October 21, 2025 • 31 mins
The North Carolina Senate has advanced a new congressional map, with Sen. Ralph Hise defending the proposal as fair and compliant with state law. The DMV has reported a major spike in online renewals following a recent law change allowing drivers to renew licenses without a REAL ID. North Carolina’s export economy continues to grow, with pharmaceuticals now surpassing other industries to become the state’s top export—most of which go to China. However, new European Union steel tariffs of 50% could soon impact the state’s manufacturing sector.
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Speaker 1 (00:08):
It's five oho five and welcome into a Tuesday edition
of the Carolina Journal News Our News Tack eleven, ten
ninety nine to three WBT. I'm Nick Craig. A good
morning to you. As we have been talking about over
the last couple of days, it has been and will
continue to be a busy week in the North Carolina
General Assembly, as lawmakers on Monday met and Raleigh to
(00:31):
review newly proposed congressional districts ahead of the twenty twenty
six midterm elections. That process began last week when the
Republican led General Assembly proposed changes to North Carolina's first
and third congressional districts and opened a public comment period
for citizens to share their feedback. Senator Ralph Heiss for
(00:54):
the Republican from Mitchell County, who is one of three
co chairs of the Senate Elections can he really didn't
mince any words as he walked his colleagues through the
proposed congressional map and why it is happening.
Speaker 2 (01:07):
The motivation behind this redraw is simple and singular. Draw
a new map that will bring an additional Republican seat
to the North Carolina Congressional delegation. Republicans hold a razor
thin margin in the United States House of Representatives, and
if Democrats flip four seats in the upcoming midterm elections,
(01:28):
they will take control of the House and torpedo President's
Trump's agenda. This is a political arms race that Republicans
did not start. Democrats control states across the country adopted
far more aggressive jerry manders that systematically diluted Republican votes.
(01:49):
To take an example from the last week alone, Barack
Obama was featured in an ad campaign indorsing California Governor
Gavin Newsom's efforts to double down on Cali. California is
already severe political jerry manner. President Trump has called on
Republican control stites across the country to fight fire with fire.
(02:11):
This map answers that call. In fact, on Friday, President
Trump signaled his support for this plan.
Speaker 1 (02:20):
That Senator Ralph heis the voice of Senator Ralph Heist
that you're hearing yesterday a little after ten o'clock talking
to the Senate Elections Committee also in some cases called
the Senate Redistricting Committee about the proposed maps that were
released late last week that again do make some of
those changes to the first and third congressional districts. North
(02:41):
Carolina's fourteen US House seats are currently split up ten
to four in favor of Republicans, with just one district
being considered either a swing or toss up district. Under
the new proposal, eleven districts would lean Republican, with just
three leaning Democrats towards the Democrats. I should say, well,
(03:02):
after the Senator walked through the process in how these
maps came about and some of the background on them,
he was asked a variety of questions about the maps themselves,
and one of the big questions was racial data used
in drawing these maps? Senator Ralph Heis said, well, absolutely not.
Speaker 2 (03:21):
Absolutely no racial data was used in the creation of
this map. I stood before this committee two years ago
and talked about our decision not to include racial data
in the congressional legislative plans. Those words are worth repeating today.
The predominant use of race to draw districts violates the
(03:44):
US Constitution unless doing so serves a compelling government interest.
In other words, if the legislature draws districts predominantly based
upon race without a compelling interest, those districts would be
declared illegal chairy manners. As for the Voting Rights Act,
(04:05):
in order for the predominant use of race to be
justified under Section two, there must be a strong basis
and evidence of three Jingles preconditions. Even assuming the presence
of three Jingles preconditions, the use of race to draw
districts must also be supported by the totality totality of circumstances.
(04:28):
This was true then and it's true now. Past decisions
and court records demonstrate that there is no evidence of
three Jingles preconditions in North Carolina. In fact, just weeks ago,
a federal court told us in a case concerning Senate
districts in the northeastern part of the state that there
(04:52):
was no evidence of legally significant racially polarized voting that
would require a majority minority district. In the absence of
any evidence of the three Jingles preconditions, the chairs elected
not to use race in the drawing of these proposed
districts strictly to protect the state from lawsuits alleging illegal
(05:18):
racial cherrymandry. To be clear, the chairs do not believe
that the use of racial data would have been helpful
in reaching any political or other legislative redistricting goals, any
political consideration in line drawing have been informed by political
data and not racial data.
Speaker 1 (05:38):
So in order to not deal with ongoing litigation, or
at least an attempt from my vantage point to not
deal with ongoing litigation lawmakers, as you heard, they're from
Senator Ralph Heist, who is one of the three co
chairs of the Senate Elections Committee, to not deal with
some of that litigation, they have used to know and
you heard that from him very clearly. No racial data
(05:58):
used at all in the redraw of the first and
third congressional district That did not stop Democrats on the
committee from asking the question probably close to a half
a dozen times. And then during nearly an hour of
public comment, speaker after speaker talking about how the maps
themselves are racist and used raised even as lawmakers from
(06:19):
Raleigh Center, Ralph heisst saying very clearly that none of
that racial data was used in redrawing those maps. He
also had some additional details on the maps themselves, some
of the changes to the first and third congressional districts.
This is what Senator Ralph Heist had to say.
