NewsBreak! Articles > December 31, 2008

LEGISLATIVE UPDATE

North Carolina

Fayetteville Loop Sidetracked: With opposition coming from other regions of the state and uncertain funding prospects, Fayetteville's highway loop appears to be on hold indefinitely. Since November, when the N.C. Board of Transportation approved a $270 million expansion of Interstate 295, complaints of favoritism have left state officials defending how the project was approved.

Critics note that Senate Majority Leader Tony Rand, D-Cumberland and a longtime supporter of the project, and state Transportation Secretary Lyndo Tippett are from Fayetteville. Charlotte officials have been especially critical of the new funding.

Earlier this month, Lee Myers, chair of the Mecklenburg-Union Metropolitan Planning Organization, wrote a letter to President-elect Barack Obama asking him to freeze federal highway funding for the state and calling for an investigation into the state's method of allocating money for such projects. Myers claimed that the state uses a funding system that pits regions of the state against one another. In it, he pointed out that traffic counts on I-485 are at 120,000 vehicles already, while I-295 is not expected to reach 30,000 vehicles daily until 2020. Myers criticized the way I-295 was approved.

Rand said he was miffed by the request. "We've got a war in Iraq, a war in Afghanistan, and the economy is going to hell," Rand said. "But I'm sure that Charlotte's whining about that will take precedence. I hope he stops everything he's doing and takes care of Charlotte."

Rand also said it is not state funding methods that need to be investigated. "What we ought to do is investigate how Charlotte gets $1.2 billion before we get anything," he said. Jon Nance, the Department of Transportation's chief engineer of operations, said Raleigh and Charlotte have received most of the state's loop funding. I-485 around Charlotte has received the most funding and is closer to completion than any loop in the state.

The legislature developed a method to fund loops in 1989 and included Charlotte, Raleigh, Durham, Winston-Salem, Greensboro, Wilmington and Asheville. Fayetteville was added in 2003. Mac Campbell, the transportation board member representing Cumberland County, has said complaints about political connections being a factor in funding are baseless. He said Fort Bragg and expansions related to federal base realignments strongly support the need for I-295.

Meanwhile, state Department of Transportation officials say grim financial times have jeopardized all the state's highway projects, including the loop around Fayetteville. "The funding is uncertain," said Ernie Seneca, a spokesman for the department. Bids on the most recently approved section of the loop were supposed to be opened in November. But falling prices for construction materials led officials to delay bidding until December in hopes of getting a better price. Then officials pushed the date to Jan. 20 in the face of state budget cuts and declining gas tax revenue. Earlier this month, bid opening was delayed indefinitely. Gov. Mike Easley is asking the federal government to release $5 billion for state highway projects that are ready for construction as soon as funding is available. Nance said Fayetteville's loop and $122 million for I-485 in Charlotte are among those projects.

Gas Tax Still Peaks: Despite gas prices dropping to their lowest levels in more than four years, the state's gas tax will remain at the highest level allowed by law at least through next June. The tax rate fluctuates with changes in wholesale fuel prices, but state lawmakers agreed last year not to let it rise above the current mark, 29.9 cents a gallon.

Still, if fuel prices stay relatively low for the next few months, the tax rate could make a substantial drop when it is adjusted again next July 1. A formula in state law sets the tax at a flat rate of 17.5 cents per gallon, plus either 3.5 cents or 7 percent of average wholesale gas and diesel prices, whichever is higher. The legal cap limits this variable portion to 12.4 cents. The January 2009 rate is based on an average wholesale price of $3.21 from April through September, when pump prices broke through the $4 mark. According to AAA, motorists in the Triangle were paying an average of $1.62 on Wednesday. Charlotte motorists were paying $1.65.

Cliffside Power Plant: State regulators have tentatively accepted Duke Energy's analysis of pollution at its expanded Cliffside power plant, delivering a setback to environmentalists who challenged the project. Coal-fired plants are major sources of mercury and other toxic substances.

South Carolina

Scarborough Appealing Election: Wallace Scarborough is appealing the Election Commissions ruling and will be asking his former colleagues in the House of Representatives to throw out the election results in the House District 115 election. Scarborough, a Republican, lost the Nov. 4 election to Democratic newcomer Anne Peterson Hutto by 211 votes.

On Dec 3, the Election Commission rejected Scarborough’s request for a new election based on his arguments that at least 365 votes were cast illegally. Scarborough had 10 days to appeal the Commissions decision and has decided to take his challenge a step further.

Oddly enough, the decision will rest in the hands of the members of the House of Representatives. The House, according to the Clerk’s Office has three options – it can order a new election, reject the protest and allow Peterson Hutto to retain the seat, or put Scarborough back in the seat. Scarborough is asking his former colleagues to order a new election. The appeal will be heard by a House subcommittee after the first of the year.

 The subcommittee will hear arguments from both sides and will make a recommendation to the full committee, which will study the case and make a recommendation to the full membership of the House – which can vote to approve the recommendation, reject it or amend it. The subcommittee members are Reps. Karl Allen, D-Greenville; Alan Clemmons, R-Myrtle Beach, chairman; Jenny Horne, R-Summerville; Wendy Nanney, R-Greenville; and Bakari Sellers, D-Denmark. A new election would cost close to $12,000.
 
DHEC Approves Coal Plant: Last week the Department of Health and Environmental Control approved an air quality permit for a controversial $2.3 billion coal-fired power plant to be built in rural Florence County. With this approval, Santee Cooper cleared a major hurdle to build the plant, but still needs additional permits-- not to mention facing possible court challenges. Santee Cooper officials were pleased with the approval since they have been working for two years to reach this part of the permit process.

When the plant is complete and functional, it will have two giant coal-fired boilers that will produce 1,320 megawatts of energy which is enough power for close to 500,000 homes and several hundred businesses. From a construction standpoint, the 650-foot smokestack would be taller than the Washington Monument. Within hours of the approval, Dana Beach, director of the S.C. Coastal Conservation League, announced that his group would appeal the decision by DHEC because of the millions of tons of pollutants it would emit.

Who Do You Know: All Carolinas AGC members in South Carolina should recently have received a “Who Do You Know” blast fax from the Association. With this most recent election, we have the largest freshmen class of legislators headed to Columbia that we have seen in several years. We are asking that our members complete the form and let the lobbyists who represent you at the state house know which members of the Legislature you know and also who you and/or your company have contributed to financially. This information will help us better represent you and the industry in Columbia.