September 25, 2025 • 40 mins
VP JD Vance visited Concord to call for law and order, praising and honoring police officers during his stop. Meanwhile, forecasters are monitoring multiple systems in the Atlantic as hurricane season remains active. North Carolina’s DOT is set to receive $1.15 billion in federal funding for Hurricane Helene recovery. At the General Assembly, House and Senate leaders have hit an impasse over Medicaid rebase funding as a looming deadline nears.
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Speaker 1 (00:09):
It's five oh five.
Speaker 2 (00:10):
Welcome into a Thursday edition of The Carolina Journal News Hour,
Newstock eleven, ten ninety nine to three WBT. I'm Nick Craig,
Good morning to you. Vice President JD. Vance was in
Concord Wednesday, delivering remarks focused on law and order while
honoring men and women of first responders, more particularly law enforcement.
(00:32):
This visit comes about two weeks after the assassination of
Charlie Kirk and the exact same week that the North
Carolina General Assembly passed Arena's Law. That bill was introduced
in response to the horrific August the twenty second murder
that took place on the Charlotte light Rail of twenty
three year old Ukrainian refugee Irena Zaruska. That legislation, which
(00:55):
we have been tracking, seeks stricter penalties for violent offenders
and titans pre trial detention procedures laid out for judges
and magistrates. The Vice President opened on the importance of
law and order, the importance of law enforcement at his
comments in Concord on Wednesday.
Speaker 3 (01:15):
But I want to just say that being here in
North Carolina, we're here to talk about law and order.
We're here to talk about law enforcement, and we're here
to talk about the basic fact that you all pay
your taxes. They go to safe streets and safe cities.
You ought to be able to enjoy the places that
were built by your tax dollars.
Speaker 4 (01:36):
You ought to be.
Speaker 3 (01:36):
Afraid or excuse me, the criminals ought to be afraid
of you. You ought not be afraid of the criminals.
Speaker 4 (01:43):
It's very simple, and I think for too.
Speaker 3 (01:46):
Long in this country we actually took the exact wrong approach.
We tell people that if you were walking down a
city street and there was a crazy person over there
yelling and screaming at your kids, you ought to walk
to the other side of the street rather than possibly
be a cop by a violent person.
Speaker 4 (02:01):
We know what I think. I think that if a person.
Speaker 3 (02:03):
Is being violent and threatening to young children and young families,
they owt to.
Speaker 4 (02:08):
Send their assets to prison instead of.
Speaker 3 (02:11):
Telling people that they got across the other side of
the street. You know, a couple of years ago, I
took my family to New York City. This is what
I was in the United States Senate. We spent a
few days there. It was a wonderful trip in a
lot of ways. But you know, every time we went
to the subway, I'd have one of my kids grabbing
onto my leg or afraid because there was a crazy
person yelling, hollering and screaming at a three year old
(02:33):
little kid. Why do we live like this? Why do
we accept this in our communities? And the answer is
because of bad political leadership. We've accepted for too long
this idea that we ought to give over our streets
to criminals and to vagrants and to people who are
screaming at us, instead of taking back our streets with
(02:53):
our incredible law enforcement.
Speaker 1 (02:57):
That's JD.
Speaker 2 (02:58):
Vans in Concord really hit on some of the major
talking points and concerns of the Trump administration, as we
have seen over the last couple of months with the
crime crackdown in Washington, d C. President Donald Trump continuing
to talk about sending National Guard troops and other federal
law enforcement to other major cities across the United States
(03:20):
that are dealing with out of people crime. The Vice
President also commented on the importance of having law and
order and the importance of law enforcement in Concord.
Speaker 3 (03:31):
So this is what it means. Being pro law and
order is actually not that difficult. There are some things
we do. Some issues we address they're so complicated and
so challenging, but supporting our local law enforcement is actually
pretty easy. It's just a question of political willpower. Here's
thing number one, very simple. If our great police officers
(03:52):
find a violent criminal and lock them up, we ought
to keep them locked up instead of letting them back
on our streets with a slap on our wrists. That
means we want to give our police officers the very
best equipment and the very best protection anywhere in the world.
We want you guys to have the very best, and
we're going to fight every single day to make sure
that they have it. It means punishing state and local
(04:15):
jurisdictions that restrict your ability to do police work.
Speaker 4 (04:19):
They just want to do their jobs. They ought to
be allowed to do it.
Speaker 2 (04:23):
That is a major talking point as well, and something
that has been a large divide between the political left
and right over the last couple of years. Not only
having fully funded law enforcement you'll be familiar with and
do remember, of course, they defund the police movement that
picked up some steam four or five years ago. A
law enforcement as you just heard there from JD. Vance,
(04:45):
according to the Vice President, needs to have the resources available,
the equipment, the tools available, and they also need to
be allowed by their local governments. Whether we're talking about
a city council, a county commission, or even a state
as a whole, they need to have the ability to
do their job and hold violent criminals accountable, according it
to the Vice President. Now, obviously a lot of attention
(05:07):
has been brought to North Carolina over the last month
or so with that horrific murder that unfolded in late
August on the Charlotte light rail. The Vice President did
talk about the murder of Arenasaruska and Charlotte as well.
Speaker 3 (05:22):
As far as I can recall it, as you have
a violent criminal who has been arrested fourteen times, often
for very violent offenses, who gets on a bus with
an innocent young girl twenty two years old and slits
her throat and she dies. She died because she was
coming home from work sheet She worked at a pizzeria.
(05:43):
She came from a beautiful family, she had a young boyfriend,
she had her entire life ahead of her, and she
was actually a refugee from Ukraine, so she came from
a war torn country. She sought shelter in the United
States of America and became because of soft on crime policies.
She was murdered here, not in the war torn country
(06:05):
she came from. Isn't that a disgrace? And isn't that
an insult to the incredible law enforcement officers who arrested
this person fourteen times.
Speaker 4 (06:14):
They did everything that they could to.
Speaker 3 (06:16):
Keep this thug off the streets, and it was the
political leadership that failed. And we got to be honest
about that. I saw governor, former Governor Cooper say, and
this is Michael Wattley's opponent. Former Governor Cooper said just
a couple of days after the attack that we have
got to do more when it comes to law enforcement
to keep people like this off the streets. And my
(06:36):
response was, Governor, he was arrested fourteen times.
Speaker 4 (06:41):
Law enforcement did their job. It's time for you to
do your job.
Speaker 2 (06:47):
Taking a shot there at former Governor Roy Cooper, of course,
now seen as the front runner in the Democrat Senate race,
that Senate primary that will take place in March and
then the general election coming up at next to November
that likely against a Republican opponent and front runner there
as well, Michael Wattley and echoing some of the commentary
(07:09):
that we heard in the General Assembly this week as well.
Democrat members of the North Carolina Legislature also pointing the
finger at law enforcement as to the situation that unfolded
in Charlotte back on August the twenty second. We heard
some of those comments earlier in the week from members
of the North Carolina General Assembly. The Vice President completely
(07:30):
deconstructing those claims and pointing the fingers of finger back
at politicians that he and others on the right will
claim are soft on crime. After his prepared remarks that
were set and done, members of the local and national
media had the opportunity to ask the Vice President a
litany of questions about what was going on, And there
(07:52):
was a question about these local municipalities, areas like Charlotte,
North Carolina, other major cities that might be de with crime.
This is what the Vice President had to say in response.
Speaker 3 (08:04):
You can tell how many carjackings there are, you can
tell how many armed.
Speaker 4 (08:07):
Robberies there are. There's way too much.
Speaker 3 (08:09):
Violent crime happening in our country. And when we look
at an American community, again, we don't care about their politics.
