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Political Earthquakes and Revenue Surpluses · The SEANC View

• 0:00
  Hello everyone and welcome to another edition of the Scenic View podcast.
• 0:03
  I'm your host Jonathan Owens, communications director, along with Suzanne Beasley,
• 0:08
  the government relations director at Scenic, and also our podcast producer, Sammy Klein.
• 0:13
  We are without our leader, our captain this week, we're going to try to get through.
• 0:18
  Without Artis Watkins, we are going to do our best to provide what we can for
• 0:24
  you guys this week. Let's get to it.
• 0:36
  So the biggest news this week from state government was one of the main leaders
• 0:41
  of the state government will not be in his position next year.
• 0:46
  And I'm not talking about Huber Davis at Carolina, the basketball coach.
• 0:50
  See, I was trying to make that analogy. It wasn't very clean.
• 0:54
  Senate leader Phil Berger has conceded his race to Sam Page.
• 0:58
  That's right. And it was a, I think it was like a 23 vote difference.
• 1:02
  He finally just decided to call off the recounts and concede.
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  That is a huge earthquake for political junkies like us, right, Susanne? Yes.
• 1:14
  I'm not even sure how to feel right this moment because, you know,
• 1:17
  Senator Berger has been around since I've been around.
• 1:20
  So, yeah, it's a huge change. The Senate, that's going to, you know,
• 1:24
  that's going to shift power in the Senate. And we've already heard some folks
• 1:28
  coming out publicly that want to take that spot, become the president pro tem of the Senate.
• 1:35
  Senator Ralph Ice, obviously, Senator Michael Lee and Senator Todd Johnson.
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  We'll get into that in a second. But I just wanted to talk a little bit about
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  just how big of an impact this is going to be.
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  He's been in the Senate for, what, 26 years? Yeah, exactly.
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  When you first heard that there was a challenger, primary challenger for him,
• 1:56
  did you expect, I mean, did you even think this was possible, I guess? No.
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  I mean, it's Senator Berger, so no.
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  But, you know, Sam Page is the sheriff in Rockingham County,
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  and, you know, everybody loves their sheriff.
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  So, you know, once he decided to run, he was going to have a bit of a formidable
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  opponent in the primary. This is also, you know, a perfect situation to say
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  to people who think that their vote doesn't count.
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  Right here is proof that your vote counts.
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  Yeah. At the end of the night on election night, it was two votes.
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  Yes. Yes. It spread out to 23. But that's just amazing.
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  And it kind of shows you the difference between state government,
• 2:38
  state politics in Raleigh and maybe local politics.
• 2:44
  Legislature. A legislator is dragged into a fight locally. Maybe the issues change.
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  I know that the casino thing was kind of a local issue down there or up there, I guess. It was.
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  So, you know, like Senator Berger has his hands in all of the state politics.
• 3:04
  I mean, he is the leader of the city. He's probably the most powerful politician in the state.
• 3:09
  Yes. But it's amazing that a local issue like that can impact his race so much.
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  Yeah, it was interesting to witness this whole election all the way up through the recounts.
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  And, you know, it's just going to be a huge change for the entire legislature,
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  obviously for all of us who work there and for our state.
• 3:29
  Yeah. So let's look at the folks who are in line to take his place.
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  I saw a story from the State Affairs today that said that Ralph Heiss is seeking to replace him.
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  There's also a story about Michael Lee, I think, and Todd Johnson.
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  It's interesting, though, because even though he's, you know,
• 3:46
  he lost a primary, he didn't lose a general election, so it's not any kind of.
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  Party change. I mean, they're still going to have a majority pretty much.
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  Yeah, that didn't change.
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  And, you know, we kind of saw this through the elections.
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  You know, there were some Democrats in the House who had voted with the Republicans
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  against Governor Stein's vetoes, and we saw them lose their seats.
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  So, you know, interestingly, across the board, there were some upsets that some
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  you kind of saw coming. Some of them were like, OK.
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  I think the most interesting aspect of this is that we still have a short session
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  and Senator Berger will still be there.
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  And I assume he'll still be in charge of the Senate, right?
• 4:26
  Yes. Yes. And I expect Senator Berger will, you know, he'll finish up his business
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  as much as he can through this session and before he leaves,
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  you know, but it's going to be odd to go back in knowing that he's not coming
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  back and knowing that we're fixing to have this big shift in power.
