Redistricting Update, Mini-Budget, Stein Criticizes GOP

The North Carolina Senate has approved a new congressional map, with the House expected to give final approval today. Lawmakers also passed a funding package that directs resources toward storm recovery, public schools, and infrastructure projects statewide. A separate proposal would tighten guidelines for pretrial release, aiming to keep violent offenders in custody longer before trial. Meanwhile, Governor Stein has criticized Republican leadership for what he calls partisan redistricting and continued inaction on the state budget.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:08):
It's five oh five and welcome into a Wednesday edition
of the Carolina Journal News Hour News Talk eleven, ten
ninety nine to three WBT. I'm Nick Craig, a good
morning to you. We of course keep our eye and
coverage this morning on the North Carolina General Assembly, as
both Republicans and Democrats have been back in Raleigh at

(00:29):
the Estate capital since Monday as they continue to deal
with a litany of issues. The biggest and most popular
topic over the last couple of days continues to be redistricting.
So here is the latest that we are watching this morning.
In an early morning session yesterday, the North Carolina Senate
once again gabbled in and held a third reading, or

(00:51):
a final vote on these newly proposed congressional districts ahead
of the twenty twenty six mid term elections. That final
was twenty six to twenty in the third reading, and
after that it was sent to the North Carolina House
via special message. The process, as you're well aware, began
last week when the Republican led General Assembly proposed changes

(01:15):
to North Carolina's first and third congressional districts and opened
the public comment period for citizens to share their feedback
after it will have passed the third reading in the
North Carolina Senate, it made its way over to a
one house committee where a similar process to the one
that we described in the Senate, we had lawmakers including

(01:37):
Senator Ralph Heiss, who was a special guest of the
House hearing described the map at Lawmakers on the Democrat
and Republican side of the aisle were able to ask
him questions, a little bit of back and forth there
and then, similarly to the Senate and what we saw
on Monday, a pretty lengthy public comment period including some
of the same speakers that spoke in the Senate on Monday,

(02:00):
and really nothing positive to say about these maps from
the public comment period. After that, it was referred to
the North Carolina House Rules Committee, where now currently sits.
It is expected to make its way to the full
House floor for a vote a little bit later on
in the day today. We'll get that final approval Wednesday

(02:21):
today in the North Carolina House. We will keep an
eye on what goes on in Raleigh there and to
pass those details along to you right here on the
Carolina Journal News Hour. So the redistricting debate and discussion
likely will be wrapped up either today or tomorrow. One
other thing to note in terms of additional business to
get done in the North Carolina Senate. After they passed

(02:44):
another piece of legislation that we'll get into here in
a minute, they decided and Phil Berger, the leader of
the North Carolina Senate, provided guidance to his colleagues saying
that there will be no additional voting sessions this week,
meaning that all of the work in the North Carolina
Senate is done and some of those lawmakers will stay
in Raleigh. There are still some committee meetings, but the

(03:06):
full Senate will not be voting on anything else, meaning
no other legislation will move forward in the Senate this
week that picks up or puts forward just one additional
set of voting days in the month of November before
the end of the calendar year and the start of
the biennium in twenty twenty six. We'll keep our eye
on those details. One of the things that the Senate

(03:29):
did work on yesterday was approving an additional mini budget.
This seemingly materialized very quick in Raleigh this week, and
on Tuesday, the North Carolina General Assembly approved a targeted
spending plan that directs millions of dollars towards disaster recovery, education, infrastructure,

(03:49):
and government operations. The legislation's name Senate Bill four forty
nine Continuing Budget Operations, Part four is the latest mini
budget to fund a cent state operations for the twenty
five twenty six fiscal year, after lawmakers were unable to
remain unable to agree on a full final state budget

(04:11):
by the end of the fiscal year, which was June
thirtieth of twenty twenty five. Unlike what you're currently witnessing
and seeing in Washington, d C. In North Carolina, the
previous budget continues in the absence of a new one,
preventing what you would call and what we are seeing
in Washington as a government shutdown. However, lawmakers have used

