Latest news with #Republican-authored
Yahoo
22-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
GOP-crafted NC House budget draws bipartisan support
North Carolina House Speaker Destin Hall (R-Caldwell) speaks to reporters after a vote on the state budget on May 21, 2025. (Photo: Galen Bacharier/NC Newsline) The state House budget proposal drew broad bipartisan support Wednesday after Gov. Josh Stein, a Democrat, said he liked a lot of it. The House gave its budget preliminary approval with a vote of 93-20 after hours of debate on proposed amendments. Thursday's vote will start negotiations between House and Senate Republicans on a compromise spending plan. The Senate passed a budget last month that is significantly different from the House plan. A final vote on the House plan is expected to take place on Thursday. The House Republican-authored budget would significantly increase beginning teacher salaries. It also gives state employees 2.5% raises, though House Republicans said workers will get more because agencies will be able to use money from the elimination of thousands of vacant jobs to fund wage hikes. Rep. Donny Lambeth (R-Forsyth), a House senior budget writer, called it a 'well-crafted plan' that builds on the state's 'strong fiscal management.' Stein praised the House budget for these proposed salary increases and, in a statement, highlighted the differences between the House and Senate tax policies. The state's 2023 budget built in up to three automatic personal income tax cuts in tax years 2027 to 2034 that depend on the state meeting revenue targets. The House budget changes those targets, meaning the state would need to bring in more money to trigger a reduction in the personal income tax rate and likely delay a cut. Rep. Julia Howard (R-Davie) said the increased revenue amounts needed to trigger tax cuts were based on inflation and population growth. The House budget also increases personal income tax standard deductions and restores a back-to-school sales tax holiday. An income tax deduction on tips of up to $5,000 would begin in the 2026 tax year. Nonpartisan economists in the state budget office and the legislature have projected state revenues will drop in 2026-2027 as planned tax cuts take effect. In addition to cuts in the personal income tax rate, the corporate income tax is being phased out. The Senate budget proposal took the opposite approach, adding more triggered cuts. Senate leader Phil Berger (R-Rockingham) told reporters he did not believe the revenue forecast. Stein wanted to freeze income tax cuts, but among the Republican options, he prefers the House approach. 'Importantly, the House budget cuts taxes for working families while recognizing that North Carolina is a growing state and reduces personal income tax rates after this year only when the economy is growing,' Stein said in a statement. 'In contrast, the Senate's fiscally irresponsible revenue scheme will result in fewer teachers and law enforcement officers and diminished services that would harm our people.' In an interview, House Democratic Leader Robert Reives (D-Chatham), said the state is in tough fiscal shape because of cuts to revenues and overspending on vouchers that rural students don't even have the chance to use. Republicans are protective of vouchers, and the House rejected amendments that would take even modest amounts from voucher reserves to fund other education needs. They also rejected an amendment that would restore family income limits, require schools accepting vouchers to limit their annual tuition and fee increases to 5%, and require teachers in voucher schools to hold a bachelor's degree or a teacher license. The House budget is a negotiating document, a counterproposal to the Senate budget, Reives said in the interview. 'Our ultimate goal is we have got to get a budget that is responsible,' Reives said. 'The Senate budget is completely irresponsible. We've got to get a budget that recognizes the fiscal position that we're in, and we've got to get a budget that starts talking about the tough questions.' Reives and 26 other Democrats voted for the budget. Reives said during the floor debate he wouldn't vote for it if it was the final bill. 'There is a lot of work that has to get done before we have a bipartisan budget,' he said. House Speaker Destin Hall (R-Caldwell) acknowledged that it was unlikely the final budget would earn such broad support. 'Both sides got a chance to put forth their amendments,' Hall told reporters after the vote. 'And I think that … made up most of the reason why you see a bipartisan vote today.' Meanwhile, the House budget faced resistance from outside conservative voices. Club for Growth, a national group that focuses on tax cuts and often spends big in elections, sent out a public threat to anyone voting for the House budget. Those who support it 'should expect to be held accountable on election day, and kiss their political future goodbye,' the group wrote on social media. And the Carolina Partnership for Reform, in its newsletter and blog, decried the plan as a 'Republican-sponsored tax increase.' 'Having no budget deal is a better outcome than this one,' the group wrote. Rep. Keith Kidwell (R-Beaufort), leader of the body's hard right Freedom Caucus, sought to counter any criticism of the House approach to taxes. 'We've got one of the best bills from a tax perspective I've seen,' he said. 'Let's send a message to the Senate that we have one heck of a bill here, and they need to pass it.' Hall remarked that he believed the critical conservative groups 'like the Senate budget, and would prefer House members to like the Senate budget.' The House rejected 40 amendments offered by Democrats over hours of debate. The House adopted four amendments, including one that would kill tolling a portion of Raleigh's Capital Boulevard to pay to widen it. The state Department of Transportation is planning to toll the road from I-540 in Raleigh into Wake Forest. 'We do not tax free roads in North Carolina,' said Rep. Mike Schietzelt (R-Wake). The amendment will prevent using public money to study, design, build, operate, or implement tolling on Capital Boulevard. Two Wake Democrats said shutting down the option for tolls would curtail efforts to improve the highly trafficked thoroughfare 'We need to have the conversation with the communities to get to the right solutions,' said Rep. Maria Cervania (D-Wake). 'This is not going to get the outcome that you need.'
