Tar Heel Lawmakers Battle Over Gays, Immigrants, Environment; Authorities Raid Minneapolis Day Cares
North Carolina State Capitol Zack Frank / Shutterstock.com
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Also: Illinois universities, students scramble during budget impasse and Vermont’s ‘Governor Transparency’ is also ‘King of Controlling the Message’
Here’s some of what we’ve been reading today…
RALEIGH, North Carolina: The flurry of activity that marked the end of the legislative session Tuesday night in the Tar Heel State drew national headlines. It was a session clearly shaped by an election-year Republican majority. Last-minute amendments to a sex-ed bill aimed to preempt local anti-discrimination protections for gay residents. The amendments were withdrawn hours later in the face of fierce opposition and viral media coverage, reports WRAL Capitol Broadcasting. Other controversial bills easily passed, however. One will roll back environmental protections for rivers and streams and safeguard polluting industries from lawsuits. Another will prevent single residents from accepting more than three-months’ worth of federal food stamps. Another targets immigrants by tightening ID laws and outlawing so-called sanctuary cities and counties that leave it to federal authorities to track undocumented residents.
Rep. Graig Meyer, D-Orange, argued against the pollution bill: "This is saying, 'Come here if you want to pollute. We’re giving you a set of rules on how to do it … Dirty air and water are not a jobs plan.’”
Rep. Verla Inkso, D-Orange, noted that the food stamps bill will save the state no money while depriving residents of federal benefits. “This takes millions of dollars out of our community. It will create unemployment,” she said. [WRAL.com]
MINNEAPOLIS, Minnesota: Hennepin County authorities raided four day care centers they say were wildly overbilling the state and federal government, reports the Star Tribune. The centers reported caring for more children than were attending, sometimes double the number of children—allegedly a thousand more children than were showing up in one case. “They cheated big and they got caught,” County Attorney Mike Freeman said. [Star Tribune]
CHICAGO, Illinois: The budget impasse continues in the Land of Lincoln, forcing public universities and their students to get especially creative, the Chicago Tribune reports. Most areas of state government are being funded “through various court orders or laws requiring key payments,” according to the paper, but colleges and universities haven’t received a dime. “It's unclear how long they can operate on reserves. Schools are also floating scholarship grants for low-income students for the fall semester, but have warned that students may be on the hook to repay those dollars if a budget agreement isn't reached.” [Chicago Tribune]
BURLINGTON, Vermont: Gov. Pete Shumlin won the moniker “Governor Transparency” after campaigning as a champion of open government, but a leaked memo sent by his chief of staff to state employees has made him seem more like King of Controlling the Message. The memo directs state commissioners and agency secretaries and their employees to call the governor’s office anytime they want to talk to the press or write an op-ed, according to Burlington Free Press. State employees naturally leaked the memo to the press. The governor’s spokesman says the memo was just about coordinating information and that it was meant to pertain only to “major issues,” like child protection, transportation, healthcare and criminal justice. “We’re all working together ... We’re working as a team,” Shumlin said. [Burlington Free Press]
MONTGOMERY, Alabama: Can he do that? Gov. Robert Bentley is seeking to cut public services to meet the state’s recently passed $1.75 billion budget. He is considering closing parks, DMV offices and National Guard Armories, the Montgomery Advertiser reports. But lawmakers who wrote the budget included a stipulation that cuts must first fall on administrative functions; public services are only to be trimmed as a last resort. Bentley asked the state Supreme Court for an opinion on whether that stipulation can stand up to a constitutional challenge. [Montgomery Advertiser]
John Tomasic is a journalist who lives in Boulder, Colorado.
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