(04:33):
mini budgets to fund priorities on which the chambers can agree.
This is the second such mini budget for republic the
Republican led legislature this year. Governor Josh Stein, a Democrat,
signed the first one while conducting a call on lawmakers
a full budget deal. So taking a look at some
of the top priorities in this legislation, disaster recovery receives

(04:58):
several of the largest allocations in the budget measure and
it now heads to the Governor's desk as it sped
through the Senate and the House. I'll note it wasn't
that long of a bill, only about seventeen pages, and
when you think about a budget being only seventeen pages,
that would be very short with a variety of these

(05:18):
policy issues and priorities from lawmakers being relatively straightforward. So
starting with Helene funding, business is affected by Hurricane Helen
will see relief through extended Golden Leaf Bridge loans, which
now allow twenty four months of interest only payments and

(05:39):
repayments through the year twenty thirty two. Local governments and
storm damaged areas can delay repayments of state cash flow
loans until after FEMA reimbursements are received, and a grant
program supporting infrastructure repairs not covered by the FEMA Public
Assistance reimbursement. So a couple of big priorities there in

(06:03):
terms of Allen funding, giving businesses, giving local governments that
have borrowed money from the state a little bit more flexibility,
a little bit more breathing room, as unfortunately the tail
continueses big time slowdowns and delays from the Federal Emergency
Management Agency in Washington, d C. So a little bit

(06:23):
of breathing room, but for them there in some other priorities.
Education funding includes updated allotments for the Cooperative Innovation High
School Program, with two hundred and seventy five thousand dollars
per school in Tier one counties, two hundred thousand dollars
in Tier two, and one hundred and eighty thousand dollars
in Tier three. The bill also raises non resident tuitions

(06:47):
at NC Promise Universities, which do include universities like Elizabeth
City State, Fayetteville State, UNC, Pembroke, and Western North Carolina.
Those non resident tuition rates are jumping from twenty five
hundred to thirty five hundred dollars per semester beginning in
twenty six twenty seventy. Fee for in state residence remains

(07:10):
the same. Agricultural and environmental programs are set to receive
some three million dollars for AV and flu response in
laboratory work, some five hundred and eighty one thousand dollars
for the state's meat inspection program, and seven hundred thousand
dollars for five new full time staff positions at the

(07:30):
Environmental Management Commission in the realm of public safety. Some
investments there as well, including two point one million dollars
to maintain the VIPER Emergency Radio Network. That is, the
radio network that a state law enforcement uses to communicate
a not only within the agency in which they represent,

(07:52):
but other state law enforcement and local law enforcement agencies.
So a pretty penny. They're two point one million dollars
to make sure that that network is up and running.
And some of the discussion there is the VIPER network
needs some upgrades for a situation like Hurricane Helene, God
forbid another situation like that was to affect the state.

(08:12):
Some of these maintenance and continued upgrades to the VIPER
system will allow law enforcement and other emergency response personnel
to stay in touch during mass power outages and things
of that nature. Seven point two million dollars for court
technology upgrades, six hundred thousand dollars to increase the number

(08:32):
of special assistant US attorneys, and two million dollars for
the State Bureau of Investigation. Some other key expenditure some
interesting ones in there. Twelve million dollars to rebuild broadband
fiber damaged by Hurricane Helen in western North Carolina. Getting
individuals backstable, reliable, and hopefully affordable internet access to twenty

(08:55):
point eight five million dollars to replace the North Carolina
Integrate Budget Information System, seven and a half million dollars
for state fare receipts for repair and renovation projects at
the fair Grounds that, of course, is in Raleigh, just
off the campus of NC State, and seven million dollars
for ferry maintenance and dry docking. Two other key measures

