Hi there, 

This is a special edition of Locke Notes. We are taking a break from our regularly scheduled newsletter to discuss the devastating floods and ensuing relief efforts in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene throughout the southeast. Given that the nearest destruction occurred along both North Carolina and Tennessee’s border, Locke CEO Donald Bryson is joined by Justin Owen, CEO of the Beacon Center of Tennessee, a sister think tank, and would like to share a special message with our readers.

Esse quam videri,
Brooke Medina

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Dear Fellow North Carolinian,

From Humble Roots

Not only do we both run state think tanks, we come from eerily similar backgrounds. We were both born and raised among meager means in rural West Tennessee, barely an hour’s drive apart. We didn’t meet until we were both in our current roles, and our similar accents led us to quickly discover how close we grew up from one another. Given our backgrounds, we both understand how wholesome our rural communities are. And despite this past week’s tragedy occurring predominantly in the mountains while we grew up in the fields, we both feel a strong kinship to the salt of the earth residents of our states who are reeling from this unspeakable tragedy… 
 
Resilience 

Many of those living along the state line in the Appalachian Mountains know hard times. Access to good jobs, a quality education, and affordable healthcare have been hard to come by over the years. But through these tough times, they have built a hardening resilience that has prepared them to roll up their sleeves and get to work helping their fellow neighbors in the aftermath of the storm.

Helene’s Path of Destruction

See Our New Video

More from Locke

1) 🧐🧐🧐 Fact-checking Gov. Cooper’s veto of school choice bill 

• Last Friday, Gov. Cooper vetoed House Bill 10, which would have fully funded the Opportunity Scholarship Program (OSP)
  • This would have cleared the waitlist of almost 55,000 students
• Cooper justified his veto with a series of false claims, listed below
  • Claim - OSP takes money from public schools
    • Money allocated for OSP is not from the public school budget
      • OSP is instead part of the UNC portion of the state budget
  • Claim - OSP gives private school vouchers to wealthy families
    • OSP primarily helps families with low and moderate household incomes
    • And the voucher is awarded on a sliding scales, so that lower income families receive larger scholarships
  • Claim - Private school vouchers do not improve student performance
    • 84% of school choice studies show a positive effect in student performance
  • Claim - The voucher program is unaccountable
    • Schools of choice are ultimately accountable to the families of their students
      • If the school isn’t living up to expectations, families can send their children elsewhere
    • Meanwhile, OPS schools actually have a lot of compliance requirements
      • Such as administering nationally standardized tests
      • As well as the usual health, safety and nondiscrimination statutes that public schools have as well
  • Claim - The money used for OSP could be invested in our teachers instead
    • The proposed state budget for FY 2024 - 2025 already contains a raise for teachers and more money to hire teaching assistants

You can get the full rundown here. 

2) 🌽🌽🌽 Potential impact of Hurricane Helene on NC agriculture

• North Carolina’s $100 billion agricultural industry once again finds itself at the mercy of nature
• Hurricane Helene has already proven to be deadly, and it’s long-term impact on North Carolina’s farmlands and crop production could be severe
  • NC’s agriculture is particularly vulnerable to hurricanes, because much of the state’s farmland is in low-lying coastal plains and river basins
  • Hurricanes not only destroy crops in the short term, but also have lasting effects on the land, and the infrastructure necessary for farming
    • Floods not only drown livestock and flood fields, but stagnant floodwaters promote the growth of mold, mildew and other pathogens that lead to crop loss
    • Winds cause significant damage to taller crops, like tobacco and corn, and also infrastructure like barns and shelters
    • Helene’s intense rainfall also strips away the nutrient-rich topsoil essential for healthy crop growth, potentially reducing yields for seasons to come
• However, North Carolina’s agricultural community is no stranger to hurricanes
  • In 1999, Hurricane Floyd affected over 2 million acres of farmland
    • 50% of peanut, cotton, soybean and sweet potato crops, as well as 40% of tobacco crops, were destroyed
    • Nearly 3 million animals died as well
    • Many farmers who not been adequately insured struggled to recover financially 
    • The lessons from Floyd prompted changes in how farmers prepare for hurricanes, including:
      • Better drainage systems
      • More comprehensive crop insurance coverage
  • Hurricane Matthew in 2016 caused extensive damage to crops just as farmers were preparing for harvest
    • Particularly, flooding in the eastern part of the state, devastated tobacco, sweet potato and peanut crops
    • The aftermath of Matthew emphasized the importance of diversifying the crop supply
  • Hurricane Florence in 2018 caused over $1.1 billion in agricultural losses and decimated livestock farms
• Hurricane Helene will pose a daunting yet familiar challenge to NC’s farmers
  • As past storms have shown, recovery efforts can take time
• It’s so important in these times to do what we can as individuals to care for our Carolinians, and help regrow what has been lost to Helene

You can get the full picture here.

 
3) 🗳️🗳️🗳️How NC election officials could respond to the hurricane

• While we’re still assessing the damage of Hurricane Helene, election officials don’t have the same luxury of time
• North Carolina law allows the State Board of Elections (SBE) to make emergency changes when the normal schedule of an election has been disrupted
  • Election boards in affected counties can reschedule their weekly absentee ballot processing meeting
    • They can also not require voter ID in declared disaster zones
  • However, other changes are up in the air until the General Assembly meets this weeks to consider emergency changes to early and election-day voting in affected areas
• What changes to election rules are we most likely to see?
  • They probably be similar to the changes the General Assembly authorized in the 2018 Hurricane Florence Emergency Response Act
    • Extension of voter registration (probably through October 16, the day before early voting starts)
    • Authorization for election boards in affected counties to change early and election day voting sites
  • Later legislation will likely provide funding to counties to cover additional expenses, including for election administration

You can learn more here.