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  Do you think that it'll change any strategy for us at all or definitely i mean
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  we've got you know these will be new relationships,
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  Yeah. So, you know, we're going to we're going to have to build,
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  you know, on whoever, whoever gets that position, you know, whoever's elected
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  by their caucus to lead them.
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  We will have to work on our relationship with them.
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  And obviously that will change the way we work with the Senate.
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  Can you see this being I'm sorry, I'm grilling you with questions,
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  but you are expert this week.
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  Do you see this being a shorter than usual short session?
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  I anticipate that they're going to be pretty quick. I mean, they can't campaign
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  when they're in session.
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  Lawmakers can't campaign when they're in session. So they kind of need to get in and get out.
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  You know, November will be here before you know it. So no dragging of the feet,
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  which is good on one hand.
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  But on the other hand, we want them to have time to actually craft and pass a budget.
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  You know, we still we don't have a budget from the previous year.
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  It's an election year. So they're going to need to look at something in whatever
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  budget they do for the short session that makes up for what they didn't do last
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  year. you know, in order to leave a better feeling in people's hearts, so to say.
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  So, yeah, I think they will come in and do business and go out.
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  I could be completely wrong because it's the North Carolina legislature and, you know, sometimes.
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  But, yeah, I think it'll be quick.
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  Another story that came out this week is the revenue projections for next year
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  for 2027. Yeah, so if the revenue, if the tax collections are over a certain
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  amount of revenue, it triggers a decrease in the personal income tax.
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  So we have an overcollection of $370 million, I believe the number was,
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  which will trigger the decrease from $3.99 to $3.49 next year in the personal income tax.
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  We're also looking at the next year of there being overcollection of taxes,
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  which will trigger the next year.
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  Phase of personal income tax, which means less revenue for the state.
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  And that just goes right into what we talk about all the time.
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  How are you going to fund services for taxpayers?
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  We've still got a 23% vacancy rate here in North Carolina. How are you going
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  to pay the people that you've got in order to keep them?
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  How are you going to raise salaries enough that people want to come work for
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  the state. There's so many things to consider.
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  And I was doing, I did some reading on the actual document that's on the OSBM
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  website, more weeds than I want to get into right now.
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  But the, you know, the infrastructure of our state is at issue here.
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  And, you know, we hear all the time that North Carolina is the number one state
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  for people to come and move to, to open new businesses.
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  We hear this from, you know, agency heads who talk about, you know,
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  how this affects the services that they're able to provide.
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  You know, Secretary Marshall, she spoke in committee not too long ago and explained
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  how we'll need to fund things appropriately because these are the services that
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  are offered to those people who come to North Carolina to start new businesses.
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  If you don't have an infrastructure that's properly funded, you're not going
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  to attract people to come to our state. You know, that sounds good on the surface.
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  I mean, doesn't everybody want to pay less tax? But at the same time,
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  we've got to consider how that's going to affect our state as a whole.
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  It has an impact on everyone. So when you hit that, you know, the.
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  Pothole in the middle of the road and you're wondering where the OT is to fix
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  your roads and it's because they're not funded and there aren't enough people to do it.
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  So lack of a budget, the impending lack of revenue, how all this plays into
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  North Carolina remaining number one is important.
• 8:22
  Yeah. So this story that I'm reading from WUNC says that with this reduction.
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  The state would bring in $5.08 billion this year, but it would only bring in
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  $34.72 billion during the next fiscal year.
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  Governor Stein said today's forecast means we'll soon fall into a budget gap
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  of at least $2.8 billion.
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  Yeah. Causing the state to have to make painful cuts to critical services like
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  public safety, education, and health care.
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  Yeah, there'll be no way around it. So, Speaker Hall, Destin Hall,
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  his office said in a news release that the new numbers are increasing the chances
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  of a significant recurring deficit, underscoring the need for a responsible budget.
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  So that's maybe a little different than the Senate would say, right?
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  Definitely. And I mean, that's those hard lines between the Senate and,
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  you know, what the Senate wants and what the House wants.
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  And Speaker Hall has held his line the whole time. So that trends with what
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  he's been saying this entire last year of the budget and or lack of a budget.
