Opinion Roundup: Gerrymandering trials & reform; big tax cuts for big biz; pennies for schools; and more

Friday, Oct. 25, 2019 -- A round up of opinion, commentary and analysis on: gerrymandering trials and reform; big bucks for big business, spare change for public schools and retirees; former FBI chief injected into bribery case; and more.

Court considers N.C. congressional map for 2020 (AP reports) -- Evidence is so strong that Republicans carved N.C.'s congressional districts for a specific — and illegal — partisan advantage that those lines must be barred now from use, a lawyer representing voters told judges.

TRAVIS FAIN: NC court weighs another congressional redraw (WRAL-TV reports) -- State Board of Elections attorney backs injunction blocking election with current congressional maps.

NC House committee holds rare debate on redistricting reform (AP reports) -- Proposed changes on how to draw N.C.'s legislative and congressional districts are getting their first significant debate by lawmakers in years.

LAURA LESLIE: Redistricting fights fuel reform talk (WRAL-TV reports) -- For the first time in years, North Carolina lawmakers had a serious discussion Thursday about reforming the way they draw voting districts for congressional and state legislative seats. The meeting coincided with a pre-trial hearing Thursday morning in the latest lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of current maps.

GREG CHILDRESS: Cooper offers to meet with GOP to negotiate teacher pay raises (N.C. Policy Watch reports) -- A day after Senate Republicans approved legislation to give North Carolina principals a 6.2 percent average pay raise, Gov. Roy Cooper went on the offense by sharing a letter he sent to GOP leaders last week offering to negotiate teacher pay raises.

COLIN CAMPBELL: Pipeline Hearing (The Insider reports) -- House Democratic Leader Darren Jackson wrote to legislative leaders this week questioning the validity of a investigation into Gov. Roy Cooper's handling of the Atlantic Coast Pipeline permits and mitigation fund. Jackson, D-Wake, argues that a subcommittee of the Joint Legislative Commission on Governmental Operations overseeing the probe lacks statutory authority and "must be disbanded with all work returning to the full commission."

Republicans work to cut another tax on businesses (Durham Herald-Sun reports) -- The Senate voted to reduce the franchise tax, a step toward eliminating it entirely -- eliminating about $1 billion that could be spent for state needs, such as public schools, over the next five years. Republicans in the General Assembly want to eliminate the franchise tax, which they describe as a double property tax on businesses.  Democrats worried about the loss of tax revenue, which would be about $1 billion over five years.

COLIN CAMPBELL: IT Budget (The Insider reports) -- Democrats objected to a $20 million grant to Montreat College for its Cybersecurity Regional Training Center. They questioned why the state would direct so much money to a small private religious college in Black Mountain, when public colleges and universities like UNC-Charlotte and N.C. A&T University also have cybersecurity initiatives. House Democratic Leader Darren Jackson, D-Wake, questioned the school's ability to run an effective program. He said that $20 million is more than the operating budget for the entire college,

LAURA LESLIE: State retirees to get 'paltry' bonus checks (WRAL-TV reports) -- Just minutes after approving two big tax cuts that will cost the state more than $150 million, Senate lawmakers argued the state can't afford to give its retirees a permanent cost-of-living increase.

With budget impasse, minimal teacher raises clear NC Senate (AP reports) -- Legislation allowing public school teachers only seniority pay raises already on the books has cleared one General Assembly chamber despite complaints from Gov. Roy Cooper and other Democrats that they're insufficient.

TRAVIS FAIN: Deal struck on NC farm bill, smokable hemp ban (WRAL-TV reports) -- Long delayed over back and forth about legalizing marijuana, House and Senate leaders strike a deal on the wide-ranging Farm Act.

Durham Democrat may soon get state appointment. Some already seeking his Senate seat. (Durham Herald-Sun reports) -- Two Durham candidates are already interested in the Floyd McKissick Jr. seat.

LAUREN HORSCH: Utilities Commission (The Insider reports) -- The Senate Select Committee on Nominations advanced three of Gov. Roy Cooper's nominations to the Utilities Commission on Thursday. The nominations will be on the floor next week for votes before the Senate's planned adjournment. The committee advanced two Senate resolutions confirming Jeff Hughes and Kim Duffley to the commission. The committee also approved the nomination of Sen. Floyd McKissick, D-Durham.

Cooper and a top NC Democrat are trying to thwart a House-Senate investigation. They should stop. (Durham Herald-Sun/Charlotte Observer) -- Gov. Roy Cooper and at least one N.C. Democrat are engaging in some eyebrow-raising behavior regarding an investigation into Cooper’s handling of Atlantic Coast Pipeline permits. It’s a bad look for the governor, and voters should be troubled whenever a public official attempts to undermine legitimate questioning.

Keeping the state running (Hendersonville Times-News) -- As he serves his final term in the General Assembly, N.C. Rep. Chuck McGrady continues keeping constituents informed while tackling issues with a common-sense, bipartisan approach. The Henderson County Republican’s email newsletters give a detailed insider’s view at what is going on in the N.C. Legislature. His latest one is a good example.

