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Measmer moves in

Cabarrus County’s new state senator, Chris Measmer, took the oath of office on Tuesday and is now on the job at the capitol. Measmer has also received his committee assignment from Senate leader Phil Berger. The General Assembly’s website indicates that the Senate’s newest member is serving on the chamber’s...

By Ray Gronberg

April 17, 2025

House bill targets Charlotte Water river draw

Charlotte Water’s interest in obtaining an additional 30 million gallons a day allocation of Catawba River basin water continues to draw opposition from Hickory-area lawmakers. Wednesday saw the House Agriculture committee endorse House Bill 850, which would put a moratorium on the approval of a new interbasin transfer of 15...

By Ray Gronberg

April 17, 2025

Flood repair

A proposal to give victims of “historic flood events” like Hurricane Helene a building-code waiver so they can rebuild in place is on the move in the Senate, and its lead sponsors is signaling that he has even bigger things in mind. Senate Bill 266 cleared the chamber’s Regulatory Reform...

By Ray Gronberg

April 17, 2025

A bigger role for the Guard after disasters?

Senate Republicans want the N.C. National Guard’s commander to take charge of state’s emergency response team in future disasters like Hurricane Helene. Their budget bill says that in the first 30 days of a state of emergency, the Guard’s adjutant general will head the team and answer only to the...

By Ray Gronberg

April 17, 2025

Solar power

Rep. Jimmy Dixon, R-Duplin, has scaled back a bill that that aims to curb the use of farmland for solar-power arrays. House Bill 729 emerged from a House Finance Committee meeting on Tuesday without a section that would’ve barred the N.C. Utilities Commission from certifying a solar project on land...

By Ray Gronberg

April 17, 2025

No title

In my Henderson Dispatch days, I drove home along U.S. 1 down to Interstate 540 about four times. A couple were “for science.” The rest were because I was leaving an assignment somewhere on Henderson’s east side and it made sense, on paper, to use the most direct route. In...

By Ray Gronberg

April 17, 2025

Malpractice

Business groups are warning that a medical malpractice case currently pending in the state Court of Appeals could have dire consequences for their interests if its judges find a statutory liability limit unconstitutional. Long story short, a Buncombe County family is asking the court to overturn the restriction on malpractice awards,...

By Ray Gronberg

April 17, 2025

A House bill for Charlotte’s transit funding

There are now two bills pending in the General Assembly that would give Mecklenburg County via referendum to add up to another penny to its sales tax rate to finance transit projects. The latest of the two, House Bill 948, comes courtesy of Rep. Tricia Cotham and eight other members...

By Ray Gronberg

April 14, 2025

Raleigh’s runway

The Triangle’s “most important two miles of pavement” is a case study for why the juice isn’t worth the squeeze with the current trade-off between federal funding and federal regulations, the manager of its airport says. Raleigh-Durham International is building a replacement for its longest runway and intends to have...

By Ray Gronberg

April 14, 2025

Taking the politics out of local land-use battles?

Lewisville Republican Rep. Jeff Zenger and nearly two dozen of his colleagues want local officials to face civil-court liability, for actual and punitive damages, if they treat land-use permit decisions as political matters. House Bill 765 would give “any person with standing” a green light to go after city council...

By Ray Gronberg

April 11, 2025

Solar-farm limits debated

Advocates for the solar-power industry are deploying property-rights arguments to oppose a bill pending in the House Agriculture and Environment committee that would put some regulatory roadblocks in the way of new solar farms. House Bill 729 would forbid the N.C. Utilities Commission from certifying a solar project capable of...

By Ray Gronberg

April 10, 2025

Flood plains

A mountain-county senator says if state officials want to exempt the reconstruction of Helene-damaged buildings from flood-protection rules, they also need to pursue parallel changes to the National Flood Insurance Program. Sen. Tim Moffitt, R-Henderson, says he will not seek the enactment of Senate Bill 266 unless he and other...

By Ray Gronberg

April 10, 2025

Sen. Measmer, arriving soon

Cabarrus County Commissioners Chairman Chris Measmer will take former Sen. Paul Newton’s seat, once Gov. Josh Stein formalizes the choice made by the county GOP. Word of the party executive committee’s choice comes from both the Concord Independent Tribune and the North State Journal. Measmer emerged as the pick from...

By Ray Gronberg

April 9, 2025

More Selectsites on tap?

Tuesday’s Senate Commerce hearing on Senate Bill 664 also saw members agree to use the bill as a vehicle to make some changes to North Carolina’s Selectsite Readiness Program. These, you’ll remember, are a group of 15 prospective industrial sites around the state that are short of the 1,000-acre minimum...

By Ray Gronberg

April 9, 2025

JMACs and tire makers

The Senate’s Commerce and Insurance committee has endorsed a bill that’s designed to give a couple of tire manufacturers a bit of flexibility in meeting the terms of their state business incentive deals. Senate Bill 664 would change the existing law that governs the state’s Job Maintenance and Capital Development...

By Ray Gronberg

April 9, 2025