the Chamber and the John Locke Foundation, speaking with Brian Bowell for, would like to get rid of as a way that North Carolina can preserve and improve North Carolina's competitiveness for job investment and creation. And Andrew, this might be an opportunity to take a step back. And when we talk about business here in North Carolina, many folks probably close their eyes and think of, you know, their local brick and mortar stores, maybe some of the larger businesses.
But especially as the economy has kind of transitioned over the last 15 or 20 years, you've got a lot of self-employed individuals, a lot of 1099 contractors that run sums of money through LLCs here in North Carolina. These are regular, everyday individuals that are operating under this LLC business structure that are paying this franchise tax, as you noted, even if they don't have a profit. Yeah, you know, we talk about continually both in the large business sector in North Carolina looking at things like pharmaceuticals or, you know, those new and emerging technologies that North Carolina has invested so heavily to bring to the state. You know, those may not turn profits for years on end. We talk about the opportunity and data centers going forward.
You know, those are high-cost businesses up front. And then we talk about those LLCs and everyone in between, whether that be small independent contractors or those looking to start their own businesses. This is a tax that only generates 1.8% of the state's total tax revenue.
So, you know, less than 2%. I mean, we would feel it for sure, but it's something that. Yeah, either to lower or to get rid of would only make a small dent in the state's total tax revenue compared to other things. And so an opportunity for North Carolina to continue to push forward on. Becoming this pro-business state, bringing jobs, bringing investment to the state.
And, you know, the chamber points out this is actually an opportunity and a risk, right? This could turn away a lot of those large businesses that are looking to move into the state going forward as states like Virginia and Georgia and South Carolina get rid of this tax altogether. And so for North Carolina to continue to maintain that, you know, place even down the CNBC ranking, either one or two, right, for now, six years in a row, they're going to have to do things like get rid of the franchise tax. It's obviously something that we will keep an eye on as we head into the legislative long session coming up in 2027. We've got a full copy of this report from the North Carolina Chamber Foundation.
That's linked up over on our website, CarolinaJournal.com. We appreciate the update. Andrew Pomerantz joins us on the Carolina Journal News Hour. For many people, renting is a convenient option. It offers flexibility and may require less responsibility for maintenance.
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Welcome back to the Carolina Journal News Hour, Charlotte's FM News Talk, 107.9 FM, WBT, pretty cool program that started a couple of years here ago in North Carolina. As every public school senior that is on track to graduate has been offered admission to at least one in-state college. This is according to a recent press release from the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction. The offers went to more than 105,000 students through a program known as NC College Connect. That program is now in its third year, and it admits seniors based on their academic record at the start of 12th grade.
Students do not need to submit an application, any sort of essays, test scores, or recommendation letters to qualify. 64% of those seniors, which comes out to about 67,000 or so students, were admitted to at least 30 four-year colleges and universities along with their local community colleges. Students with the strongest records could see as many as 41 schools on their letters according to DPI. The other 37,000 plus students, more than one in three, were admitted to their local community college only. Last year, sixty two percent of seniors qualified and more than seventy thousand received offers under the College Connect program, according to DPI.
This is the first year, however, that every senior that is on track to graduate is included in the program. Superintendent Mo Green said our strategic plan requires that each student be prepared for their next phase in life when they graduate from high school. And North Carolina College Connect is a powerful way of showing them they have accomplished that goal. Because the University of North Carolina system, the North Carolina Community College system, and the North Carolina independent colleges and universities and our public schools built this together, a student in Robeson County and a student in Wake County will get the same promise. Finish high school strong and your seat in college is waiting.
This is a pretty cool program. We've got some more coverage of it over on our website this morning at CarolinaJournal.com. Just look for the headline, State Program Admits Every NC Senior to College Without Application. That's going to do it for a Thursday edition of the Carolina Journal News Hour. WBT News is next, followed by Good Morning BT.
We're back to you tomorrow morning, 5 to 6, right here on Charlotte's FM News Talk, 107.9 FM, WBT. My dough never sees a freezer. Faye Hollis makes the biscuits at Hardy's. I'm up at 5 a.m. every day making biscuits from scratch.
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