Speaker 2 (06:35):
The new congressional plan makes no changes to twelve of
the fourteen districts. The only districts that are changed in
the new proposal are NC one and NC three. The
following changes in the new conngressional plan consists of the
following Green, Lenore, Wayne, and Wilson Counties are moved from
(07:00):
District one to three. Beaufort, Carteret, Craven, Dare, Hyde and
Pamlico Counties are moved from District three to District one
to Bout's population of the two districts, four thousand, eight
hundred and fifty three people according to the twenty twenty
census numbers out of the two hundred and four thousand,
(07:21):
five hundred and seventy six in Onzo County, that is,
two point four percent are moved from District three to
District one. The split occurs in Swansboro Precinct. Leaving much
of the town in one district in C one is possible,
minimizing the municipal split. As I stated previously, the motivation
(07:43):
behind this new plan is straightforward. The new congressional map
improves Republican's critical strength in eastern North Carolina. It moves
in Sea District one from a district where President Trump
earned fifty one percent of the vote in twenty twenty
four to fifty five percent of the vote, an increase
of four points to balance strength. NC III loses the
(08:06):
same amount. INC one gains four points, moving from a
sixty percent presidential trunk performance in the previous map to
a fifty six performance in the new map. The end
result is a congressional map that should perform to elect
eleven Republicans. Not only does the new congressional map better
(08:27):
improve Republican political strength in eastern North Carolina, giving Republican
candidates a better opportunity to win an NC one, the
new map adheres to traditional redistricting principles. Importingly, it is
more compact than the current districts in all recognized measures.
Speaker 1 (08:47):
That cenator to Ralph Heissa during the Senate Elections Committee
explaining the process. After about a two hour meeting which
included his comments, some questions from the various members of
the committee, and as I noted, about an hour of
public comment, the Senate Elections Committee approved the map Monday morning.
Later that afternoon, the full North Carolina Senate, in a
(09:08):
twenty five to twenty vote, adopted the plan as a
third reading of that map will take place coming up today.
After that third reading, which we presume will pass based
on the two previous votes, the map will move to
the North Carolina House for consideration. Something interesting to note,
Unlike most legislation, even though this is not a legislation,
(09:30):
it is a map, they cannot be vetoed or blocked
by the governor. Back when the veto was added to
North Carolina back in the nineteen nineties, Democrats who were
in charge at the time determined that they did not
want a governor being able to either approve or deny
congressional maps. So Governor Josh Stein will have no ability
(09:52):
to have any say on these maps. He can of
course speak publicly on them, which he has done, but
he will not be able to stop the process the
vote in the Senate. The Senate leader and Phil Berger,
the Republican from Rockingham County Senate a press release quote,
the Democrats want to do everything they can to block
a President Trump's America First agenda. North Carolinians support President Trump,
(10:15):
and it's incumbent on us to fight back against all
attempts to defeat the will of the people of North Carolina.
As expressed in the twenty twenty four presidential election. This
process will continue to roll over the next couple of
days in Raleigh. We will have a continued analysis over
on our website, Carolina Journal dot com, and of course
(10:36):
we'll be keeping a close eye on the activities of
the General Assembly today right here on the Carolina Journal
News Hour and bring you the latest tomorrow morning. It's
five twenty three. Welcome back to the Carolina Journal News Hour,
Newstock eleven ten ninety nine three WBT. North Carolina drives
(11:00):
are turning online to renew their licenses at a record level.
Has expanded digital access through the Division of Motor Vehicle
or DMV takes effect. More than eighteen thousand renewals have
been completed online in just two weeks since Senate Bill
two forty five, which was called the Expand Remote Driver's
(11:21):
Licensed Services Act, took effect. The bill passed the North
Carolina Senate unanimously on September the twenty second after it
passed in the in July in the House one hundred
and nine to seven. All of the seven knows that
were on the bill were Democrats, with Democrat Governor Josh
Stein signing the bill into law on September the thirtieth,
(11:45):
the law lets both real ID and non real ID
license holders renew online for a second consecutive time. This
reduces the need for in person visits. In a press
conference Monday, Governor Stein and NCDMV Missioner Paul Tyne said
that the state's DMV offices typically serve about eight thousand
(12:06):
people daily, indicating that online renewals have already eased office
traffic by more than two full business days. Real ID
driver's licenses can also be renewed online for a second
time if a person has visited a DMV office for
transaction since their last renewal. And I'll note that most
(12:27):
into actually every individual that has got a real ID
now would have had to visit a DMV office to
provide all of the paperwork required to upgrade from a
regular license to a real ID, or if you have
just moved to North Carolina or are just getting a
driver's license for the first time, all of that documentation
would have been required to get a real ID. In addition,
(12:49):
ninety five percent of these six hundred and thirty two
examiner positions have been filled, including the additional sixty four
slots that were funded through the General Assembly in August.
NCDMV Commissioner Paul Tyne said that the dmb's short term
goal is to reduce demand by allowing more online transactions,
(13:10):
increasing capacity by hiring additional frontline staff, and driving process improvements.
All of those remaining provisions of Senate Bill two forty five,
which allows teen drivers to upgrade from their Level two
limited provisional license which is also named A before nines
nine PM, to the Level three full provisional license after
(13:33):
nines online, which he said will be available in the
next two weeks. Teen drivers can already upgrade from a
Level three to a full provisional Class C driver's license
online on their eighteenth birthday without having to visit a
DMV location. The NCDMV also estimates the new online services
(13:54):
will move up to four hundred thousand customers each year
out of the office. That is obviously a very significant
number as the frustration rightfully so continues to grow across
North Carolina, with individuals having to wait months to get
a DMV appointment. After waiting months, standing in line for hours,
taking a day if not more, off of work to
(14:15):
get their business done at DMV, it has been a
major strain and headache for residents across the state. Paul
Tyne said that they have also revamped their training program
to shorten the time at the home office and maximizing
the effect of new examiners in the field on their
way to clearing a six month training backlog, all of
(14:36):
which will help get new hires contributing in the field
within two weeks of their higher date. NCDMV has also
developed a program that certifies driver education schools to provide
tests and encourages parents and teens to check with their
local driver education school to see if they've joined the
state program. Currently, NCDMV runs about nine thousand, nine twenty
(15:00):
thousand rather tests a year. New scanners are also being
piloted that will save up to ninety seconds per transaction
on or about one hundred thousand additional transactions per year.
