Tag search result

TODAY AT THE STATEHOUSE: A controversial voter ID measure gets a double billing Wednesday, appearing in a 1 p.m. House Election Committe meeting for discussion only and a 4 p.m. public hearing. A lawyer from the Indiana Secretary of State's Office and the N.C. NAACP's William Barber will present at the earlier meeting. The House will also unveil a major education bill at a 2 p.m. press conference, just hours after a Senate panel considers President Pro Tem Phil Berger's own overhaul plan at a 10 a.m.

Senate committees will also consider bills to increase the speed limit on some highways to 75 mph and provide tax money to the Carolina Panthers for stadium renovations. Gov. Pat McCrory will attend a private reception for the N.C. Homebuilders Association at 5 p.m. The group is advancing two controversial measures this session to limit local control of inspections and design standards for homes that are angering counties and cities. Wonder how Mayor Pat would have reacted to the legislation?

McCRORY'S FIRST 100 DAYS: The governor is nearing the 100-day mark of his term -- a benchmark that means little but will generate a media extravaganza. McCrory is sitting down with various media outlets this week, about 10 minutes at a time, to discuss his accomplishments. WRAL-TV is the first with an interview. Check it out here. 

***Good morning and thanks for reading the Dome Morning Memo. More North Carolina political news and analysis below.***

NC WARN, a nonprofit that promotes renewable energy and opposes new nuclear power plants, is running newspaper ads challenging the N.C. Home Builders Assocation and N.C. Building Code Council on their positions on requiring homes to use less juice.

The upcoming decision on residential energy efficiency standards is getting much more attention than the usual building code revision.

A proposal to increase home efficiency by 30 percent has been delayed, revived and rewritten, all in the space of a few months.

The N.C. Home Builders Association says the additional insulation, upgraded windows and other changes to get to a 30 percent efficiency upgrade will cost much more than $2,400 for an $180,000 home as reported in a university study.

Home builders have said they will have to eat the extra cost because appraisers won't give credit for efficiency improvements.

NC WARN has a full-page ad in today's N&O, and is running ads in weekly newspapers around the state, said Jim Warren, executive director.

The ad promotes the 30 percent standard, asks readers to contact Gov. Bev Perdue's office about replacing council members, and to submit comments to the council before its Tuesday meeting.

A new Republican consulting group is setting up shop.

Chris Sinclair of Public Solutions and Alastair Macaulay of Cornerstone Strategy and Communications announced that they will merge.

The new firm, called Cornerstone Solutions, will be a full-service political consulting, strategic communications and issue management firm in North Carolina.

Sinclair said in an e-mail to Dome that they plan to fill the void left by the retirement of Tom Fetzer and Mark Stephens after the November elections.

"We're the new (Republican) kids on the block," he said.

The two consultants have a lot of experience on the hot-button issue of real estate. Both have helped the N.C. Association of Realtors successfully fend off land transfer taxes nearly two dozen times and another campaign against allowing counties to have the tax.

Alastair is the former political director for the N.C. Home Builders Association.

The firm will have an office in West Palm Beach, Fla., headed by Rick Asnani, and in Raleigh and Washington, D.C.

A familiar face will be missing when the legislature reconvenes next year.

Veteran lobbyist Paul Wilms is retiring at the end of the year, Rob Christensen reports.

For the past eight years, Wilms has been chief lobbyist for the N.C. Homebuilders Association, but he has worked for the homebuilders since 1990.

In recent years, the group has been a key force in the debate over real estate transfer taxes.

The new lobbyist will be Lisa D. Martin, who has been the homebuilders' director of regulatory affairs since 2001.

Correction: An earlier version of this post misstated Martin's job.

Walter Dalton received $1.5 million in contributions by the end of June.

The Democratic nominee for lieutenant governor received $255,305 in contributions during the second quarter of the year, according to his most recent campaign finance report.

Major donors included Crandall Bowles, Greensboro executive Joseph Bryan Jr., Duke Energy CEO Jim Rogers, Franklin Street Partners executive Robert Eubanks, Capstrat CEO Ken Eudy and developer Mack Pearsall. 