When we look at an American community where people are
suffering because of violent crime.
Speaker 4 (08:19):
Our response is we want to help.
Speaker 3 (08:22):
Just let us and I'd encourage everybody to talk to
your local officials. I know we're a little far away
from Charlotte, but to talk to your local officials and
encourage them to ask for the help of the Trump administration.
We are willing to provide it. We want fewer people
to be affected by violent crime. But these guys have
actually got to play a partnership role with us, and unfortunately,
(08:44):
way too many of them.
Speaker 4 (08:45):
Some of these people, it's crazy.
Speaker 3 (08:47):
They are ruling over cities that have violent crime rates
that are worse than Mogadishue, and they say, no, no, no,
we don't want Donald Trump to come in.
Speaker 4 (08:56):
Well, excuse me. If you don't need the.
Speaker 3 (08:58):
Federal help, then why is your murder rates so terrible
in the first place. You do need to help, You
just need to admit it.
Speaker 2 (09:05):
That's Vice President jd Vance in Concord yesterday hosting an
event really honing in and highlighting in on law and
order and law enforcement. That event took place at a
hangar at the Concord Regional Airport, drew a very large
crowd supporters, a ligning up hours before the Vice president's arrival,
(09:25):
and the venue quickly filled the capacity, with the event
organizers having to close the doors earlier than anticipated, leaving,
unfortunately for those that went out there a line of
cars and a line of attendees that were unable to
get into the event. We've got some additional quotes and
a full actually a full copy of the Vice president's
(09:46):
comments over on our website this morning, Carolina Journal dot com.
That story's headline Vance visits Concord to call for law
and order, honors police. So those details and all of
those clips available over at Carolin Journal dot com.
Speaker 1 (10:06):
It's five twenty one.
Speaker 2 (10:07):
Welcome back to the Carolina Journal News our news stock
eleven ten ninety nine three WBT. As we look at
almost one year now since Hurricane Helene affected the state
of North Carolina, left so much devastation and destruction in
the western half of our state, the tropics are heating
up this morning. A couple of areas you've probably seen
some panic posting on social media about it. Here's where
(10:30):
we stand this morning. Two areas that the National Hurricane
Center was keeping an eye on yesterday. One of them
they have officially designated as tropical Storm Umberto that is
currently traveling through the Atlantic.
Speaker 1 (10:42):
The current forecast track.
Speaker 2 (10:44):
Does look like it will split the gap between the
continental United States and Bermuda, so we're kind of watching
that right now. That storm currently is a tropical storm,
and it is expected to strengthen in the coming days.
At this point, it's more than a close to five
hundred and fifty six hundred miles off the north of
the Leeward Islands, so that does not look like it
(11:06):
will be an immediate threat, however, something to keep an
eye on. There is another area, however, south and west
of that that the National Hurricane Center has tagged as
INVEST ninety four L. That area is set to develop
somewhere over the Leeward Islands over the next couple of days,
and early model tracking does show it making a very close,
(11:27):
very close call or even an impact across portions of
North and South Carolina. That storm has a fifty percent
chance of development over the next forty eight hours and
an eighty percent chance of development over the next seven days,
so there is a possibility if that system gets its
act together over the next day or two, it will
be named by the Hurricane Center and impacts could be
(11:49):
felt as early as Tuesday or Wednesday of next week.
We'll keep an eye on those details coming up, not
only throughout the day today, but tomorrow and over the weekend.
As we get that news in that information, will bring
it to you right here on the Carolina Journal News Hour,
where it's now five twenty three News Talk eleven ten
ninety nine to three WBT. This week marks one year
(12:12):
since Hurricane Helene left so much devastation and destruction across
the western half of North Carolina, and over the last
twelve months, there's been a lot of focus on not
only the state but the federal government as to how
the sixty plus billion dollar storm is going to be
paid for. Governor Josh Stein recently in Washington, DC demanding
more federal action as it relates to those ongoing recovery
(12:34):
efforts to walk us through a pretty big announcement as
it relates to our road infrastructure across North Carolina. Teresa
Opeka Carolina Journal dot Com joins us on the News Hour.
Teresa and Governor Stein's press conference last week. He made
it abundantly clear that the roadways and major arteries like
Interstate forty in Western North Carolina were top priority. A
(12:55):
new influx of cash from the FEDS will hopefully help
with that.
Speaker 5 (13:00):
Yes, thanks so much, Nick for having me this morning.
You're right, So the announcement was made earlier this week.
The US Department of Transportation is going to be able
to give NCDOT about one point one five billion dollars
in additional emergency relief funding for Hurricane Helen repairs. And
(13:21):
they say that that is the largest single allocation under
the Federal Highway Administration's Emergency Relief program for a state
in the Department's history. So that's amazing and remarkable in itself.
What that program does provides funding to help states perform
repairs caused by major natural disasters and also extreme weather events.
(13:43):
Also in the announcement, the FED said that state has
received nearly two billion in er funding that type of
funding from US DOOT for Hurricane Helene repairs. So pretty
remarkable numbers. And as you say, we are at the
one year anniversary of Hurricane Helene slamming Western North Carolina.
Speaker 2 (14:07):
Yeah, and with those major arteries, it is amazing to
see that that's the largest amount of money. Obviously, Terry's
I'm not trying to underscore that a billion plus dollars
isn't a lot of money. But we've seen hurricanes in
Florida that have destroyed bridges and a lot of infrastructure there.
It's a little shocked to see that that was the
largest allocation ever given out by the by the US
Department of Transportation to any individual state, right, right.
Speaker 5 (14:31):
And of course we had Hurricane Katrina. It was twenty
some twenty years anniversary. I think we just had. Yeah,
so it's amazing, you know that that is the highest
number for any state.
Speaker 6 (14:44):
But yeah, it's pretty remarkable.
Speaker 2 (14:48):
When we look at some of the details on this.
The Transportation Tech Secretary in Sean Duffy has been in
North Carolina a couple of different times since he got
into his position.
Speaker 1 (14:58):
Earlier this year.
Speaker 2 (15:00):
He was in Heywood County earlier this year touring some
of the damage. Fortunately, things have recovered at least somewhat
since then. But as the governor noted last week, and
you've heard from local officials over the last twelve months, Theresa,
there's still a lot of work that needs to be done.
Speaker 6 (15:16):
Oh yes, absolutely.
Speaker 5 (15:17):
You mentioned about Secretary Sean Duffy coming to western North Carolina.
Heywood County specifically in February to you know, tour the
damage along I forty near the Tennessee line. They were
able to reopen that stretch in March, but only in
one going one way in each direction. It's temporary repairs,
(15:42):
which was great because it is a major lifeline between
the two states for commerce, for people you know, going
back and forth if they work in either state and
going back home. So that was well needed. But of
course now we need to make permanent repairs to that
road and other roads and bridges across western North Carolina.
Speaker 2 (16:00):
Yeah, and for anybody that hasn't gone out that way
since Helene. The interstate as you knowed Teresa is open.
It is one lane in each direction, and the speed
is dramatically reduced in many areas due to the fact
of those temporary repairs being put in place. So while
the road is technically travel you can travel on the road,
it does slow down commutes a big time for folks
(16:21):
traveling and for the big commerce a lot of trucks
driving back and forth on Interstate forty between Tennessee and
North Carolina. That's a big deal for them. I'm sure
that adds a lot to some of the bottom end
of these businesses.
Speaker 5 (16:33):
You're right, You're right. I believe the max speed is
forty five miles per hour, which is a bit slower
that you're going to find on an interstate. But I
guess the main thing is that they did get it reopened,
but now definitely need to see that permanently fixed.