Paul Time acknowledged that waittime remains a problem and started
working on improving the process this summer with taking walkins
(15:21):
all day and at adding a new queuing system for individuals.
He said, quote, we developed a streamline process to get
you in the queue quickly and allow you to wait
from anywhere. We then text you a link where you
can watch your place online from your phone. When it's
almost your turn, we send a message and invite you
(15:42):
back into the office, where you'll have a much shorter
wait time before you get service. This is a much
better experience than waiting in waiting in line outside of
the office for an extended period of time, exposed to
the elements that will, of course become ever more prominent
as we get deeper into the fall and winter months
(16:04):
and the temperatures continue to go down in North Carolina.
Paul Tyne said that the public doesn't doesn't have to
have an appointment to come into the DMV, noting that
they serve eighty seven percent of customers as walk ins,
and that they don't have to come into the early
mornings as their offices don't typically hit capatia before nine am.
(16:25):
In some cases many long after that nine am time period.
With this new queuing system that has been implemented and
is in place, we have got some additional coverage on
this story. Some of the ongoing problems at DMV, some
of the solutions brought forth by the General Assembly and
by Paul Time, the NCDMV Commissioner, and some details of
(16:47):
that press conference that happened on Monday. You can read
those details over on our website this morning, Carolina Journal
dot com. The story headline dmv C spike in online
renewals after law chain. It's five thirty six. Welcome back
to the Carolina Journal News Hour Newstock eleven ten ninety
(17:10):
nine to three WBT. We've got a couple of economics
stories here in North Carolina, as tariffs and trade continue
to be major discussions not only across the United States,
but here in North Carolina. Recent data from the Economic
Development Partnership of North Carolina, or EDPNC, shows that pharmaceuticals
(17:30):
have become the state's top global export. The industry, which
produced fifteen percent of North Carolina's exports in twenty nineteen,
accounted for more than one quarter of exports in twenty
twenty four. Of North Carolina's three largest exports in twenty
twenty four, it included pharmaceutical products, industrial machinery including computers
(17:52):
and electronic machinery, things like sound equipment, TV equipment, in parts,
and some others. Only pharmaceuticals experienced significant growth since twenty nineteen,
both in total sales and as a production of the
state's total exports between twenty nineteen and twenty twenty four.
Pharmaceutical exports grew at a whopping one hundred and thirty
(18:16):
four percent, with North Carolina selling almost twelve billion dollars
in pharmaceuticals globally in twenty twenty four alone. Industry machinery
in comparison, grew only ten percent during that same period
and contracted as a share of the state's exports, and
electronic machinery things computers TVs the things of that sort
(18:38):
similarly grew by five percent and accounted for a smaller
share of total exports than in twenty nineteen. Total exports
of all other commodities experienced similarly modest growth numbers, with
about a six percent rise there. The largest majority of
North Carolina's pharmaceutical exports have come specifically from the biopharmaceutical
(19:01):
sector eight point seven two billion dollars of the roughly
twelve billion dollars in pharmaceuticals that the state exported last year,
which comes out to about seventy three percent of such exports.
That means that North Carolina is biopharmaceutical industry, which directly
employs just zero point three one percent of the state's
(19:23):
approximately eleven million residents produced twenty percent of its export
value in twenty twenty four. North Carolina's trade with China
has experienced the same trend as in the state's global trade,
albeit in a more pronounced fashion. In twenty nineteen, pharmaceutical industry, machinery,
(19:44):
and electronic machinery together accounted for just over half of
the imports to China. Of that number, pharmaceuticals were nearly
forty percent. By twenty twenty four, those pharmaceuticals alone accounted
for fifty seven percent of North Carolina's exports to China.
(20:04):
Of the two point sixty seven billion dollar increase in
North Carolina's exports to China since twenty nineteen to a
point one two billion came from growth in pharmaceutical exports.
Much of this growth can be attributed to a two
year period between twenty twenty and twenty twenty two, where
those exports increased by a remarkable four hundred and seventy
(20:28):
one percent. Some pretty remarkable numbers when you look at
the major amounts of growth in some of these sectors.
Four hundred and seventy one percent, even when pushing the
start bait to start date back to twenty nineteen to
account for twenty twenty's low export numbers of a lot
(20:49):
of that, of course, due to COVID nineteen and some
of the shifting a global trade policies and dynamics in
that year, Pharmaceutical growth rates over the now three year
period remained still very high at two hundred and seventeen percent.
As a result of this rapid growth, North Carolina's exports
(21:09):
to China have nearly doubled in a just six year
span of time. Pharmaceutical levels of growth have not been
matched by any other export category of significant volume, with
the total growth of all non pharmaceutical exports to China
being just twenty eight percent or twenty eight percent over
six years, compared to pharmaceuticals one hundred and sixty seven
(21:33):
percent growth in the same time period. Those exports to
China from North Carolina have not been matched in volume
by Chinese pharmaceutical imports to the state. Imports of Chinese
pharmaceuticals through twenty twenty four were negligible two orders of
magnitude lower than exports to China, and as a result,
(21:54):
North Carolina has maintained a multi billion dollar trade surplus
over China in that sector since the year twenty twenty,
although the growth of pharmaceutical exports has so far appeared durable,
with the industry growing by nearly nine percent year to date.
Those numbers I'll note are through July of twenty twenty five,
(22:16):
while all other exports shrank by an average of four percent.
The impact of a proposed one hundred percent tariff on
branded and patented pharmaceuticals remains to be seen. Additional market
uncertainty of retaliatory tariffs by some of those impacted countries
have impacted growth in other sectors in North Carolina, and
(22:38):
of course we continue to watch some of those other exports, imports,
and tariff discussions, and that brings us to our next
story about steel imports. As we continue to examine the
impacts of some of those federal trade policies on North
Carolina's major industry. We are now talking about steel. Earlier
(23:01):
this year, according to Joseph Harris, the fiscal policy analyst
for the John Locke Foundation, the Trump administration of imposed
a fifty percent tariff on all steel products not melted
and poured in the United States, with Harris saying, now
the European Union is proposing to reduce the amount of
steel it will accept tariff free nearly in half and
(23:24):
apply its own fifty percent tariff on volumes above the
cap with the United States tariffs now at fifty percent.