He also received contributions from political action committees such as the Bank of America PAC, the Baxter Healthcare PAC, the N.C. Home Builders Association, DominionPAC, the N.C. Restaurant Association, the N.C. Association of Nurse Anesthetists, Wal-Mart's PAC and the N.C. Trucking Association.

He also spent $637,602 in the second quarter, leaving him with $177,357 in cash on hand.

Beverly Perdue received $9.9 million in donations by the end of June of 2008.

The Democratic gubernatorial nominee raised $2.3 million from donors in the second quarter of 2008, according to a report filed with the State Board of Elections.

Major donors included Belk stores president Tom Belk; Erskine Bowles' wife Crandall; her sons, Emmett and Garrett; Senate Majority Leader Tony Rand; Duke Energy CEO Jim Rogers; retiree Wallace Hyde; attorney David Kirby; SAS executive John Sall; and Bill Graham's law partner, Mona Lisa Wallace.

She also raised $223,436 from political action committees, including the Association for Home & Hospice Care of N.C., Blue Cross and Blue Shield's Employee PAC, the Corning Inc. Employee PAC, the Democratic Governors Association of N.C., the Teamsters' DRIVE PAC, the International Paper PAC, the McGuire Woods PAC, the N.C. Academy of Trial Lawyers PAC and the N.C. Home Builders Association.

In addition, she loaned her campaign $130,000 on April 25. In addition to a first quarter loan of $500,000 and outstanding debt of $275,000 to her husband from a previous election, her campaign owes $905,000.

She had cash on hand of $1.4 million at the end of the second quarter.

Correction: An earlier version misstated the cash on hand.

Bill Daughtridge received $11,250 from political action committees in 2007.

According to his mid-year and year-end campaign finance reports, the Republican candidate for state treasurer received money from nine different PACs.

The top donor was the N.C. Automobile Dealers Association, which gave $4,000. The N.C. Restaurant Association gave $2,000. The Coca-Cola PAC, the N.C. Home Builders Association, Embarq and the N.C. Association of Convenience Stores each gave $1,000.

He also received money from the Engineers PAC of N.C., the N.C. Farm Bureau and the N.C. Construction Industry PAC.

Note: This list does not include money from other political campaigns.

Bill Daughtridge raised $150,870 by the end of 2007.

The Republican candidate for state treasurer raised $136,690 from larger donors, including Captive Aire president Bob Luddy, attorney Brent Barringer and petroleum marketer Rober Airey, according to a campaign finance report filed with the State Board of Elections today.

He also raised $930 from donors who gave less than $50, and $11,250 from political action committees, including the N.C. Automobile Dealers Association, the N.C. Restaurant Association and the N.C. Home Builders Association.

He also received $1,000 donations from the campaigns of state Rep. Danny McComas and former Rep. John Sauls. 

At the same time, Daughtridge spent $192,288 on office supplies, consulting, fundraisers, campaign signs and ad production.

That left him with $78,934 in cash on hand at the end of the year.

* Don Vaughan, Paul Gibson, Melvin "Skip" Alston also mentioned as possible replacements for state Sen. Kay Hagan in legislature. (Capital Beat)

* N.C. Association of Realtors and N.C. Home Builders Association are spending at least $441,000 to finance 15 local groups fighting transfer taxes. (Char-O)

* U.S. Sen. Richard Burr has gone through a six-week crash course on veterans' issues since taking over committee spot from Sen. Larry Craig. (Politico)

* U.S. Rep. Sue Myrick and three other former Charlotte mayors urge voters not to overturn half-cent sales tax for public transit. (Char-O)

The holdouts on a transfer tax live in swing districts.

Many of the senators who are opposed to allowing counties the option of levying a tax on real estate sales to pay for schools and local services live in areas that switch between Republican and Democratic control.

Voters in their districts are seeing ads funded by Realtors that tell them to "Fight the Home Tax."

Realtors and home builders rank first and second in campaign contributions in the last election, handing out a combined $816,000 in campaign contributions to legislators.

Several of the legislators say they oppose the tax because it could hurt the local economy. (N&O)