07/23/2008

Associated Press

From Asheville Citizen-Times, July 22

Legislature's short session gets mixed review

One upside of this year's "short session" in the state General Assembly is that it was just that — relatively short. In years past, budget wrangling has seen the short session run far past the June 30 deadline to pass a budget, sometimes even rolling into December.

Another is that it was a relatively productive session, with more than 200 bills sent to outgoing Gov. Mike Easley, and it was relatively free of the wedge-issue nonsense normally prevalent during election years.

One downside is that many of the efforts of the General Assembly were tweaks to a state budget that has grown dramatically — if not downright alarmingly. The first budget signed into law by Easley back in 2001 checked in at $14.4 billion. The final incarnation he signed on July 16 is $21.4 billion.

Education spending: Granted, much of the increased spending has been targeted at education and higher teacher salaries, priorities we share. As recently as three years ago the state lagged woefully behind the rest of the nation in per-pupil expenditures, checking in at 40th. But there's no denying an increase of nearly 50 percent in eight short years is a trend that can't be sustained.

And while the governor's priorities were addressed, it can't be said he got everything he wanted. Pay increases for teachers were cut back, his More at Four funding wishes weren't met and while North Carolina now has more control over community-level conservation measures during a drought, it isn't to the degree that the governor wanted.

Some successes: A measure to cover $10,000 in unmet costs for the funeral of Trooper David Shawn Blanton Jr. sailed through. A temporary patch to the wildly unfair distribution of lottery profits to school systems for capital expenditures will see $14 million go to schools in Western North Carolina and across the state cheated by the current formula for dispersing funds.

Left on the table were measures pushed by WNC legislators such as a moratorium on involuntary annexations and more stringent fuel standards for the state vehicle fleet. Legislators also passed on tougher school anti-bullying policies and a questionable modification of swine house rules. On the final day of the session on July 18, legislators agreed to bar ethics probes from the state auditor following the controversy that arose as that office looked into the stock-car racing team run by the son of state Sen. Martin Nesbitt, D-Buncombe.

Future issues: A number of huge issues are going to have to be dealt with by the next governor and new legislature in 2009. Sweeping legislation was needed to deal with the state's crumbling infrastructure, broken mental health system, wobbly state employee insurance program and an antiquated tax code. A few legislative patch jobs were applied, leaving those problems for the future.

Fixing them in that future could be exceedingly difficult. Anyone who hasn't been living under a rock knows the economy may well get much worse before it gets better, hamstringing budget writers next year. Senate Majority Leader Phil Berger, R-Rockingham, told The Associated Press that this year's leaders "have left a ticking time bomb for next year's Legislature.

They defer cleaning up the state's fiscal house and disregard North Carolina's crumbling roads and education systems."

It's hard to gauge what economic conditions will be when a new General Assembly begins work on Jan. 28, 2009, but conditions at present would seem to favor Sen. Berger looking like a bit of a prophet.

In the meantime we'd have to point out that while the next legislature faces challenges, those challenges could have been much worse had not prior bodies acted with at least a degree of responsibility. The record of this General Assembly is a mixed bag.

But that's much better than a disaster, which it could have been if some of the proposed legislation had become law.

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From The Charlotte Observer, July 23

Anti-bullying law would have sent strong message

Of the failure of N.C. lawmakers to approve a statewide school bullying policy this session, we'll let Rep. Rick Glazier, D-Fayetteville, speak for us. "I think, sadly, the Senate was truly bullied on the bullying bill," he said of legislation the N.C. House had approved earlier. "Much to the detriment of school children, the politics of bigotry and hate won out."

He's right. Unfortunately, we in Charlotte could see it coming. That's because a few months ago, the Charlotte-Mecklenburg school board approved a beefed up anti-bullying policy, and some of the same forces worked to derail it. The CMS policy, like the one N.C. lawmakers debated as late as last week, included sexual orientation among the characteristics school districts use to identify students who are possible targets of bullying.

That, of course, caused all the fuss. Some conservative and religious groups mounted a vigorous campaign to block legislation that included sexual orientation among the characteristics of students who needed protection from bullying. Critics such as Rep. Mark Hilton, R-Catawba, said they objected because they believe homosexuality is immoral.

They have a right to think so. But no child should be left to the mercy of school bullies for that reason.

Policies should be firm and unequivocal about protecting students from such torment. But too often, school officials and students ignore intimidation of gay students — behavior they would not tolerate against any other student. An explicit policy makes it clear that ignoring such harassment will bring consequences. Studies show that states with explicit school anti-bullying laws have significantly less harassment than states with generic laws.