Steel exporters, particularly in China, have redirected shipments towards Europe,
putting new pressure on the European Union's domestic producers. In short,
as the cost of doing business in the United States rose,
(23:47):
exporters of cheap steel began looking for other markets to
absorb their output. End quote there from Joseph Harris. The
European Commission has introduced a proposal which would protect the
European Union's steel industry from averse effects of global overcapacity,
(24:07):
ensuring the long term stability of this vital sector for
the EU. The proposal safeguards the steel industry, which is
set to expire in June of twenty twenty six. The
proposal responds to a call from EU workers, member states,
members of the European Parliament and stakeholders to provide permanent
(24:28):
and robust protections for the EU's steel industry, which would
include safeguarding jobs within the EU and bolstering the industry's
efforts across the globe, delivering on commitments outlined in the
EU Steel and Metal Action Plan. The proposal upholds the
principles of open trade while fostering collaboration with global partners
(24:52):
to address over capacity. It does so by limiting terrif
free import volumes to eighteen point three million tons per year,
which is a forty seven percent reduction compared to twenty
twenty four steel quotas, doubling the out of quota duty
to fifty percent from the previous twenty five percent under
(25:13):
the Safeguard, and strengthening some of the traceability of steel
markets through the introduction of the a what they are
calling a Melton Poor requirement designed to prevent circumvention. According
to the proposal, data from the Economic Development Partnership of
North Carolina or EDPNC year three year to date through
(25:34):
July shows that iron and steel exports have declined from
two hundred and one point three million dollars to just
one hundred and eighty five point nine million, representing a
decrease of about eight percent. During the same time period,
exports of articles made of iron or steel have increased slightly,
rising from one hundred and fifty eight point six million
(25:56):
dollars to one hundred and sixty one point nine mins,
or about a marginal two percent increase. Taken together, total
exports in these categories have remained relatively flat year to
date and are now being felt by some of those
steel industries in North Carolina. Harris concluded, saying, quote, year
(26:17):
to date through July, imports of steel, iron and articles
thereof have remained relatively flat. However, notable declines in May
and June compared to last year suggests early signs of
impacts from steel tariffs that took effect in mid March.
We of course will continue our coverage of the ongoing
(26:38):
a tariff discussion that is happening, most of it up
in Washington, d C. However, localizing it and bringing you
the impacts here on North Carolina. You can read details
on both of our stories this morning over at our
website Carolina Journal dot com. The two headline stories Pharmaceuticals
now top NC export majority of exports to China, and
(27:00):
the other NC MAYC impacts of EU's new fifty percent
steel tariffs. Good morning again, it's five point fifty three.
Welcome back to the Carolina Journal News Hour. Newstock eleven
ten ninety nine to three WBT, continuing our coverage of
(27:21):
what has already been and will continue to be a
busy week in Raleigh as lawmakers in the North Carolina
Senate met yesterday to review newly proposed congressional districts ahead
of the twenty twenty six midterm elections. As we covered
last week, the Republican led General Assembly has proposed changes
(27:41):
to North Carolina's first and third congressional districts to make
them more competitive for Republicans. Senator Ralph Heiss, who is
the Republican from Mitchell County, is one of the three
co chairs of the Senate Election Committee, and he came
right out and said exactly why these maps are being redrawn.
Speaker 2 (28:00):
The motivation behind this redraw is simple and singular. Draw
a new map that will bring an additional Republican seat
to the North Carolina Congressional delegation. Republicans hold a razor
thin margin in the United States House of Representatives, and
if Democrats flip four seats in the upcoming midterm elections,
(28:21):
they will take control of the House and torpedo President's
Trump's agenda. This is a political arms race that Republicans
did not start, Democrats controlled states across the country adopted
far more aggressive jerrymanders that systematically diluted Republican votes. To
(28:42):
take an example from the last week alone, Barack Obama
was featured in an ad campaign endorsing California Governor Gavin
Newsom's efforts to double down on California's already severe political gerrymander.
President Trump has called on Republican could sites across the
country to fight fire with fire. This map answers that call.
(29:07):
In fact, on Friday, President Trump signaled his support for
this plan.
Speaker 1 (29:13):
North Carolina's fourteen US House seats are currently split up
ten to four in favor of Republicans, with just one district,
the first being considered a toss up or swing district.
Under the new proposal, eleven districts would lean Republican, with
just three leaning Democrat. Senator Sidney Batchie, a Democrat from
(29:34):
Waite County who is a member of the Senate Elections Committee,
questioned whether lawmakers drawing the new maps had been in
contact with President Donald Trump or the White House. Senator
Ralph Heiss replied that he had quote no direct communication
with the White House or others. However, he did acknowledge
that there has been a lot of public commentary, including
(29:55):
from the President himself endorsing the map on his Truth
social platform. The President did that on Friday and thanked
Republican lawmakers in North Carolina. After a nearly two hour
Senate Elections Committee, they voted to approve the new maps.
That happened Monday morning. After that, later in the afternoon,
(30:17):
the full North Carolina Senate met gaveled in and voted
twenty five to twenty to adopt the plan. After Democrats
attempted to adjourn the North Carolina Senate until March of
next year as they were not getting favorable votes. However,
after those unsuccessful efforts, the map did move forward in
the Senate, where a third reading will take place today.