Speaker 6 (16:51):
Mickey.
Speaker 5 (16:51):
Is what I believe Governor Stien said last week, to
not only fix everything, but make everything actually stronger and
more capable of withstanding such a storm such as Helene,
if that is at all possible, but at least reinforcing
it and making it stronger and better than it was before.
Speaker 2 (17:09):
One point fi dollars not a small sum of money,
But Teresa, this money is going to be given to
the North Carolina Department of Transportation, which, let's just be
honest about it, does not have the greatest track record
with getting projects done on time and on budget. I'm
sure that's going to be on maybe the General Assembly,
people like State Auditor Dave Bollock and Governor Josh Stein's
mind is these repairs take place.
Speaker 5 (17:31):
Oh, absolutely absolutely, it's definite to keep things and check
and we're seeing that with Auditor Bullock over many many
different state agencies, including he had the big DMV audit
released a little while ago, and of course he'll be
keeping an eye I'm sure on DOT.
Speaker 6 (17:48):
And we also haven't have a new DOT secretary.
Speaker 5 (17:51):
So yeah, it's uh, it's critical, you know, talking about
all this stuff and keeping.
Speaker 6 (17:56):
A watchful eye and where it's going to benefit all North.
Speaker 5 (18:00):
Carolinians especially, like you said, as we mark this this
somber anniversary one year later this week.
Speaker 2 (18:09):
Absolutely somber. Indeed, we appreciate the details this morning. We
will keep an eye on how this money exactly is
going to be spent here across the state. You can
read some additional details on that story by visiting our
website this morning, Carolina Journal dot com. Terris Opeka joins
us on the Carolina Journal News Hour. It's five thirty six.
(18:32):
Welcome back to the Carolina Journal News Hour. News Stock eleven,
ten ninety nine to three WBT. The North Carolina House
and Senate have been in session this week, dealing with
a variety of issues. The House recently approved the Regulatory
Reform Act of twenty twenty five by a vote of
seventy two to thirty seven. Among some of the policies
in there. The bill includes provisions that curb local limits
(18:55):
on displaying official government flags on private property, requires occupational
licensing boards to verify social security numbers, and create zoning
exemptions for state managed construction project projects in three different counties.
The bill also worked its way through the Senate earlier
in the week on Monday, so that has now officially
(19:17):
gone through both the House and the Senate, and like
some of the other legislation we've talked about over the
last few days, is now on Democrat Governor Josh Stein's
desk for either a signature or a veto stamp. Section
twelve of House Bill in nine twenty six would bar
cities and counties from prohibiting or restricting a property owner
from flying official government flags on private property. Local governments
(19:40):
could regulate only when necessary for public health and safety,
but to enforce against a specific property, they would have
to produce written findings of fact documenting that concern. If
a city claims a traffic hazard, the bill requires a
site study by the North Carolina Department of Transportation to
show traffic problems would in fact arise before limiting a
(20:04):
flag's display. This is all in reference to a story
that has been ongoing for years. Over in Greenville, North Carolina,
Camping World has a massive three two hundred square foot
American flag that flies atop a one hundred and thirty
foot flagpole, which apparently, or at least for many years,
(20:24):
has exceeded city code. In March, the Greenville City Council
voted four to two to deny an ordinance to change
make changes to their code that would have allowed the
large flag to remain. The city later authorized litigation against
the Greenville branch of Camping World that has that massive
(20:44):
three thousand plus square foot American flag. So with that,
the General Assembly saw what was going on there and
took some action. Another measure within the Regulatory Reform Act
requires every Occupational Licensing board to not only collect, but
verify the authenticity of an applicant social Security number, and
(21:05):
also authorizes sharing the number with the Social Security Administration,
where they would of course go to cross reference and
check that number. Representative Dennis Riddell out of Alamance County
the Republican there said, quote Section twenty seven would require
occupational licensing boards to verify the authenticity of an applicant's
provided Social Security number and would authorize the board to
(21:29):
share that number with the Social Security Administration for that purpose.
We have heard concerns about boards receiving but not necessarily
verifying social Security number information. This is simply clarifying already
existing state law. There are some other provisions within this
legislation as well. You can read those additional details by
(21:50):
visiting our website this morning Carolina Journal dot com. Some
local zoning questions and reforms in some areas across the
state that article headline and NC House passes flag protections,
social Security number checks, and zoning exemptions. You can read
those details over at Carolina Journal dot com, where it's
now five thirty nine News Talk eleven ten ninety nine
(22:13):
three WBT. There has been some increased attention on medicaid,
not only in the state of North Carolina after Medicaid
expansion back a couple of years ago, but at the
national level with President Donald Trump's One Big Beautiful Bill
passing earlier this year. In the month of July, lawmakers
and ralegh are taking action on Medicaid. To walk us
through some of those details on what has been a
(22:34):
busy week in the North Carolina General Assembly, Teresa Opeka
Carolina Journal dot com Teresa. Medicaid is turned into a
pretty hot button political issue, but it does appear, at
least on the House side, there is some unanimous thought
on what needs to happen to go forward.
Speaker 5 (22:50):
Yeah, thanks so much for having me, Nick, You're right, yeah,
it was. They've had dueling bills this past week in
both the House and the Senate specific about Medicaid, the
Medicaid rebase. This is not to do with Medicaid expansion.
That's a separate issue entirely. This was Medicaid rebase. So
what that is is about how much different providers get
(23:13):
paid as far as that is concerned. So on Tuesday evening,
we had the House voting in favor it was one
hundred and eleven to zero and passing a House committee
substitute to Senate Bill four h three that basically fully
funds the Medicaid rebase. But unfortunately that may not matter
because the Senate most likely is not going to take
up that measure before in October first deadline. Now, the
(23:36):
Senate passed their own version of a bill on Monday
evening after they discussed it earlier in the day and
their Appropriations Committee, So unless they come to some agreement
on this program and get the extra funding. By that date,
there will be cuts kid reimbursement rates. From what I've
been hearing, the Senate is not coming back until, you know,
(23:58):
sometime on October. So this seems highly unlikely. This is
going to get taken care of unless somebody has an
epiphany before October first.
Speaker 2 (24:06):
Yeah, and you talk about that rapidly approaching deadline. As
it stands right now, the adjournment resolution passed by both
chambers Teresa doesn't have the General Assembly back until the
twentieth of October at the earliest. Obviously, there can be
flexibility with that, and I'm sure if they needed to
come back and do something, they could. But this kind
of draws on a larger conflict that we've seen earlier
(24:27):
this year as budget negotiations took place. Or even though
the House and the Senate are both controlled and there
are both majorities there for Republicans, there are just some
major issues that they just can't seem to get together on.
Speaker 5 (24:40):
Right right, you know, Yeah, we don't have a new budget,
right they passed a mini budget because Senate had their version,
the House had their version. They can't come to a
consensus about it.
Speaker 6 (24:50):
So here we are.
Speaker 5 (24:51):
They passed another another mini budget, I believe you said yesterday,
we're looking at that. So yeah, they can't come too
much of an agreement. Same thing with it, there's not
much of an agreement when it comes to this.
Speaker 6 (25:03):
Should mention.
Speaker 5 (25:04):
The only thing that was similar in both bills is
that they would have the state auditor set standards for
timeliness and accuracy and Medicaid redetermination, which giving tools enforcement
tools to ensure the county all the different counties have
compliance with that issue. That was about the most similar thing.
