Opinion

Editorial: Vote THEM out to fix our brand, grow NC's economy

Wednesday, Oct. 26, 2016 -- As North Carolina's Commerce Secretary says HB2 hasn't had an impact on the state, a business picks Richmond over Charlotte for a new 730-job facility because of the law.

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Commerce Secretary John Skvarla
A CBC Editorial: Wednesday, Oct. 26, 2016; Editorial# 8073
The following is the opinion of Capitol Broadcasting

On Monday afternoon the governor of Virginia announced that CoStar group, a real estate information and analytics company, would be bringing 730 jobs to Richmond for its new research operations headquarters. Charlotte had been the top contender, but CoStar’s objections to House Bill 2 knocked the city out of consideration.

“HB2 is the problem,” David Dorsch, senior vice president of Cushman & Wakefield’s Charlotte Office, told the Charlotte Business Journal. Cushman & Wakefield was representing CoStar nationally and Dorsch said he’d been working with the company in its local real estate search.

Shortly before Gov. Terry McAuliffe’s announcement, N.C. Secretary of Commerce John Skvarla, in Charlotte, declared of HB2: “It hasn’t moved the needle one iota” on economic development or jobs.

Skvarla is a smart, hard-working secretary of commerce who is loyal to his boss, Gov. Pat McCrory. On HB2 his loyalty is misplaced. HB2 DOES HURT North Carolina’s economy. CoStar is just the latest example. The Department of Commerce and Skvarla have no credibility when they ignore reality.

What we have here is a disaster. It has tarnished our state’s once-proud brand. It is reviled as the epitome of legalized discrimination and the world knows it.

North Carolina must repeal HB2. But there is no reason to believe that Gov. McCrory, Lt. Gov. Dan Forest and the incumbent members of the General Assembly that support HB2, have any interest in eliminating it. We are left with only one way to begin rebuilding our brands. Vote them OUT OF OFFICE.

North Carolina needs jobs and economic opportunity. This election can make a real difference.

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