(30:38):
After that third reading, the map will move to the
North Carolina House for consideration, and a'll note unlike most
other pieces of legislation that we talk about, redistricting maps
cannot be vetoed or blocked by the governor. We will
be keeping a close eye on the ongoings in Raleigh
throughout the rest of the week. Continued coverage this morning
(30:58):
over on our website, Carolina Journal dot com. That's gonna
do it. For a Tuesday edition of the Carolina Journal
News Hour, We're back with you tomorrow morning, five to six,
right here on News Talk eleven, ten and ninety nine
three WBT
It's five oho five and welcome into a Tuesday edition
of the Carolina Journal News Our News Tack eleven, ten
ninety nine to three WBT. I'm Nick Craig. A good
morning to you. As we have been talking about over
the last couple of days, it has been and will
continue to be a busy week in the North Carolina
General Assembly, as lawmakers on Monday met and Raleigh to
(00:31):
review newly proposed congressional districts ahead of the twenty twenty
six midterm elections. That process began last week when the
Republican led General Assembly proposed changes to North Carolina's first
and third congressional districts and opened a public comment period
for citizens to share their feedback. Senator Ralph Heiss for
(00:54):
the Republican from Mitchell County, who is one of three
co chairs of the Senate Elections can he really didn't
mince any words as he walked his colleagues through the
proposed congressional map and why it is happening.
Speaker 2 (01:07):
The motivation behind this redraw is simple and singular. Draw
a new map that will bring an additional Republican seat
to the North Carolina Congressional delegation. Republicans hold a razor
thin margin in the United States House of Representatives, and
if Democrats flip four seats in the upcoming midterm elections,
(01:28):
they will take control of the House and torpedo President's
Trump's agenda. This is a political arms race that Republicans
did not start. Democrats control states across the country adopted
far more aggressive jerry manders that systematically diluted Republican votes.
(01:49):
To take an example from the last week alone, Barack
Obama was featured in an ad campaign indorsing California Governor
Gavin Newsom's efforts to double down on Cali. California is
already severe political jerry manner. President Trump has called on
Republican control stites across the country to fight fire with fire.
(02:11):
This map answers that call. In fact, on Friday, President
Trump signaled his support for this plan.
Speaker 1 (02:20):
That Senator Ralph heis the voice of Senator Ralph Heist
that you're hearing yesterday a little after ten o'clock talking
to the Senate Elections Committee also in some cases called
the Senate Redistricting Committee about the proposed maps that were
released late last week that again do make some of
those changes to the first and third congressional districts. North
(02:41):
Carolina's fourteen US House seats are currently split up ten
to four in favor of Republicans, with just one district
being considered either a swing or toss up district. Under
the new proposal, eleven districts would lean Republican, with just
three leaning Democrats towards the Democrats. I should say, well,
(03:02):
after the Senator walked through the process in how these
maps came about and some of the background on them,
he was asked a variety of questions about the maps themselves,
and one of the big questions was racial data used
in drawing these maps? Senator Ralph Heis said, well, absolutely not.
Speaker 2 (03:21):
Absolutely no racial data was used in the creation of
this map. I stood before this committee two years ago
and talked about our decision not to include racial data
in the congressional legislative plans. Those words are worth repeating today.
The predominant use of race to draw districts violates the
(03:44):
US Constitution unless doing so serves a compelling government interest.
In other words, if the legislature draws districts predominantly based
upon race without a compelling interest, those districts would be
declared illegal chairy manners. As for the Voting Rights Act,
(04:05):
in order for the predominant use of race to be
justified under Section two, there must be a strong basis
and evidence of three Jingles preconditions. Even assuming the presence
of three Jingles preconditions, the use of race to draw
districts must also be supported by the totality totality of circumstances.
(04:28):
This was true then and it's true now. Past decisions
and court records demonstrate that there is no evidence of
three Jingles preconditions in North Carolina. In fact, just weeks ago,
a federal court told us in a case concerning Senate
districts in the northeastern part of the state that there
(04:52):
was no evidence of legally significant racially polarized voting that
would require a majority minority district. In the absence of
any evidence of the three Jingles preconditions, the chairs elected
not to use race in the drawing of these proposed
districts strictly to protect the state from lawsuits alleging illegal
(05:18):
racial cherrymandry. To be clear, the chairs do not believe
that the use of racial data would have been helpful
in reaching any political or other legislative redistricting goals, any
political consideration in line drawing have been informed by political
data and not racial data.
Speaker 1 (05:38):
So in order to not deal with ongoing litigation, or
at least an attempt from my vantage point to not
deal with ongoing litigation lawmakers, as you heard, they're from
Senator Ralph Heist, who is one of the three co
chairs of the Senate Elections Committee, to not deal with
some of that litigation, they have used to know and
you heard that from him very clearly. No racial data
(05:58):
used at all in the redraw of the first and
third congressional district That did not stop Democrats on the
committee from asking the question probably close to a half
a dozen times. And then during nearly an hour of
public comment, speaker after speaker talking about how the maps
themselves are racist and used raised even as lawmakers from
(06:19):
Raleigh Center, Ralph heisst saying very clearly that none of
that racial data was used in redrawing those maps. He
also had some additional details on the maps themselves, some
of the changes to the first and third congressional districts.
This is what Senator Ralph Heist had to say.
Speaker 2 (06:35):
The new congressional plan makes no changes to twelve of
the fourteen districts. The only districts that are changed in
the new proposal are NC one and NC three. The
following changes in the new conngressional plan consists of the
following Green, Lenore, Wayne, and Wilson Counties are moved from
(07:00):
District one to three. Beaufort, Carteret, Craven, Dare, Hyde and
Pamlico Counties are moved from District three to District one
to Bout's population of the two districts, four thousand, eight
hundred and fifty three people according to the twenty twenty
census numbers out of the two hundred and four thousand,
(07:21):
five hundred and seventy six in Onzo County, that is,
two point four percent are moved from District three to
District one. The split occurs in Swansboro Precinct. Leaving much
of the town in one district in C one is possible,
minimizing the municipal split. As I stated previously, the motivation
(07:43):
behind this new plan is straightforward. The new congressional map
improves Republican's critical strength in eastern North Carolina. It moves
in Sea District one from a district where President Trump
earned fifty one percent of the vote in twenty twenty
four to fifty five percent of the vote, an increase
of four points to balance strength. NC III loses the
(08:06):
same amount. INC one gains four points, moving from a
sixty percent presidential trunk performance in the previous map to
a fifty six performance in the new map. The end
result is a congressional map that should perform to elect
eleven Republicans. Not only does the new congressional map better
(08:27):
improve Republican political strength in eastern North Carolina, giving Republican
candidates a better opportunity to win an NC one, the
new map adheres to traditional redistricting principles. Importingly, it is
more compact than the current districts in all recognized measures.