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  You know, that there is that concern that, you know, we're going to have a budget
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  shortfall, you know, and they do need to be responsible.
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  All the things that I just talked about, about infrastructure, all of that suffers.
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  This is why it's important for our members to stand up for themselves,
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  right, to be part of this discussion.
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  And we have a lobby day on May 6th coming up. So we want everyone to come out
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  and, you know, make sure that they know that the jobs you do are important and need to be funded.
• 9:54
  Exactly. And I mean, we're looking forward to that day.
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  It's not only a great day for us just to gather as a collective,
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  you know, and see each other and appreciate each other for the work that that
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  state employees and retirees have done.
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  But it's also the opportunity to go visit lawmakers and deliver that message
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  collectively so that they, you know, hopefully will understand what's at stake
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  here for North Carolinians. So we're looking forward to that.
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  It's on May 6th. We're going to gather at 9 a.m. that morning at the state capitol.
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  We'll hear from our officers and, you know, artists.
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  Obviously, we'll speak to the group and maybe there'll be a couple of VIPs who come and say hello.
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  But then we'll make the walk over to the legislative building and start our
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  grassroots advocacy day.
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  So we're looking forward to that. If you're a state employee or retiree, come join us. Yes.
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  How does this projection, maybe not change what your team will be fighting for
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  down there, but maybe inform it?
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  Does it change any ways you approach things or anything? Well,
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  I mean, always knowing what money you have or don't have.
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  Is going to, you know, fall into your conversation because the question's always,
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  well, how are we going to pay for that?
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  So, yeah, that will definitely play into our conversations about pay raises and COLA money or,
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  you know, the lack of money being there to provide those kind of things for
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  the people who keep the state running and who help build this state into what it is today.
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  So, yeah, really important for those folks to come out and talk about that straight from them.
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  It's one thing to see us. They see us all the time.
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  They know who Cynic is, you know, with the DR team on the ground over there.
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  But when it's your constituents who are coming in the door with their concerns, that hits differently.
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  So anything else going on down at the legislature?
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  It's been kind of a quiet week this week. There's a couple of meetings next week.
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  Just, you know, oversight committees, those kind of things that are doing their required reporting.
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  April 6th, there is session calendared. I'm not sure at this point if that's
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  going to be a skeletal session.
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  I anticipate that it is.
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  The only thing that's listed on the calendar are some overrides that have not
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  been addressed by the House yet.
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  They may call the House back to address those before session starts,
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  or they may do that when session convenes April 21st.
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  So this WNC report also says that the, it talks about the state is the,
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  North Carolina is the only legislature in the country that didn't pass a budget last year.
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  While a surplus figure represents a change in revenue projections,
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  the lack of a budget means North Carolina has collected more than $2 billion
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  more than it's spent under the current budget.
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  So, I mean, we will definitely be wanting some of that money,
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  right? Exactly. I mean, there's money there.
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  So that's money that's been saved on the kind of on the backs of our members,
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  you know, because they didn't get raises.
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  That's right. They didn't get raises. They've seen increases in the cost of their health care.
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  You know, the price of prescription drugs has skyrocketed. Everybody's feeling that effect.
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  So, you know, not having any adjustment to their income has made it even more difficult for them.
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  So, yeah, we want some of that money for the working people of North Carolina. That's only fair.
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  And plus, you know, obviously, like we've talked about already,
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  the department, the agencies are needing funding as well, especially like EAC.
• 13:19
  That's right. And we're looking forward to probably closer when session meets
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  maybe in early May, having OSHR Director Stacey Meyer on to talk about the revamping
• 13:28
  of the State Human Resources Act.
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  How people are paid and maybe that'll have some positive effects for state workers.
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  We already have seen changes from session law back in the summer last year for
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  hiring practices that make it easier for agencies to hire people.
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  So that's headed in the right direction, but that'll be something that's on
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  the table when session starts.
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  Let's turn to Sammy. Sammy, so you took a big trip and then you came back to
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  work on Monday and you were sent to an even bigger trip, Goldsboro,
• 14:00
  North Carolina, for Cherry Hospital.
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  But you said it was a pretty fun experience down there. What happened at our
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  event at Cherry Hospital? Yes.