(09:19):
in the bill affected the capital City of Raleigh, authorizing
the State Department of Administration to sell two properties. One
is on Dawson Street downtown. The other the Old Rex
Hospital building, which currently houses the state's Department of Employment Security.
Situated on the corner of Wade Ave and Saint Mary's Street.
The old hospital is a high value area. Under this bill,

(09:43):
it would put it up for sale or lease by
April first, twenty twenty seven, after costs associated with a
redevelopment plan. Proceeds from that transaction would go into the
State Capital and Infrastructure Fund. The budget also this mini budget,
i should say, also directs the State Department of Administration
to come up with a new location for the Department

(10:04):
of Employment Security by April of twenty twenty six. There
are some other details in this legislation, this mini budget,
Senate Bill four forty nine. You can read those details
over on our website, Carolina Journal dot com. The headline there,
State legislature approves funds for storm recovery, schools and infrastructure.

(10:27):
That legislation again has passed the House, has passed the
Senate in the Senate completely unanimous, pretty close to unanimous
in the North Carolina House. It now makes its way
to a Democrat Governor Josh Stein's desk, where it would
appear very clear and obvious this morning that he will
sign it into law, even as he continues to call
on the General Assembly the legislature to get a full

(10:50):
budget prepared and ready. We'll keep our eye on all
of those details right here on the Carolina Journal News Hour.
It's twenty one minutes past the hour. Good Wednesday morning
to you. Welcome back to the Carolina Journal News our
newstock eleven ten ninety nine three WBT. There are some

(11:12):
proposals to tighten North Carolina guidelines for pre trial release.
As North Carolina's judicial system, everybody well aware of this,
especially in the Charlotte metro has been under heavy scrutiny
in the wake of the recent murders of Irena Zaruska
and Logan Federico. Bail policies have especially been under a
microscope since the state of North Carolina and magistrates are

(11:36):
not required to check an arrestees a criminal history and
have no guidelines for setting bail bonds. While Arena's law
House Built three oh seven was passed on September the
twenty third by the North Carolina General Assembly and signed
into law by Democrat Governor Josh Stein, however, it does
make some changes, such as eliminating cash list bail and

(11:59):
tightening a pre trial release conditions for repeat offenders. Experts
in the field assert that many changes are still needed.
William Allen, who is a government affairs associate for the
John Locke Foundation, wrote quote two critical needs would need
to be implemented statewide systematic bail slash bond guides, a

(12:20):
standardized evidence based reference with offense categories or recommended bail
ranges and risk factors, and mandating that all magistrates in
North Carolina conduct a criminal background check for each arrestee
before brought before them. The current process for setting bail
in North Carolina is based on judicial discretion and often

(12:43):
involves insufficient data. According to William Allen, he believes this
system can lead to inconsistencies in setting bail amounts, the
release of repeat offenders, and other public safety concerns. While
some counties do have a policies regard suarding bail range,
judicial discretion still plays a very significant role. John Guys,

(13:06):
who is a senior fellow of the Legal Studies for
the John Locke Foundation, told The Carolina Journal quote Arena
Zaruska's murder was a wake up call. We need to
upgrade our systems for protecting public safety in North Carolina,
including by providing better training, better support, and better supervision
for magistrates. During a bail hearing this is currently in

(13:30):
North Carolina, the judge or magistrate assesses public safety concerns,
the defendant's risk of failing to appear in court aka
flight risk, and arguments from the defense related to community ties, employment,
and specific circumstances of each individual case. They do all
of that before setting a secured bond. The judge or

(13:52):
magistrate must first consider less restrictive alternatives and document the
reason for requiring a secure bond, particularly when such a
bond is mandated by a local policy. The decision is
then recorded on the conditions of release and release order
form completed by both the judge or magistrate and the defendant. Magistrates, however,

(14:17):
sometimes claim that they do not have time to check
an arrestee's criminal history, and in other cases sometimes they
choose not to do so. Magistrates can set bail in
a matter of minutes in many counties without knowing an
arrestee's criminal record. This lack of knowledge puts both victims