I think they did also maybe want to eliminate some
(25:27):
different positions, like say at North Carolina Department Health and
Human Services, But other than that, a lot of it
was different. You know, in the Senate version, we had
funding for the children's hospital that was approved back in
twenty twenty three that's supposed to be located in Apex
and that's in the Triangle region, And there were other
things in the Senate bill that or you know that
(25:51):
or basically the House set you know, they were not
comfortable with. They said the House passed a clean bill,
meaning it was strictly for the dedicaid rebase they didn't
add anything to it versus what the Senate did. So yeah,
basically there has been no consensus when it comes to
this or many other items this year.
Speaker 2 (26:09):
Well, that's exactly what I was going to ask you about.
We saw a lot of this from members in the House,
both Republican and Democrats, talking about the inability I guess
or unwillingness. Maybe it's more accurate to say of the
Senate to pass that clean bill as the power struggle
between Destin Hall and Phil Berger continues.
Speaker 5 (26:29):
Yes, yeah, you definitely saw that. You know, we were
seeing that discussed yesterday and the House took.
Speaker 6 (26:35):
Up this bill.
Speaker 5 (26:37):
You know, we had representatives Donnie Lambeth and Maria Servania
and also I believe Zach Hawkins. He's a Democrat out
of Durham. You know, he told legislators yesterday it's going
to be devastating as to what's going to happen with
these cuts. You know, it's ranging from three to ten
percent across every corner of the care system. It comes
from group homes, therapy, personal care, primary care. We also
(27:00):
had another really primary force with this representative Grant Campbell,
who was also a doctor himself. You know, he said,
there's people getting ready to make cuts and staff all
all of this. I mean, that was a critical factor
in this. And you've had all those representatives talking about
this yesterday. There's just not a good consensus, and yeah,
(27:21):
it's going to have a definite effect on healthcare in
the state.
Speaker 2 (27:25):
Well, and Teresa, turning this political for a second, I
think it's important to bring up obviously, with some of
the changes in the Big Beautiful Bill earlier this year,
Republicans took a lot of flack over alleged changes to
Medicaid and Medicare across the United States, getting a lot
of negative political pressure on that. And I would imagine
as we roll closer to this October, the first deadline,
(27:46):
we'll probably see something here in North Carolina, unless, as
you noted, some sort of epiphany happens in the next
couple of days.
Speaker 5 (27:54):
I would imagine so, because right now it looks like,
you know, if you're looking at this from just a standpoint,
reading the story and not getting into the weeds with
the politics, you're going to see as the House is
being more agreeable on the side versus the Senate. You know,
the Senate has been like the stalemate and all this singing, Wow,
the House is voting on this, why can't the Senate
come to an agreement on this? So it is definitely
(28:15):
a political football, and it really shouldn't be if it
comes to healthcare for people across the state. One other
noticeable difference which no one's really mentioning, and it was
actually noted originally on the headings of one of the bills.
The Senate's original version of four h three included work
requirements for medicaid. That was dropped in the House version
(28:38):
and it was not included in the Senate bill past
on Monday, they were going to have work requirements for
medicaid and that just quietly went away. So no one's
been talking about that either, which is quite interesting.
Speaker 1 (28:49):
No question about that, Teresa.
Speaker 2 (28:51):
There are a lot more kind of in the weeds
details in an article you've got over on our website
this morning. Where can folks go and read that?
Speaker 6 (28:58):
Sure they can head on over to Carolina Journal.
Speaker 2 (29:01):
We appreciate the details. This morning, Teresa Opeka joins us
on the Carolina Journal News Hour, where it's now five
forty six Newstock eleven, ten ninety nine to three WBT.
We will head back to the traffic center on your
Thursday early morning commute and get an update with Boomer
von Cannon.
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Speaker 1 (35:54):
It's now five point fifty three.
Speaker 2 (35:56):
Welcome back to the Carolina Journal, News Hour, News Talk
eleven ten ninety nine three WBT. As we continue to
track what has been a busy week in North Carolina politics.
Vice President JD. Vance traveled to Concord yesterday delivering remarks
focused on law and order and honoring of a first
responder's law enforcement. This visit came two weeks after the
(36:18):
assassination of Charlie Kirk and just a couple of days
after the North Carolina General Assembly went through the process
of passing Arena's law. The Vice President said that of
following law and order, that's really not a complicated task.
Speaker 3 (36:33):
So this is what it means. Being pro law and
order is actually not that difficult. There are some things
we do, some issues we address. They're so complicated and
so challenging. But supporting our local law enforcement is actually
pretty easy. It's just a question of political willpower. Here's
thing number one, very simple. If our great police officers
(36:55):
find a violent criminal and lock them up, we ought
to keep them locked up and letting them back on
our streets with a slap on the wrist. That means
we want to give our police officers the very best
equipment and the very best protection anywhere in the world.
We want you guys to have the very best, and
we're going to fight every single day to make sure that.
Speaker 4 (37:13):
They have it.
Speaker 3 (37:15):
It means punishing state and local jurisdictions that restrict your
ability to do police work. If they just want to
do their jobs, they ought to be allowed to do it.
Speaker 1 (37:26):
That's Vice President jd. Vance In Concord.
Speaker 2 (37:28):
He also did talk about, of course, the major national
story that drew so much negative attention to North Carolina,
the tragic murder of twenty three year old Irena zaruskaan
the Charlotte light rail back on August the twenty second.
Speaker 3 (37:42):
And here's the basic summary, as far as I can recall,
it is, you have a violent criminal who has been
arrested fourteen times, often for very violent offenses, who gets
on a bus with an innocent young girl twenty two
years old and slits her throat and she dies. She
died because she was coming home from worksheet. She worked
(38:03):
at a pizzeria. She came from a beautiful family. She
had a young boyfriend, she had her entire life ahead
of her, and she was actually a refugee from Ukraine,
so she came from a war torn country, she sought
shelter in the United States of America, and because of
soft on crime policies, she was murdered here, not in
(38:25):
the war torn country she came from.
Speaker 4 (38:27):
Isn't that a disgrace?
Speaker 3 (38:28):
And isn't that an insult to the incredible law enforcement
officers who arrested this person fourteen times.
Speaker 4 (38:35):
They did everything that.
Speaker 3 (38:37):
They could to keep this thug off the streets, and
it was the political leadership that failed. And we got
to be honest about that. I saw Governor, former Governor
Cooper say, and this is Michael Wattley's opponent. Former Governor
Cooper said just a couple of days after the attack
that we have got to do more when it comes
to law enforcement to keep people like this off the streets.
(38:57):
And my response was, Governor, he was arrested fourteen times.
Speaker 4 (39:02):
Law enforcement did their job. It's time for you to
do your job.
Speaker 2 (39:08):
Obviously, this story has become a major political issue for
both sides of the political aisle. Commenting there on some
of the commentary from a former a Democrat governor Roy
Cooper now turned at Senate candidate, also calling out and
echoing some of the claims made in the North Carolina
General Assembly this week by a variety of lawmakers in
(39:29):
both the House and the Senate. Arena's law did go
through both chambers. If you're just joining us for the
first time this week, it now sits on the Governor's desk.
We continue to track its progress over on our website,
Carolina Journal dot com. That's going to do it for
a Thursday edition at WBT News is next, followed by
Good Morning BT. We're back with you tomorrow morning, five
(39:50):
to six right here on Newstalk eleven ten and ninety
nine to three WBT
Speaker 10 (40:13):
Sh
It's five oh five.
Speaker 2 (00:10):
Welcome into a Thursday edition of The Carolina Journal News Hour,
Newstock eleven, ten ninety nine to three WBT. I'm Nick Craig,
Good morning to you. Vice President JD. Vance was in
Concord Wednesday, delivering remarks focused on law and order while
honoring men and women of first responders, more particularly law enforcement.
