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House Agriculture backs repeal of solar tax break

Rep. Jimmy Dixon’s drive to repeal a property tax break for solar-power farms cleared its first committee hurdle on Wednesday, after he offered a compromise to critics of the move. As endorsed by the House’s Agriculture and Environment committee, House Bill 729 now proposes to phase in the repeal over...

By Welcome

May 1, 2025

Stein team picks former Rep. Tine to head DMV

Former state Rep. Paul Tine is set to become the next commissioner of the Division of Motor Vehicles. N.C. Department of Transportation officials announced the appointment on Wednesday, saying that Tine will start work on May 6. He replaces incumbent Commissioner Wayne Goodwin, a former House member, labor commissioner and...

By Ray Gronberg

May 1, 2025

Water rights near Triangle focus of Senate bill

Johnston County’s senator is pushing a bill he says could simplify his county’s water-resources planning. Senate Bill 605 surfaced in the chamber’s Agriculture Committee on Wednesday and is likely to receive further review there next week. As amended, Sen. Benton Sawrey’s bill would make it considerably easier to transfer water...

By Ray Gronberg

May 1, 2025

“Paper towns” bill advances

Last year’s deannexation of a portion of Summerfield may prompt a broader review of the state’s minimum-services “paper towns” originally founded to avoid annexation by larger cities. House Bill 801 cleared the chamber’s State and Local Government Committee on Tuesday and, pending a stop in Rules, appears headed to a...

By Ray Gronberg

May 1, 2025

Wolfspeed faces shareholder lawsuits

My boss, Dave Mildenberg, took a look last week at Wolfspeed’s problems, which include a widely-shorted stock and a $575 million balloon payment to note-holders that’s due next year. Oh, and the country’s new president doesn’t like the CHIPS Act, which is supposed to help underwrite the cost of Wolfspeed’s...

By Ray Gronberg

May 1, 2025

Boom staying home for engine-test work

Boom Supersonic has announced that it will test key components of the engines for its planned supersonic airliner at a site in Colorado near Denver. The company hopes to begin engine testing later this year. Its longer-term schedule still calls for it to start assembling the first of its airliners,...

By Ray Gronberg

April 28, 2025

HUD approves plan for Helene CDBG aid

The Trump administration has signed off on North Carolina’s plan to deploy $1.4 billion in CDBG disaster recovery money to help with the cleanup from Hurricane Helene. Gov. Josh Stein announced the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s OK of the plan on Friday, less than a month after...

By Ray Gronberg

April 28, 2025

Home bill moves forward

While the Senate was haggling over its budget proposal Wednesday evening, a House committee was endorsing a bill that could have far-reaching implications for housing and local land-use regulation. House Bill 765 cleared the chamber’s Housing and Development and is now on its way to Judiciary 2 for further review....

By Ray Gronberg

April 18, 2025

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