CATIE EDMONDSON & EMILY COCHRANE: Vulnerable Senate Republicans Shrink From Defending Trump (New York Times reports) -- Of the most vulnerable cluster of senators, only one has offered a full-throated defense of Mr. Trump: North Carolina's Thom Tillis. But Tillis also has the most immediate threat to counter: a credible primary challenge from Garland Tucker, a deep-pocketed businessman who has accused the lawmaker of disloyalty to the president in a series of ad buys on Fox News. “I see nothing there that rises to a level of impeachment,” Tillis said.

LESLIE SCISM & MARK MAREMONT: Indicted Insurance Executive Greg Lindberg Hires Former FBI Chief for Aid (Wall Street Journal reports) -- Embattled insurance tycoon Greg Lindberg said he hired former FBI Director Louis Freeh to examine and provide advice for the finances of his business entities and related legal and regulatory issues.

TYLER DUKES: Lawmakers demand answers over troubled company's $4M grant to house migrant kids (WRAL-TV reports) -- Democratic U.S. House members want to know how an unlicensed N.C. group home operator won a multi-million federal grant to house migrant children, barely a year after one of the company's facilities was shut down over abuse and neglect allegations.

Suicides are back on the rise in jails (Durham Herald-Sun reports) -- Suicide deaths are back on the rise in county jails even as a majority of the state’s sheriffs stand in the way of new rules that could save lives, according to a new report by a state advocate for those with mental and physical disabilities. In the first nine months of this year, 17 of the 35 deaths reported to state officials were suicides, Disability Rights North Carolina said. That puts the state on a path in which the percentage of deaths in jails that are suicides exceeds the current national average.

CAITLIN RICHARDS: Cooper allowing some state workers to use leave time to deal with abusive situations at home (WRAL-TV reports) -- Gov. Roy Cooper signed a proclamation expressing the administration's support of survivors of domestic violence after earlier proclaiming October as "Domestic Violence Awareness Month."

LIORA ENGEL-SMITH: Rural broadband grant program gets a $5 million boost (N.C. Health News reports) -- A state grant program for internet companies received additional funds. Since its inception in 2018, the program supported projects in 18 rural counties, but rural advocates say it alone will not bridge the rural broadband gap.

Criminal charges for two ex-troopers prompts questions from ticketed motorists (WRAL-TV reports) -- One day after the State Bureau of Investigation announced that two former State Highway Patrol troopers are facing charges over a ticket irregularities scandal, lawyers for the accused ex-officers and motorists stopped by them spoke out.

7 Combat Deployments in 6 Years, Then a Bullet Nearly Killed Him (New York Times reports) -- Sgt. First Class Jeffery M.Dawson, 32, is one of just over three dozen highly trained explosive-ordnance disposal technicians who currently serve at the 28th Ordnance Company, the Army’s bomb-disposal unit solely devoted to supporting the 75th Ranger Regiment, a large Special Operations light-infantry unit. Created just 10 years ago out of Fort Bragg in North Carolina, the 28th Ordnance Company has become one of the Army’s most decorated units; it is also one of the most overused and under-resourced assets of the war on terror.

FERREL GUILLORY: A single letter grade doesn’t measure up (EdNC column) -- The release of A-to-F school performance grades has become an annual marker in North Carolina education. Now the draft consensus report of a gubernatorial advisory commission calls for an end to the flawed, too-simplistic letter-grade score that hasn’t improved over time.

ALEX GRANADOS: Craig Horn for state superintendent? How many people want the top education spot (EdNC reports) -- While Superintendent of Public Instruction Mark Johnson still hasn’t revealed whether he will run for reelection in 2020, a couple of education leaders have expressed their interest in running for the seat as a Republican. With six candidates vying for the Democratic nomination, the number of interested contenders is up to eight. Last week, WRAL revealed that Rep. Craig Horn, R-Union, is interested in the title. And we reported in late August that Western Governors University North Carolina Chancellor Catherine Truitt was interested as well. Both Horn and Truitt are just waiting to find out whether Johnson is going to run. All Johnson will say is that he will be involved in the 2020 election.

NC Ports leader stays on the move (Triangle Business Journal reports) -- The NC Ports director kept busy in September as meetings and his work promoting the port system took him from Charlotte to Europe -- but he still had time to teach a college course.

First flu death of the season reported (WRAL-TV reports) -- The first flu death of the 2019-2020 season has been reported in central N.C., state health officials said.

ROBERT YOUNG: Is Cape Lookout an Omen for Other Barrier Islands? (New York Times column) -- We can’t keep spending billions to fortify these islands against more intense storms.

'I'm not pregnant': Chapel Hill woman puzzled by congratulatory note and gift cards (WRAL-TV reports) -- A Chapel Hill woman was surprised when she got a letter and gift cards in the mail congratulating her on her pregnancy. She didn't recognize the sender, and she is not pregnant.