(00:32):
This visit comes about two weeks after the assassination of
Charlie Kirk and the exact same week that the North
Carolina General Assembly passed Arena's Law. That bill was introduced
in response to the horrific August the twenty second murder
that took place on the Charlotte light Rail of twenty
three year old Ukrainian refugee Irena Zaruska. That legislation, which
(00:55):
we have been tracking, seeks stricter penalties for violent offenders
and titans pre trial detention procedures laid out for judges
and magistrates. The Vice President opened on the importance of
law and order, the importance of law enforcement at his
comments in Concord on Wednesday.
Speaker 3 (01:15):
But I want to just say that being here in
North Carolina, we're here to talk about law and order.
We're here to talk about law enforcement, and we're here
to talk about the basic fact that you all pay
your taxes. They go to safe streets and safe cities.
You ought to be able to enjoy the places that
were built by your tax dollars.
Speaker 4 (01:36):
You ought to be.
Speaker 3 (01:36):
Afraid or excuse me, the criminals ought to be afraid
of you. You ought not be afraid of the criminals.
Speaker 4 (01:43):
It's very simple, and I think for too.
Speaker 3 (01:46):
Long in this country we actually took the exact wrong approach.
We tell people that if you were walking down a
city street and there was a crazy person over there
yelling and screaming at your kids, you ought to walk
to the other side of the street rather than possibly
be a cop by a violent person.
Speaker 4 (02:01):
We know what I think. I think that if a person.
Speaker 3 (02:03):
Is being violent and threatening to young children and young families,
they owt to.
Speaker 4 (02:08):
Send their assets to prison instead of.
Speaker 3 (02:11):
Telling people that they got across the other side of
the street. You know, a couple of years ago, I
took my family to New York City. This is what
I was in the United States Senate. We spent a
few days there. It was a wonderful trip in a
lot of ways. But you know, every time we went
to the subway, I'd have one of my kids grabbing
onto my leg or afraid because there was a crazy
person yelling, hollering and screaming at a three year old
(02:33):
little kid. Why do we live like this? Why do
we accept this in our communities? And the answer is
because of bad political leadership. We've accepted for too long
this idea that we ought to give over our streets
to criminals and to vagrants and to people who are
screaming at us, instead of taking back our streets with
(02:53):
our incredible law enforcement.
Speaker 1 (02:57):
That's JD.
Speaker 2 (02:58):
Vans in Concord really hit on some of the major
talking points and concerns of the Trump administration, as we
have seen over the last couple of months with the
crime crackdown in Washington, d C. President Donald Trump continuing
to talk about sending National Guard troops and other federal
law enforcement to other major cities across the United States
(03:20):
that are dealing with out of people crime. The Vice
President also commented on the importance of having law and
order and the importance of law enforcement in Concord.
Speaker 3 (03:31):
So this is what it means. Being pro law and
order is actually not that difficult. There are some things
we do. Some issues we address they're so complicated and
so challenging, but supporting our local law enforcement is actually
pretty easy. It's just a question of political willpower. Here's
thing number one, very simple. If our great police officers
(03:52):
find a violent criminal and lock them up, we ought
to keep them locked up instead of letting them back
on our streets with a slap on our wrists. That
means we want to give our police officers the very
best equipment and the very best protection anywhere in the world.
We want you guys to have the very best, and
we're going to fight every single day to make sure
that they have it. It means punishing state and local
(04:15):
jurisdictions that restrict your ability to do police work.
Speaker 4 (04:19):
They just want to do their jobs. They ought to
be allowed to do it.
Speaker 2 (04:23):
That is a major talking point as well, and something
that has been a large divide between the political left
and right over the last couple of years. Not only
having fully funded law enforcement you'll be familiar with and
do remember, of course, they defund the police movement that
picked up some steam four or five years ago. A
law enforcement as you just heard there from JD. Vance,
(04:45):
according to the Vice President, needs to have the resources available,
the equipment, the tools available, and they also need to
be allowed by their local governments. Whether we're talking about
a city council, a county commission, or even a state
as a whole, they need to have the ability to
do their job and hold violent criminals accountable, according it
to the Vice President. Now, obviously a lot of attention
(05:07):
has been brought to North Carolina over the last month
or so with that horrific murder that unfolded in late
August on the Charlotte light rail. The Vice President did
talk about the murder of Arenasaruska and Charlotte as well.
Speaker 3 (05:22):
As far as I can recall it, as you have
a violent criminal who has been arrested fourteen times, often
for very violent offenses, who gets on a bus with
an innocent young girl twenty two years old and slits
her throat and she dies. She died because she was
coming home from work sheet She worked at a pizzeria.
(05:43):
She came from a beautiful family, she had a young boyfriend,
she had her entire life ahead of her, and she
was actually a refugee from Ukraine, so she came from
a war torn country. She sought shelter in the United
States of America and became because of soft on crime policies.
She was murdered here, not in the war torn country
(06:05):
she came from. Isn't that a disgrace? And isn't that
an insult to the incredible law enforcement officers who arrested
this person fourteen times.
Speaker 4 (06:14):
They did everything that they could to.
Speaker 3 (06:16):
Keep this thug off the streets, and it was the
political leadership that failed. And we got to be honest
about that. I saw governor, former Governor Cooper say, and
this is Michael Wattley's opponent. Former Governor Cooper said just
a couple of days after the attack that we have
got to do more when it comes to law enforcement
to keep people like this off the streets. And my
(06:36):
response was, Governor, he was arrested fourteen times.
Speaker 4 (06:41):
Law enforcement did their job. It's time for you to
do your job.
Speaker 2 (06:47):
Taking a shot there at former Governor Roy Cooper, of course,
now seen as the front runner in the Democrat Senate race,
that Senate primary that will take place in March and
then the general election coming up at next to November
that likely against a Republican opponent and front runner there
as well, Michael Wattley and echoing some of the commentary
(07:09):
that we heard in the General Assembly this week as well.
Democrat members of the North Carolina Legislature also pointing the
finger at law enforcement as to the situation that unfolded
in Charlotte back on August the twenty second. We heard
some of those comments earlier in the week from members
of the North Carolina General Assembly. The Vice President completely
(07:30):
deconstructing those claims and pointing the fingers of finger back
at politicians that he and others on the right will
claim are soft on crime. After his prepared remarks that
were set and done, members of the local and national
media had the opportunity to ask the Vice President a
litany of questions about what was going on, And there
(07:52):
was a question about these local municipalities, areas like Charlotte,
North Carolina, other major cities that might be de with crime.
This is what the Vice President had to say in response.
Speaker 3 (08:04):
You can tell how many carjackings there are, you can
tell how many armed.
Speaker 4 (08:07):
Robberies there are. There's way too much.
Speaker 3 (08:09):
Violent crime happening in our country. And when we look
at an American community, again, we don't care about their politics.
When we look at an American community where people are
suffering because of violent crime.
Speaker 4 (08:19):
Our response is we want to help.
Speaker 3 (08:22):
Just let us and I'd encourage everybody to talk to
your local officials. I know we're a little far away
from Charlotte, but to talk to your local officials and
encourage them to ask for the help of the Trump administration.
We are willing to provide it. We want fewer people
to be affected by violent crime. But these guys have
actually got to play a partnership role with us, and unfortunately,
(08:44):
way too many of them.
Speaker 4 (08:45):
Some of these people, it's crazy.
Speaker 3 (08:47):
They are ruling over cities that have violent crime rates
that are worse than Mogadishue, and they say, no, no, no,
we don't want Donald Trump to come in.
