VOLUME 3 ISSUE 2
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WWW.NSJONLINE.COM |
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 7, 2018
Inside Dixie Deer Classic showcases outdoor life, Sports
LAUREN ROSE | NORTH STATE JOURNAL
Gibbs, a golden retreiver, and owner, Terrie Leafstedt, compete in the first round of a DockDogs event during the 2018 Dixie Deer Classic in Raleigh, on March 2. Leafstedt has been competing in this sport for 10 years, 8 1/2 of those years with Gibbs.
the Wednesday
NEWS BRIEFING
Bipartisan N.C. effort to place Graham statue at U.S. Capitol Raleigh/Washington, D.C. N.C. Sen. Thom Tillis, Rep. Patrick McHenry, Gov. Roy Cooper and Lt. Gov. Dan Forest are all calling for a statue of Billy Graham to represent N.C. in Statuary Hall at the U.S. Capitol. A statue of Graham would replace former N.C. Gov. Charles Aycock. Each state gets two representatives in the hall, and N.C. currently has Aycock and Zebulon Vance. In letters to the Capitol Architect, the N.C. leaders asked that the request for change be approved because Graham is “one of North Carolina’s most celebrated figures and ‘A merica’s Pastor.’”
NORTH
OFF TO THE RACES
JOURNaL
The 2018 midterm election promises to be a highenergy, and high stakes, race to November
STATE ELEVATE THE CONVERSATION
N.C. takes in $90.6 million above projected revenue Raleigh According to a monthly financials report issued by the N.C. General Assembly Fiscal Research Division, the state’s General Fund is running more than $190 million above projected for January 2018. The General Fund is used for DHHS, Education, Public Safety, Economic Development, debt and most of the state government expenses. Compared to this time last year, tax revenues are up 3.6 percent, despite cuts to the corporate and individual state tax rates in each of the last three years. The corporate tax rates are scheduled to go down again next year if the state’s economic growth continues to climb.
CHRISTINE T. NGUYEN | NORTH STATE JOURNAL | FILE
We detail the latest salaries for state government department leaders. Jones & Blount
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20177 52016 $2.00
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By Donna King North State Journal RALEIGH — This week N.C.’s political parties are charting their courses to November after the candidate filing period ended February 28. The flurry of activity was closely watched as candidates assessed races, raised money and eyed their competition. For the first time nearly all 170 races in N.C. have a Democrat and a Republican running, and often a libertarian. The exception is House District 24, where conservative Kenneth J. Fontenot, a Marine veteran and middle school teacher, filed as an unaffiliated candidate and the state Republican party plans an endorsement once he gets on the ballot by rounding up 2,000 signatures. This variety of candidates is a dramatic shift from past election years. In 2016, 70 of the 170 races had only one party represented on the ballot by election day. The
NCGOP attributes it to increased interest in running, but also coordinated recruiting by the parties. “I’m impressed with our diversity, our youth, and our energy,” said Dallas Woodhouse, executive director of the NCGOP. “The people are out there, but you’ve got to go find them,” he said. “Both sides should be praised for doing a good job, and they should be castigated for not having done more in the past. One of the lessons that we had to learn, is that the party is growing, we are growing in registration, we’ve got a growing interest in the party… There are probably a million or 750,000 extremely loyal Republican voters, who vote in virtually every Republican primary, and we know very few of them.” A host of new candidates filed this year; women, students, newcomers and some familiar faces. Former N.C. Senator Robert Rucho has filed to run again from Iredell County, and retired Judge Toby Fitch, of Wilson, a Democrat, is running for the NC Senate District 4 seat. In Boone, Republican RobSee FILINGS, page 1
Dominque Sykes, a ninth-grade English teacher at Warren County High School, prepares for her classes during her planning period.
Judges rule on merged NC teachers earn average elections and ethics board of more than $50K A report from DPI breaks down the state’s education budget By Donna King North State Journal
INSIDE
Historic number of candidates file ahead of 2018 campaign season
RALEIGH — N.C. teachers make more than $50,000 on average for the first time. The salary comes after three years of raises set by the Republican-led N.C. General Assembly. The increases were part of an effort to attract more new teachers to the public schools and keep them past the 10-year point, when many historically decide to pursue other careers. Hitting the $50,000 mark for average salary is a milestone for teachers, but also for lawmakers who publicly set it as a goal in 2013.
According to a report out last week from the N.C. Department of Public Instruction, education costs claimed 39 percent of the state’s General Fund in 2017-2018. The state spent $9.6 billion for N.C. public schools in 2017-2018 with the federal government contributing $893 million, not counting federal child nutrition funding. Of the total amount spent on state education this year, 94.2 percent went to salaries and employee benefits. (68.9 percent is salaries, 25.3 percent is employee benefits) The report also showed historic trends. The state spent the highest percentage of the budget on education in 1969-70 at 52.5 percent of the total state budget, and a low of 37.4 percent in 2010See TEACHERS, page 2
A judicial panel let the merged board stand, but with nine members By Donna King and Meredith Pace North State Journal RALEGH — The governor versus legislature court battle over a merged Elections and Ethics Enforcement board is over. After nearly a year of litigation, a unanimous three-judge panel rejected Gov. Roy Cooper’s argument that the merged Bipartisan State Board of Elections and Ethics Enforcement usurped his executive power, but it also said that the part of the original board merger law relating to membership and appointment is void. The North Carolina Superior Court panel preserved the law that joined the N.C. Ethics Commission
and the N.C. Board of Elections into one governor-appointed board made up of equal numbers of Democrats and Republicans, amended in H.B. 90 to add a ninth, unaffiliated member. Cooper and his lawyers argued that because the old system allowed him to appoint a majority of the elections board from his party, lawmakers were stripping him of power to implement his preferred policies. “We appreciate the court preserved a merged bipartisan elections and ethics board, which polling shows nearly 80 percent of North Carolinians support, and rejected Gov. Roy Cooper’s arguments to resurrect a law that was already taken off the books just because his party would benefit,” said Senate Leader Phil Berger (R-Rockingham) and House Speaker Tim Moore See BOARD RULING, page 2