(14:38):
and communities at risk, according to critics and experts in
the field. These critics also say that implementing a statewide
systematic bail bond guide system for magistrates and requiring them
to verify that they have checked an arrestee's criminal history
when making decisions would significantly reduce some of these public

(14:59):
safety risks. William Allen's proposed bail bond guideline system aims
to improve consistency and fairness in bail decisions while enhancing
public safety by ensuring that prior violent offenses are carefully considered.
It seeks to mitigate judicial liability and minimize efforts in

(15:19):
decision making. In the decision making process to promote a
more reliable and transparent system. Additionally, the guide supports data
driven justice to prevent the use of arbitrary bail amounts
and works to eliminate any potential for racial or other
forms of bias in bail determination. According to a Janet

(15:43):
Doren Constitutional Studies Council for the John Locke Foundation, she
told the Carolina Journal, IRENA's law is just the beginning
of will of what will be a long period for reform.
Proposals to create both a systematic statewide bail guide for
magistrates and a framework ensuring that magistrates consider each arrestees

(16:05):
prior criminal history will likely play an important role in
any reform. The public probably assumes these basics have always
been a part of the bail system, but they have
not been so. Concerns with reforms may arise regarding issues
of time and cost, judicial discretion, and technology gaps. However,

(16:27):
William Allen believes that while background checks can make first
appearances take longer, they must be balanced with the cost
of not running background checks and thereby not making a
fully informed decisions. Rather than stripping officials of power and
judicial discretion, these reforms would enable greater transparency and accountability

(16:50):
for both magistrates and judges. Alan told The Carolina Journal
the AOCCR two hundred form, which is the one for
those secure bonds, could be amended to include a box
for magistrates to check to a test that they conducted
proper background checks on penalty of removal or even a

(17:10):
Class one misdemeanor for failing to complete those duties. To
make this possible, Allen believes that all magistrate offices should
be equipped with state of the art technology to enable
them to conduct comprehensive background checks on arrestees in a
very prompt fashion. The proposal also calls for magistrates to

(17:30):
be offered training in the use of a newly formed
bail or bond guide system. Obviously, public safety continues to
be a major topic of discussion, especially in some of
our larger cities across the state, as places like Charlotte.
Over the last few weeks have seen a massive increase
in violent crime, with multiple shootings and deaths over the weekend.

(17:54):
These discussions over the criminal justice system, some of these
guidelines set for bail and bond not to make sure
that violent repeat offenders are not roaming the cities and
towns of North Carolina will continue to be a major
political discussion, likely as we head into the next legislative
session coming up in early twenty twenty six. You can

(18:17):
read some additional details on this story this morning by
visiting our website Carolina Journal dot com. That story's headline
there proposal calls to titan NC guidelines for pre trial release. Hey,
it's five thirty six. Welcome back to the Carolina Journal.
News Hour, News Talk eleven, ten ninety nine three WBT.

(18:40):
Keeping our attention this morning on a busy week in
the North Carolina General Assembly, and it will continue on
your Wednesday, keeping up to date with where we stand
right now on redistricting. On Monday, the North Carolina Senate
had a Senate Elections Committee that we covered in great
detail in which they walked through the proposed to changes

(19:01):
to the North Carolina Congressional district map, shifting some of
the counties between the first and third congressional district. Those
are in the northeastern and eastern half of North Carolina,
north of the Wilmington area and between that and the
Virginia border. So those changes were proposed in the Senate,
and yesterday in a final third reading vote, the full

(19:23):
North Carolina Senate in a twenty six to twenty vote
sent the maps to the North Carolina House the a
special messenger, and it is expected that coming up a
little bit later on today that the North Carolina House
will act on those maps. They made their way in
front of the House Rules Committee or the House Elections
Committee yesterday before being sent to the House Rules Committee