Speaker 4 (08:56):
Well, excuse me. If you don't need the.
Speaker 3 (08:58):
Federal help, then why is your murder rates so terrible
in the first place. You do need to help, You
just need to admit it.
Speaker 2 (09:05):
That's Vice President jd Vance in Concord yesterday hosting an
event really honing in and highlighting in on law and
order and law enforcement. That event took place at a
hangar at the Concord Regional Airport, drew a very large
crowd supporters, a ligning up hours before the Vice president's arrival,
(09:25):
and the venue quickly filled the capacity, with the event
organizers having to close the doors earlier than anticipated, leaving,
unfortunately for those that went out there a line of
cars and a line of attendees that were unable to
get into the event. We've got some additional quotes and
a full actually a full copy of the Vice president's
(09:46):
comments over on our website this morning, Carolina Journal dot com.
That story's headline Vance visits Concord to call for law
and order, honors police. So those details and all of
those clips available over at Carolin Journal dot com.
Speaker 1 (10:06):
It's five twenty one.
Speaker 2 (10:07):
Welcome back to the Carolina Journal News our news stock
eleven ten ninety nine three WBT. As we look at
almost one year now since Hurricane Helene affected the state
of North Carolina, left so much devastation and destruction in
the western half of our state, the tropics are heating
up this morning. A couple of areas you've probably seen
some panic posting on social media about it. Here's where
(10:30):
we stand this morning. Two areas that the National Hurricane
Center was keeping an eye on yesterday. One of them
they have officially designated as tropical Storm Umberto that is
currently traveling through the Atlantic.
Speaker 1 (10:42):
The current forecast track.
Speaker 2 (10:44):
Does look like it will split the gap between the
continental United States and Bermuda, so we're kind of watching
that right now. That storm currently is a tropical storm,
and it is expected to strengthen in the coming days.
At this point, it's more than a close to five
hundred and fifty six hundred miles off the north of
the Leeward Islands, so that does not look like it
(11:06):
will be an immediate threat, however, something to keep an
eye on. There is another area, however, south and west
of that that the National Hurricane Center has tagged as
INVEST ninety four L. That area is set to develop
somewhere over the Leeward Islands over the next couple of days,
and early model tracking does show it making a very close,
(11:27):
very close call or even an impact across portions of
North and South Carolina. That storm has a fifty percent
chance of development over the next forty eight hours and
an eighty percent chance of development over the next seven days,
so there is a possibility if that system gets its
act together over the next day or two, it will
be named by the Hurricane Center and impacts could be
(11:49):
felt as early as Tuesday or Wednesday of next week.
We'll keep an eye on those details coming up, not
only throughout the day today, but tomorrow and over the weekend.
As we get that news in that information, will bring
it to you right here on the Carolina Journal News Hour,
where it's now five twenty three News Talk eleven ten
ninety nine to three WBT. This week marks one year
(12:12):
since Hurricane Helene left so much devastation and destruction across
the western half of North Carolina, and over the last
twelve months, there's been a lot of focus on not
only the state but the federal government as to how
the sixty plus billion dollar storm is going to be
paid for. Governor Josh Stein recently in Washington, DC demanding
more federal action as it relates to those ongoing recovery
(12:34):
efforts to walk us through a pretty big announcement as
it relates to our road infrastructure across North Carolina. Teresa
Opeka Carolina Journal dot Com joins us on the News Hour.
Teresa and Governor Stein's press conference last week. He made
it abundantly clear that the roadways and major arteries like
Interstate forty in Western North Carolina were top priority. A
(12:55):
new influx of cash from the FEDS will hopefully help
with that.
Speaker 5 (13:00):
Yes, thanks so much, Nick for having me this morning.
You're right, So the announcement was made earlier this week.
The US Department of Transportation is going to be able
to give NCDOT about one point one five billion dollars
in additional emergency relief funding for Hurricane Helen repairs. And
(13:21):
they say that that is the largest single allocation under
the Federal Highway Administration's Emergency Relief program for a state
in the Department's history. So that's amazing and remarkable in itself.
What that program does provides funding to help states perform
repairs caused by major natural disasters and also extreme weather events.
(13:43):
Also in the announcement, the FED said that state has
received nearly two billion in er funding that type of
funding from US DOOT for Hurricane Helene repairs. So pretty
remarkable numbers. And as you say, we are at the
one year anniversary of Hurricane Helene slamming Western North Carolina.
Speaker 2 (14:07):
Yeah, and with those major arteries, it is amazing to
see that that's the largest amount of money. Obviously, Terry's
I'm not trying to underscore that a billion plus dollars
isn't a lot of money. But we've seen hurricanes in
Florida that have destroyed bridges and a lot of infrastructure there.
It's a little shocked to see that that was the
largest allocation ever given out by the by the US
Department of Transportation to any individual state, right, right.
Speaker 5 (14:31):
And of course we had Hurricane Katrina. It was twenty
some twenty years anniversary. I think we just had. Yeah,
so it's amazing, you know that that is the highest
number for any state.
Speaker 6 (14:44):
But yeah, it's pretty remarkable.
Speaker 2 (14:48):
When we look at some of the details on this.
The Transportation Tech Secretary in Sean Duffy has been in
North Carolina a couple of different times since he got
into his position.
Speaker 1 (14:58):
Earlier this year.
Speaker 2 (15:00):
He was in Heywood County earlier this year touring some
of the damage. Fortunately, things have recovered at least somewhat
since then. But as the governor noted last week, and
you've heard from local officials over the last twelve months, Theresa,
there's still a lot of work that needs to be done.
Speaker 6 (15:16):
Oh yes, absolutely.
Speaker 5 (15:17):
You mentioned about Secretary Sean Duffy coming to western North Carolina.
Heywood County specifically in February to you know, tour the
damage along I forty near the Tennessee line. They were
able to reopen that stretch in March, but only in
one going one way in each direction. It's temporary repairs,
(15:42):
which was great because it is a major lifeline between
the two states for commerce, for people you know, going
back and forth if they work in either state and
going back home. So that was well needed. But of
course now we need to make permanent repairs to that
road and other roads and bridges across western North Carolina.
Speaker 2 (16:00):
Yeah, and for anybody that hasn't gone out that way
since Helene. The interstate as you knowed Teresa is open.
It is one lane in each direction, and the speed
is dramatically reduced in many areas due to the fact
of those temporary repairs being put in place. So while
the road is technically travel you can travel on the road,
it does slow down commutes a big time for folks
(16:21):
traveling and for the big commerce a lot of trucks
driving back and forth on Interstate forty between Tennessee and
North Carolina. That's a big deal for them. I'm sure
that adds a lot to some of the bottom end
of these businesses.
Speaker 5 (16:33):
You're right, You're right. I believe the max speed is
forty five miles per hour, which is a bit slower
that you're going to find on an interstate. But I
guess the main thing is that they did get it reopened,
but now definitely need to see that permanently fixed.
Speaker 6 (16:51):
Mickey.
Speaker 5 (16:51):
Is what I believe Governor Stien said last week, to
not only fix everything, but make everything actually stronger and
more capable of withstanding such a storm such as Helene,
if that is at all possible, but at least reinforcing
it and making it stronger and better than it was before.
Speaker 2 (17:09):
One point fi dollars not a small sum of money,
But Teresa, this money is going to be given to
the North Carolina Department of Transportation, which, let's just be
honest about it, does not have the greatest track record
with getting projects done on time and on budget. I'm
sure that's going to be on maybe the General Assembly,
people like State Auditor Dave Bollock and Governor Josh Stein's
mind is these repairs take place.