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  So they had, I think, three kind of long periods that they were out there.
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  They gave the night shift some
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  snacks. And then I was there during the day shift, during their lunch.
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  And there was so many members that came out. Everyone was really excited.
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  Everyone was really friendly, very happy. It was a great event.
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  And it was great turnout.
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  So many volunteers from District 59. So we're going to be getting out in the
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  field a lot more, especially with the weather being nice.
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  And it's always fun to see people. Anyone talking about the budget?
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  Anything legislative-wise to you?
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  When am I getting a pay raise or anything like that? There were some members
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  who had some questions for Flint and Chris about that because they were also
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  out there with us at the event. Okay, cool.
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  And Suzanne, I saw you. Flynn Benson and Chris Haley are part of the government
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  relations team, and they joined member relations yesterday for the event at
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  Cherry Hospital, which is always a big event.
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  Yeah. And Suzanne, I saw you somewhere, too. Where were you?
• 15:07
  You went to an event. I went to Noble.
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  Yeah, the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement. That was a really cool group of people.
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  Great energy and discussion about lots of different things.
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  We had the opportunity to talk about things that affect them that they didn't
• 15:25
  even know affected them as far as the retirement system and state health plan
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  if their locals are in that.
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  But it was across the state group of different law enforcement entities from
• 15:36
  state troopers to the local police departments to sheriff's office to even some agency folks.
• 15:42
  Yeah, that was a good event. Cool.
• 15:46
  I do have a follow-up to last week's question of the week topic for myself.
• 15:51
  Afro man beat the charges and he did win his case. And he's now a phenomenon,
• 15:57
  right? He is everywhere.
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  He's bigger than he was when he was popular.
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  So he went from 250,000 followers on TikTok when this case started,
• 16:06
  and he's now almost at a million.
• 16:08
  Look, he's everywhere. My 81-year-old dad knew about it, y'all.
• 16:12
  My 81-year-old dad, so. And you remember last week when I mentioned it, y'all were like, what?
• 16:18
  You didn't even know. And now it's everywhere, right? It is.
• 16:21
  Well, I immediately went home to check it out. What's even funnier is that the
• 16:25
  Gen Zs were looking at it as like, oh, I forgot that he got raided in 2022.
• 16:30
  It's like, dude, you brought this back up with this case. We forgot.
• 16:36
  Yeah, his American flag suit is now iconic. It's probably going to be in the
• 16:41
  Smithsonian at some point.
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  My dad said, this is proof that the Constitution is still alive.
• 16:48
  My favorite part. Well, there's a lot of parts. But my favorite part is the
• 16:52
  part where he shows the video of the sheriff looking at the lemon pound case.
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  And he don't even steal a piece. video in court.
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  But the sheriff doesn't even steal a piece. Like he just looks at it.
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  And that was enough for Afro man to make fun of it.
• 17:11
  Crazy time. I mean, he did look like he wanted to put his gun down and grab his lice.
• 17:17
  I saw a meme that was, you know, the whole Marco Rubio meme where he like has every job.
• 17:23
  Yeah. They had one with him with the suit on, with the Afro man suit on the couch.
• 17:28
  That was pretty funny. So you guys are, I'm not saying emotional,
• 17:32
  but you've already admitted that y'all are maybe have a little more,
• 17:36
  show a little more emotion than artists and maybe me.
• 17:39
  So I thought that this week's, is that a weird, you gave me a look, Suzanne.
• 17:44
  I don't know. Is that a good thing? No, I meant that, yeah.
• 17:47
  No, not weird. So I thought that I would try to tailor this week's question
• 17:50
  of the week for you two specifically.
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  Now, what is the best moment in your life so far? That's easy for me because I'm a, I'm a GB.
• 18:07
  I'm a grandma, Grandma Beasley. You know, the, the best part of my life was when Mia was born.
• 18:13
  She's my first grandbaby, you know, and that man, what a, what an epic moment
• 18:17
  to see, you know, your child holding his child.
• 18:20
  Just when did that happen? You know, and then, and then they added Libby to the mix.
• 18:24
  So yeah, the, the best part of The biggest moment, the best moment in my life
• 18:29
  has been becoming a grandma.
• 18:31
  Okay. So mine, I was going to say my daughter being born. Yeah.
