GOP senators’ districts would get $700 million for local projects in NC budget proposal

The Senate budget includes at least $765 million in earmarks for local projects and nonprofits — almost all of it in counties represented by Republican senators.

The earmarks, sometimes known as “pork barrel spending” or even “member money,” are a common practice in the legislature’s budget process. But the amounts sent to GOP districts are high this year, in part because the budget would spend billions of dollars in federal American Rescue Plan Act money.

That money generally must go to one-time projects and expenses, while any recurring expenditures — such as state employee raises — would need state funding in future years.

The NC Insider reviewed hundreds of pages of budget documents and identified more than 200 local projects. Only about 20 of those would go to counties that are represented exclusively by Democrats.

And of those 20, 11 went to Cumberland and Hoke counties, where moderate Sens. Kirk deViere and Ben Clark were among only four Democrats who voted in favor of the budget in 2019 and were among another group of four voting “yes” last week.

Rural counties benefit, but not all

Sen. Brent Jackson, R-Sampson and a top Senate budget writer, argued that the discrepancies between districts is because of “all the needs there are in rural North Carolina,” such as water and sewer infrastructure projects. “It’s a question of what the greater need is,” he said.

The budget funds at least $66.6 million worth of projects in Jackson’s three-county district. That’s more than $20 million more than any other senator received, with the exception of Jackson’s fellow budget writer, Sen. Ralph Hise, R-Mitchell. Projects in Hise’s six-county district in the mountains received at least $73 million.

But not all rural, high-poverty counties are represented by Republicans.

The budget has no direct appropriations for nine counties in northeastern North Carolina represented by Sens. Toby Fitch, D-Wilson, and Ernestine Bazemore, D-Bertie. Those counties are some of the state’s poorest by N.C. Department of Commerce rankings, and five have majority Black populations.

Asked why his district would get more projects than those in northeastern rural counties, Jackson argued it’s “not much more in my district. ... You might need a new adding machine.”

The counties left out of earmarks will be eligible for the $300 million left in a water and sewer grant fund after the budget spends $250 million of that fund on specific projects in Republican districts. Among the 38 projects set to receive a share of the $250 million, six are in Jackson’s district. Two are in Senate leader Phil Berger’s home county, three are in Hise’s district, and two are in fellow budget writer Sen. Kathy Harrington’s home county, Gaston.

Outside of the big-ticket water and sewer projects, the earmarks identified by the Insider range in size from $10,000 to fund a veterans memorial in the town of China Grove (home of Sen. Carl Ford, R-Rowan) to $28 million to renovate the Stanly County Airport, also in Ford’s district.

Ford boasted to his hometown paper, The Salisbury Post, that Rowan County would receive $20 million in the Senate budget. Many of the earmarks go to county and municipal governments for projects they’d otherwise have to fund with local revenue.

Caldwell County, represented by Sen. Warren Daniel, R-Burke, would get $5 million for a new animal shelter. And the town of Madison, in Berger’s district, would get $3.5 million to develop a new river landing and park.

Other earmarks would head to nonprofit groups favored by senators.

Gaston Aquatics, a nonprofit in Harrington’s district, would get $1 million toward building a pool. The proposed Carolina Museum of the Marine in Jacksonville (Sen. Michael Lazzara’s district) would get $13 million for construction.

The Benson American Legion, in Jackson’s district, would get $175,000 for what the budget lists only as “paving.” Asked to explain the project — and two other paving projects in his district — Jackson declined to comment and walked away from a reporter.

“I’ve got nothing else to say to you,” he said. Jackson’s office did, however, issue a press release touting “nearly $80 million for our community.” That’s higher than the Insider’s estimate because it appears to include other state agency projects targeted for his district.

The press release includes a quote from Berger that says “Sen. Jackson was instrumental in getting critical infrastructure and other projects approved for his district.”

Democrats’ role

Senate Minority Leader Dan Blue said in an emailed statement that while Democrats were asked to send Republicans their budget priorities, their list didn’t include many local projects.

“When Republicans asked us to contribute to the budget process, we thought about the good that we could do for the state — particularly given the unprecedented surplus we have now,” Blue said. “Democrats submitted our requests on behalf of all North Carolinians, not just on behalf of our districts. While we would have liked to see earmarks for our own districts, our first priorities have been on policies and projects that can do the greatest good for the entire state.”

The GOP’s approach, he added, prioritized “tax cuts and benefiting their own districts.”

But two counties represented by Democrats fared as well as some Republican counties: Hoke and Cumberland. Cumberland would get 10 projects totaling about $41 million, and Hoke would get $31 million for courthouse repairs and renovations.

Their senators, Clark and deViere, broke with their party to vote for the budget. Asked if he voted “yes” because of the funding for his district, Clark said Friday that his decision was “based on the overall content of the budget” rather than any specific provisions.

He says he did send budget requests to Republicans, as other Democrats did. He said his votes last week don’t mean he’ll necessarily back future versions of the budget or support an override of any veto by the governor, because “I expect improvement” as the process continues.

DeViere did not respond Friday to phone and email inquiries about his budget vote, but he issued a press release that said that while the spending plan is “not perfect,” it “includes critical funding across our state and local community.”

For more North Carolina government and politics news, listen to the Under the Dome politics podcast from The News & Observer and the NC Insider. You can find it at link.chtbl.com/underthedomenc or wherever you get your podcasts.