Speaker 5 (17:31):
Oh, absolutely absolutely, it's definite to keep things and check
and we're seeing that with Auditor Bullock over many many
different state agencies, including he had the big DMV audit
released a little while ago, and of course he'll be
keeping an eye I'm sure on DOT.
Speaker 6 (17:48):
And we also haven't have a new DOT secretary.
Speaker 5 (17:51):
So yeah, it's uh, it's critical, you know, talking about
all this stuff and keeping.
Speaker 6 (17:56):
A watchful eye and where it's going to benefit all North.
Speaker 5 (18:00):
Carolinians especially, like you said, as we mark this this
somber anniversary one year later this week.
Speaker 2 (18:09):
Absolutely somber. Indeed, we appreciate the details this morning. We
will keep an eye on how this money exactly is
going to be spent here across the state. You can
read some additional details on that story by visiting our
website this morning, Carolina Journal dot com. Terris Opeka joins
us on the Carolina Journal News Hour. It's five thirty six.
(18:32):
Welcome back to the Carolina Journal News Hour. News Stock eleven,
ten ninety nine to three WBT. The North Carolina House
and Senate have been in session this week, dealing with
a variety of issues. The House recently approved the Regulatory
Reform Act of twenty twenty five by a vote of
seventy two to thirty seven. Among some of the policies
in there. The bill includes provisions that curb local limits
(18:55):
on displaying official government flags on private property, requires occupational
licensing boards to verify social security numbers, and create zoning
exemptions for state managed construction project projects in three different counties.
The bill also worked its way through the Senate earlier
in the week on Monday, so that has now officially
(19:17):
gone through both the House and the Senate, and like
some of the other legislation we've talked about over the
last few days, is now on Democrat Governor Josh Stein's
desk for either a signature or a veto stamp. Section
twelve of House Bill in nine twenty six would bar
cities and counties from prohibiting or restricting a property owner
from flying official government flags on private property. Local governments
(19:40):
could regulate only when necessary for public health and safety,
but to enforce against a specific property, they would have
to produce written findings of fact documenting that concern. If
a city claims a traffic hazard, the bill requires a
site study by the North Carolina Department of Transportation to
show traffic problems would in fact arise before limiting a
(20:04):
flag's display. This is all in reference to a story
that has been ongoing for years. Over in Greenville, North Carolina,
Camping World has a massive three two hundred square foot
American flag that flies atop a one hundred and thirty
foot flagpole, which apparently, or at least for many years,
(20:24):
has exceeded city code. In March, the Greenville City Council
voted four to two to deny an ordinance to change
make changes to their code that would have allowed the
large flag to remain. The city later authorized litigation against
the Greenville branch of Camping World that has that massive
(20:44):
three thousand plus square foot American flag. So with that,
the General Assembly saw what was going on there and
took some action. Another measure within the Regulatory Reform Act
requires every Occupational Licensing board to not only collect, but
verify the authenticity of an applicant social Security number, and
(21:05):
also authorizes sharing the number with the Social Security Administration,
where they would of course go to cross reference and
check that number. Representative Dennis Riddell out of Alamance County
the Republican there said, quote Section twenty seven would require
occupational licensing boards to verify the authenticity of an applicant's
provided Social Security number and would authorize the board to
(21:29):
share that number with the Social Security Administration for that purpose.
We have heard concerns about boards receiving but not necessarily
verifying social Security number information. This is simply clarifying already
existing state law. There are some other provisions within this
legislation as well. You can read those additional details by
(21:50):
visiting our website this morning Carolina Journal dot com. Some
local zoning questions and reforms in some areas across the
state that article headline and NC House passes flag protections,
social Security number checks, and zoning exemptions. You can read
those details over at Carolina Journal dot com, where it's
now five thirty nine News Talk eleven ten ninety nine
(22:13):
three WBT. There has been some increased attention on medicaid,
not only in the state of North Carolina after Medicaid
expansion back a couple of years ago, but at the
national level with President Donald Trump's One Big Beautiful Bill
passing earlier this year. In the month of July, lawmakers
and ralegh are taking action on Medicaid. To walk us
through some of those details on what has been a
(22:34):
busy week in the North Carolina General Assembly, Teresa Opeka
Carolina Journal dot com Teresa. Medicaid is turned into a
pretty hot button political issue, but it does appear, at
least on the House side, there is some unanimous thought
on what needs to happen to go forward.
Speaker 5 (22:50):
Yeah, thanks so much for having me, Nick, You're right, yeah,
it was. They've had dueling bills this past week in
both the House and the Senate specific about Medicaid, the
Medicaid rebase. This is not to do with Medicaid expansion.
That's a separate issue entirely. This was Medicaid rebase. So
what that is is about how much different providers get
(23:13):
paid as far as that is concerned. So on Tuesday evening,
we had the House voting in favor it was one
hundred and eleven to zero and passing a House committee
substitute to Senate Bill four h three that basically fully
funds the Medicaid rebase. But unfortunately that may not matter
because the Senate most likely is not going to take
up that measure before in October first deadline. Now, the
(23:36):
Senate passed their own version of a bill on Monday
evening after they discussed it earlier in the day and
their Appropriations Committee, So unless they come to some agreement
on this program and get the extra funding. By that date,
there will be cuts kid reimbursement rates. From what I've
been hearing, the Senate is not coming back until, you know,
(23:58):
sometime on October. So this seems highly unlikely. This is
going to get taken care of unless somebody has an
epiphany before October first.
Speaker 2 (24:06):
Yeah, and you talk about that rapidly approaching deadline. As
it stands right now, the adjournment resolution passed by both
chambers Teresa doesn't have the General Assembly back until the
twentieth of October at the earliest. Obviously, there can be
flexibility with that, and I'm sure if they needed to
come back and do something, they could. But this kind
of draws on a larger conflict that we've seen earlier
(24:27):
this year as budget negotiations took place. Or even though
the House and the Senate are both controlled and there
are both majorities there for Republicans, there are just some
major issues that they just can't seem to get together on.
Speaker 5 (24:40):
Right right, you know, Yeah, we don't have a new budget,
right they passed a mini budget because Senate had their version,
the House had their version. They can't come to a
consensus about it.
Speaker 6 (24:50):
So here we are.
Speaker 5 (24:51):
They passed another another mini budget, I believe you said yesterday,
we're looking at that. So yeah, they can't come too
much of an agreement. Same thing with it, there's not
much of an agreement when it comes to this.
Speaker 6 (25:03):
Should mention.
Speaker 5 (25:04):
The only thing that was similar in both bills is
that they would have the state auditor set standards for
timeliness and accuracy and Medicaid redetermination, which giving tools enforcement
tools to ensure the county all the different counties have
compliance with that issue. That was about the most similar thing.
I think they did also maybe want to eliminate some
(25:27):
different positions, like say at North Carolina Department Health and
Human Services, But other than that, a lot of it
was different. You know, in the Senate version, we had
funding for the children's hospital that was approved back in
twenty twenty three that's supposed to be located in Apex
and that's in the Triangle region, And there were other
things in the Senate bill that or you know that
(25:51):
or basically the House set you know, they were not
comfortable with. They said the House passed a clean bill,
meaning it was strictly for the dedicaid rebase they didn't
add anything to it versus what the Senate did. So yeah,
basically there has been no consensus when it comes to
this or many other items this year.
Speaker 2 (26:09):
Well, that's exactly what I was going to ask you about.
We saw a lot of this from members in the House,
both Republican and Democrats, talking about the inability I guess
or unwillingness. Maybe it's more accurate to say of the
Senate to pass that clean bill as the power struggle
between Destin Hall and Phil Berger continues.