Speaker 1 (08:47):
That cenator to Ralph Heissa during the Senate Elections Committee
explaining the process. After about a two hour meeting which
included his comments, some questions from the various members of
the committee, and as I noted, about an hour of
public comment, the Senate Elections Committee approved the map Monday morning.
Later that afternoon, the full North Carolina Senate, in a
(09:08):
twenty five to twenty vote, adopted the plan as a
third reading of that map will take place coming up today.
After that third reading, which we presume will pass based
on the two previous votes, the map will move to
the North Carolina House for consideration. Something interesting to note,
Unlike most legislation, even though this is not a legislation,
(09:30):
it is a map, they cannot be vetoed or blocked
by the governor. Back when the veto was added to
North Carolina back in the nineteen nineties, Democrats who were
in charge at the time determined that they did not
want a governor being able to either approve or deny
congressional maps. So Governor Josh Stein will have no ability
(09:52):
to have any say on these maps. He can of
course speak publicly on them, which he has done, but
he will not be able to stop the process the
vote in the Senate. The Senate leader and Phil Berger,
the Republican from Rockingham County Senate a press release quote,
the Democrats want to do everything they can to block
a President Trump's America First agenda. North Carolinians support President Trump,
(10:15):
and it's incumbent on us to fight back against all
attempts to defeat the will of the people of North Carolina.
As expressed in the twenty twenty four presidential election. This
process will continue to roll over the next couple of
days in Raleigh. We will have a continued analysis over
on our website, Carolina Journal dot com, and of course
(10:36):
we'll be keeping a close eye on the activities of
the General Assembly today right here on the Carolina Journal
News Hour and bring you the latest tomorrow morning. It's
five twenty three. Welcome back to the Carolina Journal News Hour,
Newstock eleven ten ninety nine three WBT. North Carolina drives
(11:00):
are turning online to renew their licenses at a record level.
Has expanded digital access through the Division of Motor Vehicle
or DMV takes effect. More than eighteen thousand renewals have
been completed online in just two weeks since Senate Bill
two forty five, which was called the Expand Remote Driver's
(11:21):
Licensed Services Act, took effect. The bill passed the North
Carolina Senate unanimously on September the twenty second after it
passed in the in July in the House one hundred
and nine to seven. All of the seven knows that
were on the bill were Democrats, with Democrat Governor Josh
Stein signing the bill into law on September the thirtieth,
(11:45):
the law lets both real ID and non real ID
license holders renew online for a second consecutive time. This
reduces the need for in person visits. In a press
conference Monday, Governor Stein and NCDMV Missioner Paul Tyne said
that the state's DMV offices typically serve about eight thousand
(12:06):
people daily, indicating that online renewals have already eased office
traffic by more than two full business days. Real ID
driver's licenses can also be renewed online for a second
time if a person has visited a DMV office for
transaction since their last renewal. And I'll note that most
(12:27):
into actually every individual that has got a real ID
now would have had to visit a DMV office to
provide all of the paperwork required to upgrade from a
regular license to a real ID, or if you have
just moved to North Carolina or are just getting a
driver's license for the first time, all of that documentation
would have been required to get a real ID. In addition,
(12:49):
ninety five percent of these six hundred and thirty two
examiner positions have been filled, including the additional sixty four
slots that were funded through the General Assembly in August.
NCDMV Commissioner Paul Tyne said that the dmb's short term
goal is to reduce demand by allowing more online transactions,
(13:10):
increasing capacity by hiring additional frontline staff, and driving process improvements.
All of those remaining provisions of Senate Bill two forty five,
which allows teen drivers to upgrade from their Level two
limited provisional license which is also named A before nines
nine PM, to the Level three full provisional license after
(13:33):
nines online, which he said will be available in the
next two weeks. Teen drivers can already upgrade from a
Level three to a full provisional Class C driver's license
online on their eighteenth birthday without having to visit a
DMV location. The NCDMV also estimates the new online services
(13:54):
will move up to four hundred thousand customers each year
out of the office. That is obviously a very significant
number as the frustration rightfully so continues to grow across
North Carolina, with individuals having to wait months to get
a DMV appointment. After waiting months, standing in line for hours,
taking a day if not more, off of work to
(14:15):
get their business done at DMV, it has been a
major strain and headache for residents across the state. Paul
Tyne said that they have also revamped their training program
to shorten the time at the home office and maximizing
the effect of new examiners in the field on their
way to clearing a six month training backlog, all of
(14:36):
which will help get new hires contributing in the field
within two weeks of their higher date. NCDMV has also
developed a program that certifies driver education schools to provide
tests and encourages parents and teens to check with their
local driver education school to see if they've joined the
state program. Currently, NCDMV runs about nine thousand, nine twenty
(15:00):
thousand rather tests a year. New scanners are also being
piloted that will save up to ninety seconds per transaction
on or about one hundred thousand additional transactions per year.
Paul Time acknowledged that waittime remains a problem and started
working on improving the process this summer with taking walkins
(15:21):
all day and at adding a new queuing system for individuals.