Yahoo
12-05-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Trio of bills aim to strengthen Texas death investigations
AUSTIN (KXAN) – Three Republican-authored bills under consideration at the Capitol could have a wide-ranging impact on Texas' death investigation systems. Rep. Tom Oliverson, a medical doctor and anesthesiologist from Cypress, authored two measures: one to require medical examiner review before bodies are cremated, and another that would mandate medical examiners to be board certified. Legislation by Sen. Tan Parker, of Flower Mound, would expand the number of counties eligible to create medical examiner offices for death investigations. Dr. Stephen Pustilnik, chief medical examiner of Fort Bend County, backs all the bills and spoke at several hearings on the measures. He said each piece of legislation is a stepping stone toward improved death investigations across the state. READ THE FULL STORY: Trio of bills aim to strengthen Texas death investigations Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Indianapolis Star
25-04-2025
- Politics
- Indianapolis Star
Alumni have elected Indiana University trustees for decades. A budget bill could end that
AI-assisted summary A budget bill provision could give Indiana's governor the power to appoint all Indiana University trustees, eliminating alumni-elected seats. This change would end a century-old tradition of alumni trustee elections. The bill also shortens student trustee terms and imposes term limits on all board members. Indiana University alumni could lose their power to elect members to IU's Board of Trustees, a tradition that dates back more than a century. Language in a last-minute budget bill gives Gov. Mike Braun the power to appoint all nine members of the board, stripping away three trustee seats that have been elected by IU's alumni body since 1891. The provision was added on April 23, with voting expected on April 24. The language, nestled on pages 181 and 182 of the Republican-authored 215-page bill, grants the governor sole appointment authority for all nine trustees, at least five of whom must be IU alumni. It also gives the governor power to remove and replace any existing trustee who was elected by IU alumni. If passed, the provision would take effect immediately, allowing the governor to start replacing current elected trustees at will. The non-budgetary provision, first reported by Axios Indianapolis, is a drastic restructuring of the trustee body. Alumni trustee elections take place in June, with degree holders from all Indiana University campuses eligible to vote. Provision comes after past attempts to reign in elected trustee power Republicans in the General Assembly have sought to curb the number of elected positions on the board before. Senate Enrolled Act 202, the controversial bill that overhauled the tenure process at Indiana public universities, originally included language to shrink the number of elected trustee positions from two to one. The language was removed from the bill before it passed. It's unclear why the provision eliminating elected trustees was added to the budget bill, but Indiana Republicans have shown interest in exercising tighter control over state universities, with a stated goal of curtailing liberal 'indoctrination' on Gov. Micah Beckwith has demanded greater financial transparency from IU – and even floated defunding the university – over its connections to the Kinsey Institute and Indiana Daily Student, falsely asserting that both may receive 'covert' taxpayer money through IU. Attorney General Todd Rokita has threatened IU over its response (or lack thereof) to antisemitism on campus, warning of federal funding cuts if the university fails to adhere to nondiscrimination laws. Combined with SEA 202, which puts the Board of Trustees in charge of evaluating professors' tenure appointments for 'intellectual diversity,' the bill would give the governor greater power over the board's composition and political leanings. Bill shortens student trustee terms, imposes term limits IU's board has a tradition of voting unanimously, but in the past year, cracks have started to form. Last July, elected alumni trustees Vivian Winston and Donna Spears, and student trustee Kyle Siebert were the only three board members to vote against IU's controversial expressive activity policy. Winston, an alumna and resident of Monroe County, has gained a reputation for breaking form with the board, especially since IU President Pamela Whitten's vote of no confidence in spring 2024. The budget bill also shortens the student trustee's term from two years to one, and limits all board members to serving one term. Non-student trustees currently serve three-year terms. Six candidates have already started campaigning for the elected trustee position opening this year. Voting begins on June 1 and closes on June 30; the elected trustee begins their term on July 1.