The legislative debate brought out critics who saw the bill as an effort to indoctrinate students with a certain view about homosexuality. But as we noted when this issue was discussed in Charlotte, no one with good sense and a good heart can believe it's right to bully gays. Even religious groups that consider homosexuality a sin say they love the sinner.

School bullying is no small matter. Bullying affects students' mental and physical health, school performance and, for too many, their ability to become functioning, productive citizens after school.

Sadly, current anti-bullying policies adopted by individual N.C. school systems vary widely and are inconsistently enforced. All students deserve a safe environment to learn. It's disappointing that not enough lawmakers took the opportunity with a strong anti-bullying bill to make sure everyone understands that.

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From Salisbury Post, July 22

The road to cleaner air

Since 2003, when Rowan County first got a snootful of bad publicity for having the highest ozone readings in North Carolina, our air pollution worries have dissipated somewhat. Now, a dodgy economy and sputtering job market are the murky clouds on the horizon.

But air quality remains a significant concern for our region, as should be obvious from the number of ozone alerts we experience this time of year and the lingering possibility of federal sanctions. And this week, in a federal district court in Asheville, a judge is hearing North Carolina's argument that the Tennessee Valley Authority needs to reduce pollution from its power plants because it's threatening the beauty and economic vitality of our mountains.

So it's a good thing that the Center for the Environment at Catawba College continues to pursue strategies for improving our air. Its work received an important boost recently through an N.C. Department of Transportation grant. The stipend will pay 80 percent of a $1.3 million project that will examine ways to improve air quality along the I-85 corridor, specifically by reducing traffic congestion.

Of course, anyone who regularly commutes between Rowan and Charlotte might argue that reducing congestion is a worthy goal in itself, air improvements and health benefits aside. But traffic density and air pollution are closely correlated. It's estimated that tailpipe emissions are responsible for about half of the ozone pollution in our region, with factories, power plants, heavy equipment and out-of-state sources contributing most of the rest. Anything that can lower peak traffic loads in the I-85 corridor will help the region's air quality. Rowan's proximity to the corridor and its location between the Charlotte metro area and the Triad are major reasons for its high readings in the past — and the reason we have two state air quality monitors constantly sampling the atmosphere.

What makes the center's grant especially timely is the renewed interest in expanded transportation options amid escalating gasoline prices. Back in 2003, cynics and naysayers could blithely dismiss calls for more energy efficient, lower-polluting forms of transportation as futuristic solutions that the marketplace simply wasn't interested in and wouldn't support. With gasoline selling for under two bucks a gallon, who needed mass transit, car pooling, telecommuting or increased research into hybrid power systems and biofuels? Just gas up the SUV and go.

How things have changed. SUVs are gathering dust on dealer lots, more people are biking to work or taking the bus, and companies are encouraging carpooling while expanding their work-from-home options. Now, reducing air pollution and cutting transportation costs turn out to be opposite sides of the same coin. The strategies that give us cleaner air can also lead to cheaper commutes, less congested highways and more energy independence.

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From Rocky Mount Telegram, July 22

North Carolina needs a more open process for courting industries

With every industrial recruiting trophy North Carolina wins, the case seems to grow only stronger for having more openness in the incentives offered by the state.

The latest question mark surrounds the courtship of Spirit AeroSystems to the Global TransPark in Kinston. Gov. Mike Easley announced the company would create more than 1,000 jobs at its new location.

Now, it appears Spirit AerosSystems could hire about half that number by 2014 and still receive an incentives package worth about $180 million. That factors out to about $360,000 per job.

The jobs themselves are expected to pay an average of $48,000 per worker annually, and Spirit is expected to invest about $570 million in its plant.

Those are good-paying jobs, especially for Eastern North Carolina. But the fine print of the deal once again shows why North Carolina needs a more open process for courting industries. We shouldn't have to wait to learn these details through public records requests after the fact. There should be an opportunity for the public to comment on such deals before they're consummated.

There's still hope this will become great news for North Carolina. A lawyer who helped negotiate the deal told the News & Observer of Raleigh that Spirit may employ even more workers than the 1,031 the state hopes it will hire.

That would be wonderful news, especially at the Global TransPark. The facility has long struggled to become an economic boon to the state.

All the same, North Carolina has seen too many examples of huge incentives for companies that may or may not be worth that price. What's the harm in having a more open process?