He said, quote, we developed a streamline process to get
you in the queue quickly and allow you to wait
from anywhere. We then text you a link where you
can watch your place online from your phone. When it's
almost your turn, we send a message and invite you
(15:42):
back into the office, where you'll have a much shorter
wait time before you get service. This is a much
better experience than waiting in waiting in line outside of
the office for an extended period of time, exposed to
the elements that will, of course become ever more prominent
as we get deeper into the fall and winter months
(16:04):
and the temperatures continue to go down in North Carolina.
Paul Tyne said that the public doesn't doesn't have to
have an appointment to come into the DMV, noting that
they serve eighty seven percent of customers as walk ins,
and that they don't have to come into the early
mornings as their offices don't typically hit capatia before nine am.
(16:25):
In some cases many long after that nine am time period.
With this new queuing system that has been implemented and
is in place, we have got some additional coverage on
this story. Some of the ongoing problems at DMV, some
of the solutions brought forth by the General Assembly and
by Paul Time, the NCDMV Commissioner, and some details of
(16:47):
that press conference that happened on Monday. You can read
those details over on our website this morning, Carolina Journal
dot com. The story headline dmv C spike in online
renewals after law chain. It's five thirty six. Welcome back
to the Carolina Journal News Hour Newstock eleven ten ninety
(17:10):
nine to three WBT. We've got a couple of economics
stories here in North Carolina, as tariffs and trade continue
to be major discussions not only across the United States,
but here in North Carolina. Recent data from the Economic
Development Partnership of North Carolina, or EDPNC, shows that pharmaceuticals
(17:30):
have become the state's top global export. The industry, which
produced fifteen percent of North Carolina's exports in twenty nineteen,
accounted for more than one quarter of exports in twenty
twenty four. Of North Carolina's three largest exports in twenty
twenty four, it included pharmaceutical products, industrial machinery including computers
(17:52):
and electronic machinery, things like sound equipment, TV equipment, in parts,
and some others. Only pharmaceuticals experienced significant growth since twenty nineteen,
both in total sales and as a production of the
state's total exports between twenty nineteen and twenty twenty four.
Pharmaceutical exports grew at a whopping one hundred and thirty
(18:16):
four percent, with North Carolina selling almost twelve billion dollars
in pharmaceuticals globally in twenty twenty four alone. Industry machinery
in comparison, grew only ten percent during that same period
and contracted as a share of the state's exports, and
electronic machinery things computers TVs the things of that sort
(18:38):
similarly grew by five percent and accounted for a smaller
share of total exports than in twenty nineteen. Total exports
of all other commodities experienced similarly modest growth numbers, with
about a six percent rise there. The largest majority of
North Carolina's pharmaceutical exports have come specifically from the biopharmaceutical
(19:01):
sector eight point seven two billion dollars of the roughly
twelve billion dollars in pharmaceuticals that the state exported last year,
which comes out to about seventy three percent of such exports.
That means that North Carolina is biopharmaceutical industry, which directly
employs just zero point three one percent of the state's
(19:23):
approximately eleven million residents produced twenty percent of its export
value in twenty twenty four. North Carolina's trade with China
has experienced the same trend as in the state's global trade,
albeit in a more pronounced fashion. In twenty nineteen, pharmaceutical industry, machinery,
(19:44):
and electronic machinery together accounted for just over half of
the imports to China. Of that number, pharmaceuticals were nearly
forty percent. By twenty twenty four, those pharmaceuticals alone accounted
for fifty seven percent of North Carolina's exports to China.
(20:04):
Of the two point sixty seven billion dollar increase in
North Carolina's exports to China since twenty nineteen to a
point one two billion came from growth in pharmaceutical exports.
Much of this growth can be attributed to a two
year period between twenty twenty and twenty twenty two, where
those exports increased by a remarkable four hundred and seventy
(20:28):
one percent. Some pretty remarkable numbers when you look at
the major amounts of growth in some of these sectors.
Four hundred and seventy one percent, even when pushing the
start bait to start date back to twenty nineteen to
account for twenty twenty's low export numbers of a lot
(20:49):
of that, of course, due to COVID nineteen and some
of the shifting a global trade policies and dynamics in
that year, Pharmaceutical growth rates over the now three year
period remained still very high at two hundred and seventeen percent.
As a result of this rapid growth, North Carolina's exports
(21:09):
to China have nearly doubled in a just six year
span of time. Pharmaceutical levels of growth have not been
matched by any other export category of significant volume, with
the total growth of all non pharmaceutical exports to China
being just twenty eight percent or twenty eight percent over
six years, compared to pharmaceuticals one hundred and sixty seven
(21:33):
percent growth in the same time period. Those exports to
China from North Carolina have not been matched in volume
by Chinese pharmaceutical imports to the state. Imports of Chinese
pharmaceuticals through twenty twenty four were negligible two orders of
magnitude lower than exports to China, and as a result,
(21:54):
North Carolina has maintained a multi billion dollar trade surplus
over China in that sector since the year twenty twenty,
although the growth of pharmaceutical exports has so far appeared durable,
with the industry growing by nearly nine percent year to date.
Those numbers I'll note are through July of twenty twenty five,
(22:16):
while all other exports shrank by an average of four percent.
The impact of a proposed one hundred percent tariff on
branded and patented pharmaceuticals remains to be seen. Additional market
uncertainty of retaliatory tariffs by some of those impacted countries
have impacted growth in other sectors in North Carolina, and
(22:38):
of course we continue to watch some of those other exports, imports,
and tariff discussions, and that brings us to our next
story about steel imports. As we continue to examine the
impacts of some of those federal trade policies on North
Carolina's major industry. We are now talking about steel. Earlier
(23:01):
this year, according to Joseph Harris, the fiscal policy analyst
for the John Locke Foundation, the Trump administration of imposed
a fifty percent tariff on all steel products not melted
and poured in the United States, with Harris saying, now
the European Union is proposing to reduce the amount of
steel it will accept tariff free nearly in half and
(23:24):
apply its own fifty percent tariff on volumes above the
cap with the United States tariffs now at fifty percent.
