VOLUME 9 ISSUE 21 | THURSDAY, JULY 18, 2024
NSJONLINE.COM
inside The presidential campaign — and the nation — came to a grinding halt Saturday when a 20-year-old man attempted to assassinate former President Donald Trump during a rally in Pennsylvania. Trump was struck in the ear by a bullet, but he was otherwise unharmed. A U.S. Secret Service sniper killed the gunman, who fired from the roof of a nearby building, moments after the initial shots rang out in Butler, about an hour north of Pittsburgh.
GENE J. PUSKAR / AP PHOTO
See photos and reaction on A3.
NCInnovation questioned by legislators at hearing
the
BRIEF this week
Trump picks Ohio’s Vance to be GOP running mate Milwaukee Former President Donald Trump has selected Ohio Sen. JD Vance to be his running mate in the Republican’s bid to reclaim the White House. Trump, who survived an assassination attempt during a rally in Pennsylvania on Saturday, made the announcement public during the first day of the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee. Vance, a vocal critic of the billionaire real estate mogul during his first term as president, has said his opinion of Trump changed after seeing what he was able to accomplish in his four years in office. Vance received Trump’s endorsement during his 2022 U.S. Senate campaign and was a finalist with Florida Sen. Marco Rubio and North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum to be chosen as running mate. The 39-year-old senator rose to prominence after the release of his book, “Hillbilly Elegy,” which has been credited with explaining the mindset of white workingclass voters who have embraced Trump.
RFK Jr.’s We The People Party will be on N.C. ballot Raleigh The North Carolina State Board of Elections voted to certify the We The People Party — with candidate Robert Kennedy Jr. — while denying candidate Cornell West’s Justice For All Party during its meeting Tuesday. The NCBSE voted 4-1 to approve the We The People Party but voted 3-2 along party lines to deny the Justice For All Party. The NCSBE first voted not to certify the parties at a meeting on June 26; the vote was 3-2 down party lines. The votes denying certification came from the three Democrats. At its July 9 meeting, NCSBE Chair Alan Hirsch refused to bring a vote to certify the status of the two parties and postponed certification again. At the July 9 meeting, the NCSBE did certify one party, unanimously reversing its June 26 decision to keep the Constitution Party off the ballot. The failure to certify the remaining two parties drew national attention and accusations that the Democratic members of the NCSBE were protecting President Joe Biden by keeping other presidential candidates off the ballot.
Longtime legislator Saine resigning seat “I think for me, from a personal standpoint, I could never have hoped for such a great experience of really getting to know other people.” State Rep. Jason Saine
The state House Republican from Lincoln County plans to remain involved in politics By A.P. Dillon North State Journal RALEIGH — Longtime Republican House Rep. Jason Saine will resign from the North Carolina General Assembly effective Aug. 12. “After much contemplation and consideration, I am choosing to step from public life to pursue several unique professional opportunities that have presented themselves,” wrote the 50-year-old from Lincoln County in his resignation letter to House Speaker Tim Moore (R-Kings Mountain). “These roles will allow me to continue advocating for the policies I am passionate about, including consulting on several key issues that are close to my heart. I remain open to exploring avenues where I can contribute to policy development within North Carolina and beyond.” It’s the second announced departure from the legislature by a Republican in recent weeks. In late June, Sen. Jim Perry (R-Lenoir) announced he would resign ahead of the November election. Saine, the House Conference chair and a Senior Appropriations chair who has served in the legislature for 13 years, expressed his “deepest gratitude” to his constituents for their “unwavering support and trust.” See SAINE, page A10
mittees in either chamber prior to the appropriation. Waters outlined that NCI plans to use only investment returns from the $500 million corpus to fund grants, not the principal itself. Waters also said NCI has fulfilled its statutory responsibilities and awarded initial grants without By A.P. Dillon North State Journal spending state funds. “Having received $250 milRALEIGH — The North lion in state funds in January, Carolina House Oversight and we immediately invested those Reform Committee dollars with an indeheld a hearing July pendent third party 10 looking for more to generate high-indetails on the activ- “I’m here terest income,” Waities of the nonprofit as long as ters told lawmakers. NCInnovation. “With the receipt of In the most recent- you’d like the second tranche of ly passed state bud- to ask us funding, the NCInget, NCInnovation novation corpus will (NCI) received $500 questions stand at just over million in the form of because $506 million. In othtwo endowments of er words, the enwe’ve got $250 million each to dowment is working fund and support the nothing to exactly as we comcommercialization mitted.” hide.” of public universiThe organization ty research conduct- J. Bennett is required to raise ed in the state. The Waters, $25 million in private appropriation was NCInnovation funds for administraput forth for inclu- CEO tive expenses, which sion by the Senate for Waters said was suc$1.4 billion. The Sencessfully done “withate and House later agreed to out spending a single state dol$500 million. lar.” He also said solicitation NCI CEO J. Bennet Waters for private philanthropic dotestified before the committee nations is an ongoing task. for approximately three hours, Eight projects have been explaining the organization’s selected in the first round of mission and use of funds in grants. Funding will be rehis prepared remarks. He also leased in tranches along an spent time addressing com- agreed-upon timeline once mittee members’ issues aris- contracts are finalized. ing that drew from a concern over a lack of vetting by com- See HEARING, page A10
The North Carolina House Oversight and Reform Committee asked about the nonprofit’s spending, purpose and project selection
LGC approves $368M for joint project spanning several towns Sanford in Lee County and Wake County’s Fuquay-Varina and Holly Springs will receive water supply funds By A.P. Dillon North State Journal RALEIGH — The Local Government Commission gave the green light last week to several significant spending projects across North Carolina, including $368 million for a joint project to increase town water supplies for Fuquay-Varina and Holly Springs in Wake County, and Sanford in Lee County. The water supply project aims to expand the Sanford Water Treatment Plant to accommodate an additional water flow of 18 million gallons daily, addressing both the present
and expected future growth in the area. The Local Government Commission’s (LGC) breakdown for the approval of the joint project includes $76 million in revenue bonds and $88.4 million loan for Sanford and $75 million in revenue bonds each for Fuquay-Varina and Holly Springs. The LGC also approved several housing-related projects, including $38.5 million for Inlivian Housing in Charlotte to develop a 238-unit multifamily rental complex, and $16 million for the North Carolina Housing Finance Agency to rehabilitate 381 apartment units across 14 rural communities. Other notable high-dollar figure approvals included $70 million for Charlotte to refund an older bond, resulting in $4.1 million in interest savings, and $47.5 million for Greensboro to fund various city improve-
$611.1M Approximate total approved by the Local Government Commission ments without expecting a tax increase. A $228 million financing application from Cabarrus County did not move forward due to concerns over the debt structure and will likely be dealt with at a later date following the lack of a motion to vote on the item. Of note, financial control was returned to the Cumberland County town of Spring Lake by the LGC, which first assumed control of the town’s finances in
October 2021 due to fiscal mismanagement. Other LGC approvals for various projects around the state included: • $38.5 million: Inlivian Housing (Mecklenburg County) for conduit revenue bonds • $30 million: Lincoln County for limited obligation bonds • $16 million: North Carolina Housing Finance Agency for conduit revenue bonds • $13.5 million: Leland (Brunswick County) for limited obligation bonds • $11.4 million: Rocky Mount (Nash and Edgecombe counties) for fire station construction • $7 million: Durham Housing Authority (Durham County) for conduit revenue bonds • $6.25 million: Garner (Wake See LGC, page A2
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