Speaker 5 (26:29):
Yes, yeah, you definitely saw that. You know, we were
seeing that discussed yesterday and the House took.
Speaker 6 (26:35):
Up this bill.
Speaker 5 (26:37):
You know, we had representatives Donnie Lambeth and Maria Servania
and also I believe Zach Hawkins. He's a Democrat out
of Durham. You know, he told legislators yesterday it's going
to be devastating as to what's going to happen with
these cuts. You know, it's ranging from three to ten
percent across every corner of the care system. It comes
from group homes, therapy, personal care, primary care. We also
(27:00):
had another really primary force with this representative Grant Campbell,
who was also a doctor himself. You know, he said,
there's people getting ready to make cuts and staff all
all of this. I mean, that was a critical factor
in this. And you've had all those representatives talking about
this yesterday. There's just not a good consensus, and yeah,
(27:21):
it's going to have a definite effect on healthcare in
the state.
Speaker 2 (27:25):
Well, and Teresa, turning this political for a second, I
think it's important to bring up obviously, with some of
the changes in the Big Beautiful Bill earlier this year,
Republicans took a lot of flack over alleged changes to
Medicaid and Medicare across the United States, getting a lot
of negative political pressure on that. And I would imagine
as we roll closer to this October, the first deadline,
(27:46):
we'll probably see something here in North Carolina, unless, as
you noted, some sort of epiphany happens in the next
couple of days.
Speaker 5 (27:54):
I would imagine so, because right now it looks like,
you know, if you're looking at this from just a standpoint,
reading the story and not getting into the weeds with
the politics, you're going to see as the House is
being more agreeable on the side versus the Senate. You know,
the Senate has been like the stalemate and all this singing, Wow,
the House is voting on this, why can't the Senate
come to an agreement on this? So it is definitely
(28:15):
a political football, and it really shouldn't be if it
comes to healthcare for people across the state. One other
noticeable difference which no one's really mentioning, and it was
actually noted originally on the headings of one of the bills.
The Senate's original version of four h three included work
requirements for medicaid. That was dropped in the House version
(28:38):
and it was not included in the Senate bill past
on Monday, they were going to have work requirements for
medicaid and that just quietly went away. So no one's
been talking about that either, which is quite interesting.
Speaker 1 (28:49):
No question about that, Teresa.
Speaker 2 (28:51):
There are a lot more kind of in the weeds
details in an article you've got over on our website
this morning. Where can folks go and read that?
Speaker 6 (28:58):
Sure they can head on over to Carolina Journal.
Speaker 2 (29:01):
We appreciate the details. This morning, Teresa Opeka joins us
on the Carolina Journal News Hour, where it's now five
forty six Newstock eleven, ten ninety nine to three WBT.
We will head back to the traffic center on your
Thursday early morning commute and get an update with Boomer
von Cannon.
Speaker 7 (29:16):
All right, thank you, Nick. And West Charlotte near the airport,
the intersection of Billy Graham Parkway and West Boulevard. First
responders on the scene with inctant in the intersection. So
it's created a bit of a delay, especially on Billy
Graham Parkway if you headed out to the airport to
count on a little extra time to reach a terminal
of this morning. Billy Graham Parkway at West Boulevard. Also
to the east, now situation clearing. Hick we Grove Road
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at Harris Boulevard and the Interstate's are a collision free
pretty much at post to speed on seventy seven, eighty
five and forty five boomervon Cana WBT traffic.
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Speaker 2 (35:23):
The sixth annual WBT Little Heroes Blood Drive continues today,
September the twenty fifth WBT and the One Blood Big
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from ten am to three pm. We'll be broadcasting live
and are encouraging you to make a life saving blood donation.
As the sixth annual WBT Little Heroes Blood Drive continues
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today at the Doghouse ten to three in Uptown Charlotte.
Visit WBT dot com this morning for location details and
to schedule your appointment.
Speaker 1 (35:54):
It's now five point fifty three.
Speaker 2 (35:56):
Welcome back to the Carolina Journal, News Hour, News Talk
eleven ten ninety nine three WBT. As we continue to
track what has been a busy week in North Carolina politics.
Vice President JD. Vance traveled to Concord yesterday delivering remarks
focused on law and order and honoring of a first
responder's law enforcement. This visit came two weeks after the
(36:18):
assassination of Charlie Kirk and just a couple of days
after the North Carolina General Assembly went through the process
of passing Arena's law. The Vice President said that of
following law and order, that's really not a complicated task.
Speaker 3 (36:33):
So this is what it means. Being pro law and
order is actually not that difficult. There are some things
we do, some issues we address. They're so complicated and
so challenging. But supporting our local law enforcement is actually
pretty easy. It's just a question of political willpower. Here's
thing number one, very simple. If our great police officers
(36:55):
find a violent criminal and lock them up, we ought
to keep them locked up and letting them back on
our streets with a slap on the wrist. That means
we want to give our police officers the very best
equipment and the very best protection anywhere in the world.
We want you guys to have the very best, and
we're going to fight every single day to make sure that.
Speaker 4 (37:13):
They have it.
Speaker 3 (37:15):
It means punishing state and local jurisdictions that restrict your
ability to do police work. If they just want to
do their jobs, they ought to be allowed to do it.
Speaker 1 (37:26):
That's Vice President jd. Vance In Concord.
Speaker 2 (37:28):
He also did talk about, of course, the major national
story that drew so much negative attention to North Carolina,
the tragic murder of twenty three year old Irena zaruskaan
the Charlotte light rail back on August the twenty second.
Speaker 3 (37:42):
And here's the basic summary, as far as I can recall,
it is, you have a violent criminal who has been
arrested fourteen times, often for very violent offenses, who gets
on a bus with an innocent young girl twenty two
years old and slits her throat and she dies. She
died because she was coming home from worksheet. She worked
(38:03):
at a pizzeria. She came from a beautiful family. She
had a young boyfriend, she had her entire life ahead
of her, and she was actually a refugee from Ukraine,
so she came from a war torn country, she sought
shelter in the United States of America, and because of
soft on crime policies, she was murdered here, not in
(38:25):
the war torn country she came from.
Speaker 4 (38:27):
Isn't that a disgrace?
Speaker 3 (38:28):
And isn't that an insult to the incredible law enforcement
officers who arrested this person fourteen times.
Speaker 4 (38:35):
They did everything that.
Speaker 3 (38:37):
They could to keep this thug off the streets, and
it was the political leadership that failed. And we got
to be honest about that. I saw Governor, former Governor
Cooper say, and this is Michael Wattley's opponent. Former Governor
Cooper said just a couple of days after the attack
that we have got to do more when it comes
to law enforcement to keep people like this off the streets.
(38:57):
And my response was, Governor, he was arrested fourteen times.
Speaker 4 (39:02):
Law enforcement did their job. It's time for you to
do your job.
Speaker 2 (39:08):
Obviously, this story has become a major political issue for
both sides of the political aisle. Commenting there on some
of the commentary from a former a Democrat governor Roy
Cooper now turned at Senate candidate, also calling out and
echoing some of the claims made in the North Carolina
General Assembly this week by a variety of lawmakers in
(39:29):
both the House and the Senate. Arena's law did go
through both chambers. If you're just joining us for the
first time this week, it now sits on the Governor's desk.
We continue to track its progress over on our website,
Carolina Journal dot com. That's going to do it for
a Thursday edition at WBT News is next, followed by
Good Morning BT. We're back with you tomorrow morning, five
(39:50):
to six right here on Newstalk eleven ten and ninety
nine to three WBT
Speaker 10 (40:13):
Sh
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