Steel exporters, particularly in China, have redirected shipments towards Europe,
putting new pressure on the European Union's domestic producers. In short,
as the cost of doing business in the United States rose,
(23:47):
exporters of cheap steel began looking for other markets to
absorb their output. End quote there from Joseph Harris. The
European Commission has introduced a proposal which would protect the
European Union's steel industry from averse effects of global overcapacity,
(24:07):
ensuring the long term stability of this vital sector for
the EU. The proposal safeguards the steel industry, which is
set to expire in June of twenty twenty six. The
proposal responds to a call from EU workers, member states,
members of the European Parliament and stakeholders to provide permanent
(24:28):
and robust protections for the EU's steel industry, which would
include safeguarding jobs within the EU and bolstering the industry's
efforts across the globe, delivering on commitments outlined in the
EU Steel and Metal Action Plan. The proposal upholds the
principles of open trade while fostering collaboration with global partners
(24:52):
to address over capacity. It does so by limiting terrif
free import volumes to eighteen point three million tons per year,
which is a forty seven percent reduction compared to twenty
twenty four steel quotas, doubling the out of quota duty
to fifty percent from the previous twenty five percent under
(25:13):
the Safeguard, and strengthening some of the traceability of steel
markets through the introduction of the a what they are
calling a Melton Poor requirement designed to prevent circumvention. According
to the proposal, data from the Economic Development Partnership of
North Carolina or EDPNC year three year to date through
(25:34):
July shows that iron and steel exports have declined from
two hundred and one point three million dollars to just
one hundred and eighty five point nine million, representing a
decrease of about eight percent. During the same time period,
exports of articles made of iron or steel have increased slightly,
rising from one hundred and fifty eight point six million
(25:56):
dollars to one hundred and sixty one point nine mins,
or about a marginal two percent increase. Taken together, total
exports in these categories have remained relatively flat year to
date and are now being felt by some of those
steel industries in North Carolina. Harris concluded, saying, quote, year
(26:17):
to date through July, imports of steel, iron and articles
thereof have remained relatively flat. However, notable declines in May
and June compared to last year suggests early signs of
impacts from steel tariffs that took effect in mid March.
We of course will continue our coverage of the ongoing
(26:38):
a tariff discussion that is happening, most of it up
in Washington, d C. However, localizing it and bringing you
the impacts here on North Carolina. You can read details
on both of our stories this morning over at our
website Carolina Journal dot com. The two headline stories Pharmaceuticals
now top NC export majority of exports to China, and
(27:00):
the other NC MAYC impacts of EU's new fifty percent
steel tariffs. Good morning again, it's five point fifty three.
Welcome back to the Carolina Journal News Hour. Newstock eleven
ten ninety nine to three WBT, continuing our coverage of
(27:21):
what has already been and will continue to be a
busy week in Raleigh as lawmakers in the North Carolina
Senate met yesterday to review newly proposed congressional districts ahead
of the twenty twenty six midterm elections. As we covered
last week, the Republican led General Assembly has proposed changes
(27:41):
to North Carolina's first and third congressional districts to make
them more competitive for Republicans. Senator Ralph Heiss, who is
the Republican from Mitchell County, is one of the three
co chairs of the Senate Election Committee, and he came
right out and said exactly why these maps are being redrawn.
Speaker 2 (28:00):
The motivation behind this redraw is simple and singular. Draw
a new map that will bring an additional Republican seat
to the North Carolina Congressional delegation. Republicans hold a razor
thin margin in the United States House of Representatives, and
if Democrats flip four seats in the upcoming midterm elections,
(28:21):
they will take control of the House and torpedo President's
Trump's agenda. This is a political arms race that Republicans
did not start, Democrats controlled states across the country adopted
far more aggressive jerrymanders that systematically diluted Republican votes. To
(28:42):
take an example from the last week alone, Barack Obama
was featured in an ad campaign endorsing California Governor Gavin
Newsom's efforts to double down on California's already severe political gerrymander.
President Trump has called on Republican could sites across the
country to fight fire with fire. This map answers that call.
(29:07):
In fact, on Friday, President Trump signaled his support for
this plan.
Speaker 1 (29:13):
North Carolina's fourteen US House seats are currently split up
ten to four in favor of Republicans, with just one district,
the first being considered a toss up or swing district.
Under the new proposal, eleven districts would lean Republican, with
just three leaning Democrat. Senator Sidney Batchie, a Democrat from
(29:34):
Waite County who is a member of the Senate Elections Committee,
questioned whether lawmakers drawing the new maps had been in
contact with President Donald Trump or the White House. Senator
Ralph Heiss replied that he had quote no direct communication
with the White House or others. However, he did acknowledge
that there has been a lot of public commentary, including
(29:55):
from the President himself endorsing the map on his Truth
social platform. The President did that on Friday and thanked
Republican lawmakers in North Carolina. After a nearly two hour
Senate Elections Committee, they voted to approve the new maps.
That happened Monday morning. After that, later in the afternoon,
(30:17):
the full North Carolina Senate met gaveled in and voted
twenty five to twenty to adopt the plan. After Democrats
attempted to adjourn the North Carolina Senate until March of
next year as they were not getting favorable votes. However,
after those unsuccessful efforts, the map did move forward in
the Senate, where a third reading will take place today.
(30:38):
After that third reading, the map will move to the
North Carolina House for consideration, and a'll note unlike most
other pieces of legislation that we talk about, redistricting maps
cannot be vetoed or blocked by the governor. We will
be keeping a close eye on the ongoings in Raleigh
throughout the rest of the week. Continued coverage this morning
(30:58):
over on our website, Carolina Journal dot com. That's gonna
do it. For a Tuesday edition of the Carolina Journal
News Hour, We're back with you tomorrow morning, five to six,
right here on News Talk eleven, ten and ninety nine
three WBT
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