(19:47):
ahead of a final vote on the full floor of
the North Carolina House, a party line vote in the Senate,
you would expect something very similar in the House as well.
One of the things that makes these maps interesting, or
the congressional map discussion interesting, is unlike most legislation, redistricting
maps cannot be vetoed or blocked by the governor, Meaning

(20:10):
if this proposal is set to be approved in the
House by a simple majority, which from all accounts is
exactly what will happen today, there is nothing that Democrat
Governor Josh Stein or Democrat lawmakers in the North Carolina
General Assembly can do to block or stop those maps
from going into effect. This will be incredibly relevant as

(20:32):
candidate filing for these elections, even though they are in
November of next year, they will as many of them
will have a March twenty twenty six. Primary candidate filing
for those elections opens in less than six weeks. Early
December is when that process in period opens, so those
maps will have to be solidified and laid out for

(20:53):
the potential candidates to determine where they are going to
file for those congressional districts coming up here in just
a couple of weeks. So we will watch us some
of the movement on that in the North Carolina House
today and we'll have the latest coverage for you over
on our website, Carolina Journal dot com, and of course
bring the latest to you right here on the Carolina

(21:13):
Journal News Hour. It's now five thirty nine News Talk
eleven ten ninety nine three WBT, continuing our coverage this
morning of what has been a busy week in North
Carolina politics. Lawmakers in Raleigh this week dealing with some
redistricting and we've heard comments from both Republicans and Democrats
in both the House and the Senate. However, we are

(21:34):
also getting some additional comments from Democrat Governor Josh Stein
on some of these new proposed congressional maps. To walk
us through some of those details this morning and some
other comments from the governor. Teresa Opeka Carolina Journal dot
Com joins us on the news hour. Teresa, all the
rage this week is bent redistricting. What does Governor Stein
have to say?

Speaker 2 (21:54):
Sure, Nick, thanks for having me. So yeah, he basically
called the redistricting very manipulative. That's what he said during
a press conference earlier in the week. You know, he
talked about Senator Berger and Speaker Hall announcing last week
that they were going to be quote manipulating North Carolina's
congressional maps for partisan advantage even more than they already have.

(22:17):
So what he said, he was extremely disappointed by the
cynical power grab that they were doing and understands that
the Republican legislature is abusing its power to take away yours.
Talking to the people when he had this press conference,
he said, in our representative democracy, voters are supposed to
choose their representatives, not the other way around, and they

(22:38):
are going to be doing some long term damage. So
he was not too happy with that. He says, you know,
Republican legislatures try and take away the ability of the
people from the districts to vote on their own and
you know, kind of up for that power grab.

Speaker 1 (22:53):
He kept mentioning, and so as we continue our discussion
of this, of course we'll continue track what goes on
in the General Assembly. With that, I will note once
again that the governor, unlike normal pieces of legislation, Teresa
does not have the ability to veto or stop these maps.
It is a full responsibility of the legislature. So we'll
be keeping an eye on Raleigh throughout the rest of

(23:16):
the week. However, this was not the only topic of
discussion from the governor at this press conference. The budget
continues to be a main discussion as well some ongoing
deadlines with a medicaid What else are you learning from
Governor Stein?

Speaker 2 (23:30):
Sure? So, in addition to talking about the maps, he
said he sent a letter last week to lawmakers detailing
in steps that he believes the General Assembly should be taking.
One of those was for public safety. He said that
although he sound he signed rather House Bill three to
ZHO seven, what didn't do enough for public safety. So

(23:53):
he was calling on the General Assembly to fund his
one hundred and ninety five million dollar public safety package
that would basically provide money for law enforcement, more pay increases,
recruitment and retention bonuses, you know, and things to the
fight the drug crisis. He also said in that statement

(24:14):
that there should be more concentration on mental health services.
Talking about course the deadly uh the death of Arena
Zarutska on the light rail in Charlotte and also the
deadly shooting Southport, he says he believes both assailants were
suffering from serious mental illness. Of course, we know that

