McCrory says he will sign budget, issues coal ash order

by Craig Jarvis, News and Observer, August 1, 2014.

Gov. Pat McCrory on Friday said he would sign the budget that the legislature has tentatively approved, avoiding a veto over teacher pay and Medicaid issues.

He also said he was kick-starting the process of closing all coal ash ponds in the state, since the House and Senate couldn’t reach a compromise Thursday. The governor issued an executive order telling the state’s environmental agency to continue enforcing current regulations and to emphasize detecting drinking water contamination.

Environmental groups said that other than requiring well-testing, the order didn’t appear to tell regulators to do anything they’re not already doing.

At a news conference in his office, the governor said he and his staff were involved in budget negotiations that grew intense over the past two days, prompting him to threaten vetoes before he was satisfied the budget met his demands.

“Everyone has continued to listen, learn, and many times compromise,” McCrory said. “However, there were several issues I refused to compromise on, and I’m pleased to say this budget falls within the parameters where I do not need to veto this bill, and I’ll be proud to sign it.”

The governor said the budget managed to provide raises for teachers in line with what he sought – calling it a 5.5 percent salary increase, which in addition to longevity pay, brings the total raise to around 7 percent. The N.C. Association of Educators has called it misleading to count longevity pay as a raise, because they already collect it.

McCrory said he was also satisfied the budget maintained current eligibility standards for Medicaid recipients, and saved teacher assistant jobs, all without a tax increase.

The Senate approved it around 12:30 a.m. Friday, while the House gave it preliminary approval Friday afternoon on a 68-46 vote. They will take their final vote Saturday morning.

Friday’s House vote was almost strictly along party lines, except for four Republicans who voted against it. Mocksville Rep. Julie Howard, senior chairwoman of the House Finance Committee, told a Time Warner Cable reporter she didn’t think it was sustainable. Other Republicans voting against it were Reps. Robert Brawley of Mooresville, Mitchell Setzer of Catawba, and Harry Warren of Salisbury.

Democrats criticized the budget as a mirage instead of a significant teacher raise and warned that the looming loss of revenue due to tax cuts sets the state up for an untenable challenge.

House Democratic Leader Larry Hall of Durham called it a “90-day budget,” aimed at taking the state only through the November elections to make GOP candidates look good.

“There’s an old saying, you can make chicken salad out of chicken feathers – it’s kind of fluffy, it looks good, but there’s no substance when you test it,” Hall said.

Moving on coal ash

The governor’s executive order tells the state Department of Environment and Natural Resources to:

• Begin groundwater testing at all 33 of Duke Energy’s coal ash ponds across the state. Currently, the company voluntarily tests within a specified boundary. A DENR spokesman said that could require Duke to install monitoring wells outside of its property to check for drinking water contamination.

• Take steps to authorize removing water from the ponds at the four most pressing plants – Riverbend, Asheville, Sutton and Dan River – in advance of removing the coal ash there.

• Hire staff to handle the increased workload, since the legislature didn’t include any money for that in its budget.

McCrory said the order wasn’t a substitute for comprehensive legislation that would improve dam safety, regulate the use of coal ash in structural fills and strengthen public notification of spills.

D. J. Gerken, an attorney with the Southern Environmental Law Center, said the state should have done more sooner to stop groundwater contamination at Duke’s plants, where the containment basins have been leaking close to waterways.

“If they start testing beyond the compliance boundary to determine the extent of groundwater contamination, that is new, that is good, I’m happy to see it,” Gerken said. “But let’s not mistake it for what it is: It is another couple of years of groundwater testing and analysis, not enforcement of known violations.”

Rep. Chuck McGrady, a Republican from Hendersonville who worked on the legislature’s coal ash bill, said the governor’s steps seemed appropriate. He said Duke Energy already knows from the House and Senate bills that it will be asked for its recommendations on the priority for closing the ponds.

“There’s no reason not to begin to move,” McGrady said.

Duke Energy President and CEO Lynn Good issued a statement saying, “We will continue to work constructively with regulators and lawmakers to advance an enhanced plan for the long-term management of coal ash in North Carolina.”

Lawmakers could take up a compromise coal ash bill when they return on Aug. 14, which is the date they had reserved for returning to override any vetoes by the governor, or in November, when they plan to concentrate on Medicaid issues.

STAFF WRITER JOHN MURAWSKI CONTRIBUTED.

http://www.newsobserver.com/2014/08/01/4044099/house-gives-tentative-approval.html?sp=/99/102/