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Toyota delays battery shipments from NC plant amid supply chain issues

For many months, Toyota executives from the CFO on down were saying they expected the company’s new battery factory near Liberty to start shipping batteries in April. But we’re all still waiting on a formal announcement that shipments have actually begun. And it’s looking like the lack of one isn’t...

By Ray Gronberg

June 24, 2025

Quarry near RDU prevails in permit dispute

Meanwhile, a different all-Republican Court of Appeals panel headed by Chief Judge Chris Dillon handed a victory to a Wake County quarrying operation that’s looking to expand near RDU Airport and Umstead State Park. Wake Stone — since late 2024 a part of Alabama-based Vulcan Materials — has been battling state regulators and local opposition...

By Ray Gronberg

June 23, 2025

Court of Appeals rules on a western CON fight

With the House and Senate providing the crossover crunch this week and last that didn’t happen in early May, it’s been difficult for the other branches of government to get a word in edgewise. But the state Court of Appeals has certainly tried, via a couple of business-related decisions. The...

By Ray Gronberg

June 23, 2025

Stein and Lilly go to Paris

Gov. Josh Stein’s aides confirmed Thursday that their boss and state Commerce Secretary Lee Lilly have been in France this week to attend the Paris Air Show. The trip comes on the heels of the recent announcement that California-based JetZero will build an airliner factory at Piedmont Triad International Airport, with...

By Ray Gronberg

June 20, 2025

PBM bill heads to conference

There’s going to be a House-Senate conference to resolve the differences the chambers have on the question of how to regulate pharmacy benefit managers. Senators on Thursday voted 31-9 against accepting the House’s attempt to reconcile the competing bills on the issue that have been pending this session. The dissenting votes came...

By Ray Gronberg

June 20, 2025

Senate unveils aid program for shrimpers

Senators on Thursday passed and sent on to the House the bill that would bar shrimp trawling in Pamlico Sound and other waters inside North Carolina’s barrier islands. The 39-2 vote on the rewritten House Bill 442 came only hours after Republicans rolled out a parallel measure that would at least partly...

By Ray Gronberg

June 20, 2025

NC Legislature passes bill easing nuclear expansion for Duke Energy

A bill that backers hope will make it easier for Duke Energy to meet the state’s carbon-reduction targets by building more nuclear reactors is headed to Gov. Josh Stein’s desk. The final version of Senate Bill 266 cleared its last hurdle on Thursday when the Senate accepted the changes the House made...

By Ray Gronberg

June 20, 2025

Shrimp trawling spawns wild floor debate

Pending a third-reading vote today, the Senate’s on the verge of supporting a ban on shrimp trawling in North Carolina waters other than in the Atlantic Ocean more than a half mile offshore. Senators on Wednesday voted 44-4 in favor of House Bill 442, which unexpectedly got amended in committee this week...

By Ray Gronberg

June 19, 2025

House approves Mecklenburg transit tax referendum 102-6

House members have voted 102-6 in favor of giving Mecklenburg County permission to call a referendum on raising the local-option sales tax rate by 1 cent to finance transit and road construction. Wednesday’s second-reading vote set the stage for House Bill 948 to clear the chamber and head to the Senate snext Tuesday. Legislative...

By Ray Gronberg

June 19, 2025

Hall addresses JetZero appropriation

House Speaker Destin Hall says a $450 million special appropriation for the JetZero project at Piedmont Triad International Airport is “something that we need to get done,” even if the precise way of handling it is still a bit up in the air. “Could be in the budget, could be in...

By Ray Gronberg

June 18, 2025

Discharge petition foiled

Agriculture committee Democrats like Sens. Julie Mayfield of Buncombe County and Lisa Grafstein of Wake County sat quietly through the shrimp debate, obviously bemused by the public intra-Republican discord. Normal service, however, resumed in the afternoon when Rabon as Rules chair quashed Senate Democratic Leader Sydney Batch’s move to use...

By Ray Gronberg

June 18, 2025

Senate clash erupts over shrimp trawling ban near NC coast

An all-out crustacean and fish fight broke out Tuesday in the Senate Agriculture committee, thanks to a move by some of the chamber’s Republicans to ban shrimp trawling anywhere inside a half mile of North Carolina’s Atlantic shoreline. Sen. Bill Rabon, R-Brunswick, and other proponents argue the move will align North Carolina’s...

By Ray Gronberg

June 18, 2025

Senate Dems to push for vote on House Helene bill

Senate Democratic Leader Sydney Batch came to her current post believing her caucus needs “to be more bullish” and aggressive in its approach to dealing with the chamber’s GOP supermajority. It’s looking like we’re about to see just what that means. On Monday, Batch’s office announced that Senate Democrats will...

By Ray Gronberg

June 18, 2025

Carolina governors oppose offshore drilling

Gov. Josh Stein and South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster have joined forces to urge the Trump administration to maintain a moratorium on oil and gas exploration and production off the Carolinas. In a June 15 letter, the governors cited the ecological and economic benefits of the status quo as reasons to...

By Ray Gronberg

June 18, 2025

UNC Health sues Humana and Aetna over Medicare drug reimbursement cuts

UNC Health has sued two of the country’s top health insurers, seeking to recoup alleged shortfalls in Medicare Advantage reimbursements. Lawyers for the Chapel Hill-based health system filed complaints against Humana and Aetna in a Winston-Salem federal court on June 10. Both lawsuits allege the insurers “improperly and unilaterally” shortchanged UNC Health in reimbursements...

By Ray Gronberg

June 17, 2025