Yahoo
24-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Texas lawmakers weigh opening $5B energy fund to geothermal amid attacks on renewables
A Republican-authored proposal in the Texas Legislature seeks to open up state funds aimed at encouraging fossil fuel development to a form of renewable energy. The bill, which passed unanimously out of committee in the Texas House late Wednesday and now heads to the floor for consideration, could provide a runway for state incubation of next-generation geothermal energy, which uses oil and gas drilling methods to extract heat from the earth to provide low-carbon, round-the-clock energy. Along with another bill still in committee, the legislation could also serve as a lifeline for the flagging Texas Energy Fund (TEF), a $5 billion low-interest loan program originally aimed at encouraging more fossil fuel generation. The fund was created in 2023 to incentivize the building of new gas plants, with a stated aim of shoring up the grid by bringing on flexible power generation that could be turned on and off as needed. But at least seven companies have withdrawn their applications from the TEF since the beginning of the year, largely citing an inability to procure gas turbines in time to meet the terms of the loan. The fund has so far failed to develop the 10 gigawatts of power it was intended to add to the Texas grid. Republican lawmakers are now seeking to change two major criteria of the TEF: that projects it covers have capacity to produce at least 100 megawatts (enough to power about 100,000 houses), and a de facto requirement that they be fossil-fuel powered. The most recent piece of legislation, authored by state Rep. AJ Louderback (R) and voted unanimously out of a Texas House committee Wednesday night, would take a step toward opening up the program to geothermal projects by officially classing them as dispatchable. It now heads to the floor of the House. Another proposal under discussion would allow the board overseeing TEF to make loans to geothermal projects in the 10- to 100-megawatt range — enough energy to power about 10,000 to 100,000 homes — which would allow the current generation of geothermal projects (which are smaller capacity than gas plants) to apply for funding. These efforts come amid an attack on wind and solar power by a different faction of Texas Republicans. Over the past two months, the state Senate has passed bills seeking to drastically restrict where wind and solar can be built, and to require every watt of new solar that is brought online to be accompanied by a watt of new gas. The same evening that Louderback's geothermal legislation passed out of the House State Affairs Committee, members of the panel also narrowly passed another bill, H.B. 3356, which would force wind and solar companies to buy fossil-fuel based power to cover the time periods that they're not operating. Critics of these bills argue they will hamstring the Texas economy for the same reason that gas companies are leaving the TEF: There aren't enough gas turbines, or enough interest from utilities in building new gas plants, to meet Texas's skyrocketing energy needs or deliver the power the TEF was meant to incentivize. A report for the Texas Association of Business found that if just one of those anti-solar bills, H.B. 3356, is passed, it would cost state ratepayers $5 billion, while increasing the threat of rolling blackouts — the kind of outcomes that TEF's creation was theoretically intended to help the state avoid. Geothermal isn't the only form of dispatchable power state lawmakers want to incentivize. Yet another bill being weighed by the Legislature would make an additional $2 billion available to nuclear developers under similar terms to the TEF. Because lawmakers excluded battery storage projects — which, along with solar, make up the fastest growing part of the Texas grid — from consideration for the TEF, and because no nuclear projects are anywhere near ready to apply, the fund has in effect amounted to a subsidy for fossil fuels. The timeline for nuclear projects could prove to be an issue for the nuclear proposals as well. Geothermal advocates, however, argue that power plants that tap the subterranean heat in Texas also offer dispatchable power — and that the energy funds can speed the growth of geothermal in the state, which is emerging as a key hub for the industry. While Texas doesn't have the red-hot shallow rock or circulating underground geyser systems of the Mountain West or Pacific Rim, recent maps produced by the advocacy group Project InnerSpace show considerable geothermal resources beneath the state. And Texas also has something perhaps even more important than those resources: a vast and increasingly underutilized oil and gas workforce, whose job skills — from mapping underground reservoirs to drilling and encasing wells — are a close match to geothermal's needs. The field also has allies in the Trump administration. Secretary of Energy Chris Wright, a skeptic of renewables and the concept of 'clean energy' writ large, has thrown his support behind geothermal. And President Trump himself, in an Earth Day message largely focused on touting the president's accomplishments in opening up the nation's lands and waters to more logging, fishing, mining and drilling, emphasized the administration's commitment to 'next-generation geothermal.' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
