Items from across the Triad and Beyond, compiled by Jordan Green
General Assembly gives localities authority to levy public transit tax
The NC General Assembly has passed legislation to grant urban localities the power to levy a sales tax to pay for major public transportation projects such as lightrail. The Congestion Relief/Intermodal Transport Fund bill has been sent up to Gov. Beverly Perdue for her signature. Voters in Mecklenburg County approved a local sales tax option by a landslide in 1998 and 2007 to pay for the county’s light-rail system. The bill noted that in the current decade 40 percent of the state’s projected growth has been in Mecklenburg, Wake, Durham, Orange,
Forsyth and Guilford counties, and that “creation of a special fund to help meet urban transportation needs with alternatives such as rail transit and buses, coupled with land-use planning, will spur and guide economic development in a more economically and environmentally sound manner. Forysth and Guilford county lawmakers widely supported the measure, with all four senators from both parties voting in favor, and Rep. Bill McGee breaking ranks with his Republican colleagues in the Triad to back the bill. — JG
Burr leads in money received from healthcare industry
An analysis by Durhambased Democracy North Carolina finds that US Sen. Richard Burr, the Republican from Winston- Salem, leads the list of North Carolina lawmakers who have received campaign contributions from political action committees and individuals related to the insurance and healthcare services industries in the past three election cycles, followed by Rep. Sue Myrick, a Charlotte Republican. The election watchdog group notes that “Burr and Myrick both oppose the health reform proposals of Democratic leaders in the Senate and House. Burr raised $1.7 million from insurance and healthcare services donors, while Myrick raised $630,949. Sen. Kay Hagan, the Democrat from Greensboro, raised $217,208 from those groups in last year’s election — less than a third what her Republican opponent, Elizabeth Dole, received. — JG
State NAACP president to speak in Greensboro The Rev. William J. Barber II, president of the North Carolina NAACP, or National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, will speak at Bethel AME Church in Greensboro on Aug. 23 during an event hosted by the Greensboro chapter to commemorate the national civil rights organization’s 100th anniversary. Call 336.697.0310 for more information.
