Mecklenburg transportation tax bill advances in Senate
Mecklenburg County's transportation bill advanced in the North Carolina Senate Wednesday afternoon.
Why it matters: Now we're cooking with gas.
Earlier this year, when leaders discussed Charlotte's chances of getting a 1-cent transportation sales tax, they said things like it was "a tough sell" and "a long way from being palatable."
But now it seems the bill to hold a referendum, which could help Mecklenburg County generate billions for new infrastructure, is on its way to becoming law.
Catch up quick: Wednesday's Senate vote was 41-4, and the House overwhelmingly supported Rep. Tricia Cotham's bill earlier this month.
What's next: The final Senate vote on the P.A.V.E. Act is slated for Thursday, according to the Charlotte Regional Business Alliance. The bill will then go back to the House for a concurrence vote before heading to the governor's desk.
What's inside: The legislation would authorize the Mecklenburg County Board of County Commissioners to put the 1-cent sales tax referendum on the November election ballot.
If passed, 60% of the funding would go to a transportation authority for transit projects, and 40% would go to municipalities for roads, including bike lanes and lighting.
What they're saying: Members of the Mecklenburg County delegation advocated for the bill on the Senate floor, stressing the region's evolving demands amid fast population growth.
"We are experiencing longer commutes, more car accidents, higher car insurance premiums, more pedestrian-related accidents and less revenue to address our crumbling critical infrastructure," Sen. Mujtaba Mohammed said.
"We have a whole lot more traffic coming into Charlotte every day," Sen. Joyce Waddell said. "— it's unbelievable."
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Fox News
32 minutes ago
- Fox News
Trump's 'big, beautiful bill' faces setback as Senate rules knock out key Medicaid provisions
A controversial change to the Medicaid provider tax rate in Senate Republicans' version of the "big, beautiful bill" has been knocked out by Senate rules. Senate Budget Committee Democrats announced on Thursday that the Senate Parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough ruled against a slew of core provisions within President Donald Trump's colossal bill, including tweaks to Medicaid that divided Republicans in the upper chamber. Indeed, MacDonough ruled that the harsher Medicaid provider tax rate crackdown in the Senate's version of the bill did not comport with the Byrd Rule, which provides guardrails for the budget reconciliation process. That ruling, and the stripping out of other provisions that included denying states Medicaid funding for having illegal immigrants on the benefit rolls, preventing illegal immigrants from participating in Medicaid and the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP), and preventing Medicaid and CHIP funding from going toward gender-affirming care, among others, has gutted many of Republicans' key cost-saving Medicaid changes, and likely set back their plan to put the mammoth bill on Trump's desk by July 4. Senate Democrats vowed to inflict as much pain as possible on Republicans through the "Byrd Bath," where provisions are gone through line-by-line to see whether they comply with the Byrd Rule. Senate Finance Committee Ranking Member Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., accused Republicans of "scrambling to rewrite parts of this bill" as more and more provisions are knocked out by the parliamentarian. "Democrats are continuing to make the case against every provision in this Big, Beautiful Betrayal of a bill that violates Senate rules and hurts families and workers," Merkley said in a statement. "Democrats are fighting back against Republicans' plans to gut Medicaid, dismantle the Affordable Care Act, and kick kids, veterans, seniors, and folks with disabilities off of their health insurance – all to fund tax breaks for billionaires. The Senate Finance Committee's changes to the provider tax rate were a stark departure from the House GOP's version of the bill. Senate Republicans went further than the House's freeze of the rate, or the amount that state Medicaid programs pay to healthcare providers on behalf of Medicaid beneficiaries, for non-Affordable Care Act expansion states and included a provision that lowers the rate in expansion states annually until it hits 3.5%. Those changes angered a handful of Republicans, like Sens. Susan Collins, R-Maine, and Josh Hawley, R-Mo., who have warned not to make revisions to the health care program that could shut down rural hospitals and boot working Americans from their benefits. The parliamentarian argued in her ruling that "ending states' ability to tax health care providers would severely limit states' ability to provide health care to millions of Americans who depend upon Medicaid for their care." In order for Senate Republicans to ram the president's agenda through the Senate with a reduced 51-vote threshold, provisions within the bill have to adhere to the Byrd Rule, which requires that policy changes must have a budgetary and spending impact. News of the provision's removal comes as lawmakers were floating a possible fix to the crackdown in the form of a stabilization fund for rural hospitals. One proposal floated by the Senate Finance Committee would start a fund that distributes a total of $15 billion over the next five fiscal years to states that apply for the program.
Axios
33 minutes ago
- Axios
Senate parliamentarian blocks Medicaid changes in "big, beautiful bill"
The Senate parliamentarian ruled out the Medicaid provider tax provision in the "one big, beautiful bill," according to Senate Democrats. Why it matters: This complicates the GOP's math on the spending cuts it needs to pass the package, as well as threatening the careful negotiations between the party's factions on reaching a final deal. For Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.), it removes a thorny political problem for Republicans, with a handful of GOP members deeply opposed to the provisions. But it will also force the Senate to find additional spending cuts to pay for the tax cuts that are the centerpiece of Trump's one "big, beautiful bill." Zoom in: The parliamentarian also struck down provisions meant to block the use of Medicaid funds for gender-affirming care and to prevent unauthorized immigrants from receiving Medicaid or CHIP coverages. Driving the news: Democrats seized on the ruling as evidence that their fight against Trump's agenda was having some success. "Democrats are continuing to make the case against every provision in this Big, Beautiful Betrayal of a bill that violates Senate rules and hurts families and workers," said Sen Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) the ranking Democrat on the Senate Budget Committee. "Democrats are fighting back against Republicans' plans to gut Medicaid, dismantle the Affordable Care Act, and kick kids, veterans, seniors, and folks with disabilities off of their health insurance. What to watch: Republicans are working to adjust the language on provider taxes to meet the parliamentarian's standards.
Boston Globe
35 minutes ago
- Boston Globe
Democrats should give Trump his due on the success of his Mideast gamble
Advertisement As The Washington Post All of this put Democrats in a serious political bind. So far, they are doing what Democrats often do, making process arguments, emphasizing that the president didn't consult with Congress or comply with the requirements of the War Powers Act. At every turn, Democrats After the weekend bombing, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries Advertisement Following Jeffries's lead, three House representatives The War Powers Resolution, which became law in 1973, In the absence of a declaration of war, the president must report to Congress within 48 hours the circumstances justifying the use of military force and cannot continue to use it for more than 60 days unless Congress permits otherwise. Since it became law, the act While the Democratic efforts to assert congressional prerogative and insist that Trump follow the law are right on the merits, they may further But that is likely to change if there is no additional retaliation by Iran against the United States other than the . Instead of beating the drums about yet another procedural problem, Democrats should give the president his due and change the subject. Advertisement That is especially true when it comes to America's international role. While Americans seem wary of foreign entanglements, they What writer Jesse Lee The Democrats, Lee argued, 'never seem to do anything about the goals that they purportedly represent. … People tune into Trump because they believe he will actually do something.' It is against that desire for action that Trump's effort to end Iran's nuclear program and the Israel-Iran conflict will be judged. There are signs that a few Democratic leaders are getting that message. Writing about what Trump did over the weekend, former secretary of state Antony Blinken Democratic Senator Chris Coons of Delaware, while expressing his concerns about the failure of the president to consult with Congress, struck the right note when he Advertisement Unless things take a sudden turn for the worse in the Middle East, Democrats need to realize that giving the other side credit, even grudgingly so, especially when there is so much work to do to preserve constitutional democracy in the United States. This is one of those moments.