The Hill
24-04-2025
- Business
- The Hill
Texas lawmakers weigh opening $5B energy fund to geothermal amid attacks on renewables
A Republican-authored proposal in the Texas legislature seeks to open up state funds aimed at encouraging fossil fuel development to a form of renewable energy. The bill, which passed unanimously out of committee in the Texas House late Wednesday and now heads to the floor for consideration, could provide a runway for state incubation of next-generation geothermal energy, which uses oil and gas drilling methods to extract heat from the earth to provide low-carbon, round-the-clock energy. Along with another bill still in committee, the legislation could also serve as a lifeline for the flagging Texas Energy Fund (TEF), a $5 billion low-interest loan program originally aimed at encouraging more fossil fuel generation. The fund was created in 2023 to incentivize the building of new gas plants, with a stated aim of shoring up the grid by bringing on flexible power generation that could be turned on and off as needed. But at least seven companies have withdrawn their applications from the TEF since the beginning of the year, largely citing an inability to procure gas turbines in time to meet the terms of the loan. The fund has so far failed to develop the 10 gigawatts of power it was intended to add to the Texas grid. Republican lawmakers are now seeking to change two major criteria of the TEF: that projects it covers have capacity to produceat least 100 megawatts (enough to power about 100,000 houses), and a de facto requirement that they be fossil-fuel powered. The most recent piece of legislation, authored by state Rep. A.J. Louderback (R) and voted unanimously out of a Texas House committee Wednesday night, would take a step toward opening up the program to geothermal projects by officially classing them as dispatchable. It now heads to the floor of the House. Another proposal under discussion would allow the board overseeing TEF to make loans to geothermal projects in the 10- to 100-megawatt range — enough energy to power about 10,000 to 100,000 homes — which would allow the current generation of geothermal projects (which are smaller capacity than gas plants) to apply for funding. These efforts come amid an attack on wind and solar power by a different faction of Texas Republicans. Over the past two months, the state Senate has passed bills seeking to drastically restrict where wind and solar can be built, and to require every watt of new solar that is brought online to be accompanied by a watt of new gas. The same evening that Louderback's geothermal legislation passed out of the House State Affairs Committee, members of the panel also narrowly passed another bill, HB 3356, which would force wind and solar companies to buy fossil-fuel based power to cover the time periods that they're not operating. Critics of these bills argue they will hamstring the Texas economy for the same reason that gas companies are leaving the TEF: there aren't enough gas turbines, or enough interest from utilities in building new gas plants, to meet Texas's skyrocketing energy needs or deliver the power the TEF was meant to incentivize. A report for the Texas Association of Business found that if just one of those anti-solar bills, HB 3356, is passed, it would cost state ratepayers $5 billion, while increasing the threat of rolling blackouts — the kind of outcomes that TEF's creation was theoretically intended to help the state avoid. Geothermal isn't the only form of dispatchable power state lawmakers want to incentivize. Yet another bill being weighed by the legislature would make an additional $2 billion available to nuclear developers under similar terms to the TEF. Because lawmakers excluded battery storage projects — which, along with solar, make up the fastest growing part of the Texas grid — from consideration for the TEF, and because no nuclear projects are anywhere near ready to apply, the fund has in effect amounted to a subsidy for fossil fuels. The timeline for nuclear projects could prove to be an issue for the nuclear proposals as well. Geothermal advocates, however, argue that power plants that tap the subterranean heat Texas also offer dispatchable power — and that the energy funds can speed the growth of geothermal in the state, which is emerging as a key hub for the industry. While Texas doesn't have the red-hot shallow rock or circulating underground geyser systems of the Mountain West or Pacific Rim, recent maps produced by the advocacy group Project Innerspace show considerable geothermal resources beneath the state. And Texas also has something perhaps even more important than those resources: a vast and increasingly underutilized oil and gas workforce, whose job skills — from mapping underground reservoirs to drilling and encasing wells — are a close match to geothermal's needs. The field also has allies in the Trump administration. Secretary of Energy Chris Wright, a skeptic of renewables and the concept of 'clean energy' writ large, has thrown his support behind geothermal. And President Trump himself, in an Earth Day message largely focused on touting the president's accomplishments in opening up the nation's lands and waters to more logging, fishing, mining and drilling, emphasized the administration's commitment to 'next-generation geothermal.'
