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Economic Development

Church fight in the Senate

A revamp of the state’s laws for nonprofit corporations unexpected turned into a quarrel on the Senate floor about religious freedom and a threat to North Carolina’s churches. House Bill 517 cleared the chamber on a 32-10 vote, but only after Sen. Paul Lowe, D-Forsyth, objected to a section in...

By Ray Gronberg

June 29, 2026

Berger: I-77 clawback still undecided

Senators passed and sent back to the House an omnibus transportation bill, without adding to it any language that would penalize Charlotte-area governments that abandoned their support of the Interstate 77 widening project. If it’s addressed at all, the I-77 issue will be addressed in the state budget, Senate leader...

By Ray Gronberg

June 29, 2026

Lumbee vote adds to string of casino losses

Lumbee members’ lopsided rejection of a set of amendments to the tribal constitution “means the tribe does not have a path forward on gaming at this time,” their top legislator says. “But it does not mean our work stops,” says Alex Baker, speaker of the Lumbee Tribal Council. “It means...

By Ray Gronberg

June 29, 2026

Senate passes adversary land-buys bill

The Senate has passed and sent to the House a bill that would ban governments like China’s or their state-owned companies from buying North Carolina farmland, but not without turning aside a last-minute addition proposed by Democrats. Sen. Kandie Smith, D-Pitt, asked the chamber to add to House Bill 133...

By Ray Gronberg

June 29, 2026

Duke pares requested power-rate increase

Duke Energy has lowered its rate-increase request as the N.C. Utilities Commission continued to weigh how much it should allow power bills to rise. The company’s North Carolina president, Kendal Bowman, rolled out the reduction at the rebuttal stage of the proceedings. Duke officials stressed that it’s a rare move, as...

By Ray Gronberg

June 29, 2026

Study looks at gang ties in Durham homicides

New statistical analysis confirms that homicide in Durham is predominately a matter of criminals shooting other criminals. Analysts advising a city/county task force looked at all 197 homicides in the city from 2021 through 2025 and found that about two-thirds of victims and suspects were already known to the criminal...

By Ray Gronberg

June 29, 2026

Van der Vaart questions legality of exclusion from Duke-plans vote

N.C. Utilities Commission member Donald van der Vaart says his exclusion from its decision-making on Duke Energy’s Carolinas Resource Plan doesn’t square with state law. It’s based instead on an in-house “procedures manual” that doesn’t have the force of statute or of a fully approved, published regulation, van der Vaart...

By Ray Gronberg

June 23, 2026

Boliek criticizes Mid-Currituck Bridge planning

By this point, legislators take it as gospel that the N.C. Department of Transportation has sunk about $60 million or so into planning a toll-funded widening of Interstate 77 in downtown Charlotte that may not happen. But State Auditor Dave Boliek and staff say another big state road project has...

By Ray Gronberg

June 23, 2026

Land-buy restrictions for foreigners advance in NCGA

Supporters of restricting “adversarial foreign government” land purchases in North Carolina have coalesced around one bill that’s now one stop away from a Senate floor vote. House Bill 133 cleared the Senate’s Judiciary committee on June 17 and awaits only a review by Senate Rules before reaching the floor. It...

By Ray Gronberg

June 22, 2026

Chamber report warns of Canada/Mexico trade instability

The Trump administration’s approach to trade relations with Canada and Mexico risks destabilizing markets that accounted for nearly a third of North Carolina’s export business in 2025, the NC Chamber says. Its assessment, appearing in a report issued this week, concerns the future of the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement or USMCA. It’s...

By Ray Gronberg

June 19, 2026

Compromise struck on hotel-tax use

House and Senate members have passed two bills intended to settle the debate about hotel-tax policy created by a recent state Supreme Court decision. Senate Bill 484 puts a general ban on using occupancy tax revenue earmarked for tourism-related purposes on law enforcement, fire protection, trash collection and other ordinary...

By Ray Gronberg

June 19, 2026

Sawyer I-77 amendment still up in the air

Senators advanced an omnibus bill for the N.C. Department of Transportation on Wednesday without tacking on language to punish Charlotte-area governments for rescinding their support of the Interstate 77 widening. But Sen. Vickie Sawyer, R-Iredell, told members of Senate Transportation that the clawback amendment she’s proposed “is not a hollow...

By Ray Gronberg

June 19, 2026

Utilities commissioner excluded from vote on Duke Energy plans

N.C. Utilities Commission member Donald van der Vaart can’t vote on the next version of Duke Energy’s Carolinas Resource Plan because he’s been on vacation during some of the panel’s recent public hearings on it. Commission Chairman Bill Brawley announced the ruling on Wednesday. “The commissioner is allowed to participate...

By Ray Gronberg

June 19, 2026

Housing-policy items dropped from Senate reg-reform bill

Senators have removed two proposals intended to bolster housing construction from another regulatory reform bill that’s making it way through their chamber. At the request of the bill’s lead sponsor, Sen. Steve Jarvis, R-Davidson, Senate Judiciary struck language that would have make it harder for cities and counties to set...

By Ray Gronberg

June 19, 2026

Casino opponents target Lumbee referendum

Former House Speaker Pro Tem Skip Stam and businessman Bob Luddy are speaking up against the Lumbee’s prospective move to jumpstart casino development. The pair got a letter published over the weekend in The Robesonian that urges readers to vote no on the tribal referendum that’s coming up on June...

By Ray Gronberg

June 19, 2026