Recent editorials from North Carolina newspapers:
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March 7
The News & Observer of Raleigh on “sanctuary cities” for illegal migrants:
Now that they’ve tried to reduce the rightful authority of Gov. Roy Cooper, Republicans in the General Assembly are back to a favorite pastime: infringing on the rights of local government.
The most notable example, of course, is HB2, the ridiculous bathroom bill that prohibited local governments from passing anti-discrimination ordinances for the LGBT community. That’s wounded business in cities and the state’s reputation.
Now comes the latest: Sen. Norman Sanderson of Pamlico County, a Republican, wants to punish public universities and local governments if they don’t follow federal immigration laws to the letter. Sanderson would take funding from public universities that offered protection for immigrant students, and from local governments that offered “sanctuary city” type protections for immigrants. Typically, right-wing politicians conjure visions of cities and universities harboring immigrants in the country illegally when in fact the “breaks” they give such people are minor - such as not seeking them out and turning them in to authorities if they are law-abiding people.
That’s been perfectly OK, by the way, for businesses that use immigrants for tough labor without pressing the issue on their legal status.
But it remains curious how GOP legislators (the House has a milder but similar bill) who raise the roof about “big government” so easily reach down into local municipalities to interfere selectively on some issues. In this case, the action is nonconstructive.
Online:
https://www.newsobserver.com/
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March 7
The StarNews of Wilmington on brewery regulations in North Carolina:
The craft beer boom in North Carolina shows no signs of slowing, and Big Beer wants in on the action.
Because of archaic North Carolina laws, successful brewers get punished with a cap on how much beer they can produce. Entrepreneurs perfect a product, sales soar, then suddenly that head of beer hits a glass ceiling.
Suppose one of the nearly dozen breweries in Wilmington hits it big with its “Editor’s Ale.” A little over 20,000 barrels have been brewed, and it’s only September. Demand for the year might hit 30,000. State law says that if the brewery wants to produce more than 25,000 barrels in a year, it has to bring in a middleman - a distributor, who gets a slice of the action.
According to a story over the weekend in The Charlotte Observer, “exceeding the 25,000-barrel limit for self-distribution would force craft brewers into contracts with distributors, who would take over the brewery’s sales, delivery and distribution” and control marketing and branding rights.
We’ve got nothing against distributors. They keep coolers stocked with the ubiquitous bottles of Bud Light and Corona. They get plenty of business from the big brewers and also out-of-state craft brewers.
Rep. Chuck McGrady, a Republican, plans to introduce a bill that could raise the cap to 200,000 barrels. We hope that his Republican colleagues - traditionally outspoken critics of regulations - will back the bill.
Even though craft beer is usually a small portion of their business, distributors are putting up a fight - and lots of cash. From 2013-2016, distributors, their immediate family members and the NC Beer & Wine Wholesalers PAC donated a total of nearly $1.5 million to North Carolina politicians and political party committees, the Observer reported.
Of that amount, $192,000 went to Senate President Pro Tem Phil Berger (R-Rockingham).
Talk about buying someone a beer for a favor.
Here’s the bottom line - by being successful, North Carolina brewers are required to turn over partial control of their products as well as some of their profits to another business. That is wrong.
Distributors have a valuable service to offer. Winston-Salem’s Foothills Brewing produces 40,000 barrels a year and its president, Jamie Bartholomaus, told the Observer distributors have helped his business.
Other small brewers may decide they want a distributor, but that decision should not be made for them. The arguments for keeping these useless regulations fall flat.
Online:
https://www.starnewsonline.com/
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March 3
The News & Record of Greensboro on Gov. Roy Cooper’s education plan:
“You’re doing the Lord’s work,” Gov. Roy Cooper said - not at a religious revival but to staff members at the Guilford Child Development Center in Greensboro Thursday afternoon.
The soft-spoken governor isn’t known for preaching, but he is thumping a big budget increase for education in his first proposed spending plan. He set a lofty goal of making North Carolina a “Top Ten Educated State” by 2025.
Guilford Child Development provides preschool education, child care, nutrition programs and a range of family services.
“You set a good example here of what we need to do across the state,” Cooper said. His budget calls for serving 4,700 more children in pre-K programs, eliminating the current waiting list.
“Education is a spectrum, it is a continuum” from early childhood through higher education and skills training for older workers, he said. He’s proposing to fund 10 percent average teacher raises over the next two years, a new scholarship program for prospective teachers, and millions more for support staff, classroom supplies, digital learning aids and efforts to boost low-performing schools.
“When we talk about investment in public schools, it must be quality investment and we must expect quality results,” he said.
As in becoming a leading state for education as measured by participation in preschool, high school graduation and university degree attainment, Cooper said.
Cooper spoke to the already converted - education professionals - Thursday. He praised them for “making a difference in the lives of these children.”
The public may be half-converted - supportive of public education but wary about costs. The proposed budget would raise overall state spending by $1.1 billion to $23.5 billion, almost a 5 percent bump. Yet, it makes up for years of slower growth and doesn’t call for tax increases.
Republican legislative leaders reacted with skepticism to the first budget from a Democratic governor they’ve seen in four years.
“Gov. Cooper is clearly growing nostalgic for the Easley-Perdue days of runaway spending - and his reckless $1 billion spending spree would surely return us to the days of high taxes and multibillion-dollar deficits,” Senate leader Phil Berger said in a statement, referring to former Democratic governors Mike Easley and Bev Perdue.
Berger employed plenty of hyperbole. One billion in new spending can’t produce “multibillion-dollar deficits” - which never existed anyway, as North Carolina’s constitution requires a balanced budget.
But the Republican religion includes tax cuts and lean expenditures, so Cooper and the legislature may have a tug-of-war over the state’s collection plate.
At the same time, Republicans say they want to boost education spending, so there might be more room for agreement than normal doctrinal differences would allow.
If North Carolina did become a leading state for education, that would complement the Republican goal of providing a top business climate. The days when major industries, including textiles, furniture and tobacco, didn’t need or want educated workers are gone. Good jobs today require a well-trained, adaptable workforce equipped with critical-thinking skills.
North Carolina’s community colleges and state universities already are among the nation’s best. That’s not true for K-12 public education, and part of the reason is that too many children aren’t prepared to learn when they start school. We don’t have to accept that.
So Cooper is floating an ambitious goal and a spending plan to make a start on reaching it. Lawmakers may come up with other plans, but they should support the goal. Maybe they all should show a little faith in each other this time.
Online:
https://www.greensboro.com/
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