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Economic Development

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

Durham Chamber: Nuance needed on data centers

Durham’s Chamber of Commerce is warning city and county officials against going overboard with restrictions on data centers. It’s urging them to keep drawing distinctions between large-scale data centers — the sort operated by the likes of Amazon and Apple — and the smaller facilities that institutions like Duke University...

By Ray Gronberg

June 19, 2026

Legislators vote to ban third-party lawsuit funding

Legislators have handed the NC Chamber a win on one of its top priorities for the session, a ban on third-party litigation funding by investors. House Bill 315 cleared the Senate on Tuesday and the House on Wednesday. Across the chambers, there was only one dissenting vote: Sen. Jonah Garson,...

By Ray Gronberg

June 19, 2026

Jacksonville annexation bid for Camp Lejeune sparks fight

Camp Lejeune’s service needs and Jacksonville’s ability to meet them have sparked an intramural battle among Onslow County’s all-Republican legislative delegation. It played out this week in House Finance when Sen. Michael Lazzara, R-Onslow, asked members via Senate Bill 817 to support allowing Jacksonville to annex much of the southern...

By Ray Gronberg

June 19, 2026

House votes to regulate crypto kiosks

The House has passed and sent to the Senate a bill that for the first time in North Carolina would set up a regulatory system for crypto-currency kiosks. House Bill 920 cleared the chamber on a 115-0 vote after members voted down an amendment that would have set tighter limits...

By Ray Gronberg

June 19, 2026

Jackson: Utilities Commission needs to clamp down on Duke returns

Attorney General Jeff Jackson’s office wants the N.C. Utilities Commission to give Duke Energy’s return on equity a haircut as it considers the utility’s request for a rate increase. “We think they overshot the mark,” Jackson says of Duke’s request. Duke’s rate request for 2027 and 2028 asks the commission...

By Ray Gronberg

June 9, 2026

Reg reform and granny flats

House members have passed and returned to the Senate an omnibus regulatory reform bill that among other things instructs local governments in parts of the state to allow more home construction. The 85-28 vote on Senate Bill 445 came after large, bipartisan majorities rejected amendments proposed by Rep. Jay Adams,...

By Ray Gronberg

June 5, 2026

Chamber pods state on Wilmington rail link

NC Chamber leaders want the state to begin looking at reactivating an abandoned rail corridor that would connect Wilmington and its port to the Goldsboro area. The first order of business for restoring the line from Wallace in Duplin County to Castle Hayne in New Hanover County is obtaining an...

By Ray Gronberg

June 5, 2026