(24:35):
Carlos Brown, the alleged assailant for Arena Zarutska, it was
diagnosed with schizophrenia. So he basically said the lawmakers cut
a bunch of funding that would help off for you know,
anything but mental illness. But that was quote basically going
back to you know, the uh, the cuts for reimbursement

(24:58):
for Medicaid that took place I saw October first, and
going back to the original story that we had, you know,
House speaker Dustin Hall said, Stein's claim was a manufactured
crisis that you know, they could have pushed out the
deadline further than October first, and there's plenty of money
in the rebase that they had. That so he you know,

(25:19):
made the statements for public safety, mental health funding, funding
the police. It was that was a more of his
comments that he had during that press conference.

Speaker 1 (25:30):
And obviously, Teresa, we've kind of talked about this throughout
this year, and you and I have made the point
and you've discussed in the past that this relationship between
Stein and the General Assembly started off pretty friendly at
the beginning. But as the months have gone on, and
as we've gotten deeper into this long session where we
sit right now, it appears that this relationship is continuing

(25:51):
to fracture. And now the General Assembly, you talk about
people like House Speaker Dustin Hall, Senate Leader Phil Berger,
and the governor are kind of butting heads on a
variety of different political matters, whether we're talking about maps,
the budget, and some of the discussions on going with medicaid.
Seems like maybe business as usual as it comes to
North Carolina politics.

Speaker 2 (26:13):
Yeah, it sounds like the honeymoon period is basically over
between Governor Stein and the legislature. You know, like you said,
they have come to agreement on a few different things.
The first bill he signed, I believe for lean relief,
and you know, it basically has slowly gone downhill. I mean,
he's been pretty more moderate compared to former Governor Cooper.

(26:33):
But you're seeing as you that's a pretty good analogy. Fractured.
You're seeing that happen as the months progress here, especially
now where the you know, Medicaid rebase. You're talking about
not having a budget in place, even though North Carolina
has the biennium, so technically they do have a budget
in place, it just goes falls back onto previous funding

(26:55):
that they've already had. Unlike what he did mention to,
don't have currently have a budget in the US, North
Carolina being one of them, a new budget. Pennsylvania is
the other. In a Pennsylvania does not have a buy
inm so if they're running out of money, they're running
out of money. So at least North Carolina does have
a backup plan for that. So yeah, you are definitely
seeing the situation between the governor, Stein and the legislature

(27:20):
start to unravel at this point.

Speaker 1 (27:23):
We will, of course keep an eye on all of
these big political issues and stories. Some discussions on mini budgets,
the Congression, redistricting, and this deadline for the medicaidor rebase
coming up as well. We appreciate the details and the updates.
This morning, threes Opeika joins us on the Carolina Journal
News Hour. Good morning again. It's five point fifty one.

(27:46):
Welcome back to the Carolina Journal, News Hour, News Talk
eleven ten ninety nine three WBT, continuing our coverage of
a busy week in Raleigh, and with this morning, we've
got a new mini budget that has passed both the
North Carolina Senate. On Tuesday, members of the General Assembly
approved a targeted spending plan that directs millions of dollars

(28:08):
towards disaster recovery, education, infrastructure, and government operations. Senate Bill
four to forty nine Continuing Budget Operations is the latest
mini budget to fund essential state operations for the twenty
five twenty six fiscal year. After lawmakers or earlier in
the twenty twenty five were unable to agree on a

(28:30):
full state budget, and they remain unable to agree on
a full state budget. The deadline to get that in
was June the thirtieth of this year. As the new
fiscal year kicked off on July one. Under North Carolina Statute,
the previous budget continues in the absence of a new one,
preventing a government shut down. Unlike the situation that you

(28:51):
are currently watching unfold in Washington, d C. Lawmakers in
North Carolina, however, have used mini budgets to fund priorities
on which the chambers can agree. This is the second
such mini budget from the Republican led to legislature this year.
Governor Josh Stein, a Democrat, signed the first one while
continuing to call on lawmakers to reach a full budget deal.