• 18:37
  October 2012. I still remember like the second that I saw her face and she looked
• 18:42
  at me and she was like, she was so disappointed that I was her dad.
• 18:47
  But it's interesting that you say that because like I would say that that's
• 18:52
  my daughter being born, but you say your grandkids are.
• 18:56
  Yeah. Is that even bigger than your son, Piannora? It's not bigger.
• 19:00
  It's different, and it's part of it.
• 19:02
  Okay. I mean, you know, Garrett is, Lord have mercy, he's walking around.
• 19:05
  They're expansions of him. They are.
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  He's my heart walking outside of my body, and then he gifted me with these two
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  beautiful, you know, little girls that are an extension of him,
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  like you just said, Sammy.
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  So it's just, it's an increase of joy and love. It just makes it bigger.
• 19:20
  It just makes it bigger. I'll hope you see it one day.
• 19:23
  Well, I've got something to look forward to, I guess. Yeah. I was going to say
• 19:26
  the 2017 National Championship, but I guess I better say the 2017.
• 19:30
  No, I'm just kidding. Sammy, what is your best time of your life so far?
• 19:34
  That's a hard one for me because I'm like, I don't have kids. I don't have a husband.
• 19:39
  I don't have any of that stuff. I'm like... Maybe that's it.
• 19:42
  Maybe not having all that stuff. Being single.
• 19:45
  Yeah. It's not the worst thing in the
• 19:47
  world, is it, Sammy? I will say that there's a lot to be said for that.
• 19:50
  Like the time from like 22 to 30.
• 19:54
  Living joyfully in my 20s alone with just a dog.
• 19:58
  Because I'm starting to apparently make my friends jealous and
• 20:01
  one of my friends who has had roommates since college like
• 20:04
  she still lives with roommates but she drove me
• 20:08
  to the airport for my trip and the night before she comes over
• 20:11
  we're having a glass of wine watching tv and I'm
• 20:14
  just curled up on the couch and she's like see you
• 20:17
  living like this I am jealous she's like
• 20:20
  I want to be this happy being alone
• 20:23
  yeah because i'm extremely happy just being at my apartment being like i made
• 20:28
  myself a nice dinner i watched a movie and had a glass of wine before going
• 20:33
  to bed yeah we're introverts that's how we recharge yeah i i don't miss that
• 20:39
  time in my life but it was fun i will say that.
• 20:43
  Anything else to cover before we get out of here? Besides the pollen?
• 20:48
  Yeah, besides the great pollening. It seems like it's worse now than it used to be.
• 20:53
  Am I right? I feel like it was all worse this year. So this year, we were number seven.
• 20:58
  Raleigh was number seven on the top ten worst allergies in the country.
• 21:04
  Yeah, I don't get it. I mean, because it seems like with development,
• 21:08
  we have less and less trees.
• 21:10
  Like, why is it happening worse now? It's the ragweed. What is that? The grass?
• 21:17
  Yeah, it's a hateful, hateful plant.
• 21:22
  We need like one big rain to wash it all away. We do.
• 21:25
  This is just gross. And it's not necessarily the yellow pollen that causes your allergies to act up.
• 21:32
  It's just the season that the yellow pollen falls.
• 21:35
  All the other stuff is falling at the same time, too. But daggone if it doesn't make a mess.
• 21:39
  It does. On everything. My car is green right now. Yeah, it's just gross.
• 21:43
  I saw that there was on Capitol Boulevard, there was one of the,
• 21:46
  like, Leith Toyotas or something that was like, we're having our pollen sale.
• 21:49
  If our cars are covered in pollen, you get a discount.
• 21:53
  If our cars are green, then the prices are lean.
• 21:56
  Oh, that's pretty, that's clever. I love it.
• 21:59
  Make something out of nothing. And if you've heard a little difference in sound
• 22:03
  quality this week, we are doing this virtually this week because we couldn't
• 22:07
  get our makeshift studio.
• 22:09
  So, hopefully it worked. If not, you will never hear this.
• 22:14
  And we missed you, Artis. We missed you, Artis. Yes, definitely missed you,
• 22:17
  Artis. We definitely need you back.
• 22:19
  Well, that's our show this week, and everyone have a great week.