(29:15):
So let's diving into some of the details on what
is actually going on in here. Some of the top
funding priorities do continue to be and remain to be
Western North Carolina Recovery and Relief as disaster recovery relieves
receives several of the largest allocations in this mini budget,
which is now headed to the Governor's desk. Businesses affected

(29:37):
by Hurricane Helene will see relief through extended gold Leaf
Bridge loans, which now allow twenty four months of interest
only payments and allow a full repayment of those loans
through twenty thirty two. Local governments and storm damaged areas
can also delay repayment of state cash flow loans until

(29:59):
after FEMA reimbursements are received, and a grant program supporting
infrastructure repairs that are not covered by FEMA Public Assistance reimbursement.
So a little bit of a breathing room there for
not only businesses, but local governments in the western half
of the state that have borrowed money from either the
Golden Leaf Foundation or from the estate in terms of

(30:22):
those state cash flow loans for some of those small
and municipal governments. Education funding included updated allotments for the
Cooperative Innovation High School Program, with seven hundred and fifty
two and seventy five thousand dollars per school in Tier one,
two hundred thousand dollars in Tier two, and one hundred
and eighty thousand dollars in Tier three. The bill also

(30:45):
raises non resident tuitions at NC Promise Universities, which include
Elizabeth City State, Fayetteville State, UNC, Pembrooke, and Western Carolina
that now out of state tuition rate will go from
where it is right now at twenty five hundred dollars
per semester to thirty five hundred dollars per semester beginning

(31:06):
in the twenty six twenty seven school year. Agricultural and
environmental programs received three million dollars for AV and flu
response and laboratory work, five hundred and eighty one thousand
dollars for the state's meat inspection program, and seven hundred
thousand dollars for five new full time staff positions at

(31:27):
the Environmental Management Commission on the other front. On some
other fronts, public safety investments include two point one million
dollars to maintain the Viper Emergency Radio network that is
used by first responders and law enforcement to communicate both
in and out of the agencies in which they represent,

(31:48):
seven point two million dollars for court technology upgrades, six
hundred thousand dollars to increase the number of special Assistant
US attorneys, and two million additional dollars for the State
Bureau of in Investigation for them to purchase new and
additional equipment. Some other key expenditures include twelve million dollars
to rebuild broadband fiber damaged by Hurricane Helen to restore fast,

(32:13):
reliable internet connectivity to folks out west, twenty five million
dollars for the state pay Plan Reserve, twenty point eight
five million dollars to replace North Carolina's Integrated Budget Information System,
one point one million dollars for a new state human
resource system, seven and a half million dollars for the

(32:33):
state fair receipts for repairs and renovation projects at the
fair grounds, and seven million dollars for ferry maintenance and
dry docking. This legislation Senate bill of four forty nine
did receive bipartisan support in both the North Carolina House
and Senate, setting up what everybody would argue would be

(32:55):
a signature a buy Governor Josh Stein. As the Democrats
in the House and the Senate voted in favor of
this mini budget, it now sits upon his desk. We
will wait and see what he decides to do in
terms of a signature or veto, and we'll keep you
up to date over at Carolina Journal dot com. Again,
lawmakers in the North Carolina House will be back in

(33:18):
Raleigh this morning as they are likely to take the
final steps to approve new congressional maps. Unlike other legislation,
the governor cannot veto or block those from going into effect,
so very likely later on today we will have a
brand new congressional maps for the first and third congressional districts.
We'll keep you up to date with those details over

(33:39):
on our website at Carolina Journal dot com. That's going
to do it for a Wednesday edition. WBT News is
next followed by good morning BT. We're back with you
tomorrow morning, five to six right here on News Talk eleven,
ten and ninety nine to three WBT