Fitzsimon File

369—number of days since House and Senate passed HB2 in a special legislative session in March of 2016 that was signed by former Gov. Pat McCrory the same day (Ibid)

6---number of days since news reports revealed that Credit Suisse was considering bringing up to 1,500 jobs to Wake County with an average annual salary of $100,000 if the General Assembly would repeal HB2 (“North Carolina's HB2 repeal could mean 1,000-plus new Credit Suisse jobs in RTP, sources say, Triangle Business Journal, March 21, 2017)

Two weeks ago a group of state Senate leaders unveiled a plan to raise principal pay in North Carolina and raise funds for school construction in rural areas. Both are good ideas.

Many small and poor counties don’t have the tax base to afford to build new schools and North Carolina ranks 50th in principal compensation.

1,112---number of students for every school nurse in North Carolina (2017 North Carolina Child Health Report Card, N.C. Child and N.C. Institute of Medicine)

750---number of recommended students per school nurse ratio to adequately meet the health needs of students (Ibid)

Two different visions for North Carolina were prominently on display this week in Raleigh, both in terms of policy and also in tone, how political leaders work together and how they behave when they disagree.

The occasion was the first State of the State address from Governor Roy Cooper to the General Assembly. Cooper talked about raising teacher pay, making more investments in early childhood programs, reforming the criminal justice reform, and creating jobs.

1,700---amount in dollars less on average nationally that the Republican heath care proposal would give consumers to help with insurance premiums in 2020 than the Affordable Care Act (“House Tax Credits Would Make Health Insurance Far Less Affordable in High-Cost States, Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, March 9, 2017)

11---number of states where consumers would see their tax credits to buy health insurance fall by more than $3,000 (Ibid)

6.1---percentage increase in spending in K-12 education proposed in the budget released by Governor Roy Cooper last Wednesday (“Governor’s budget for public schools limited by tax cuts in recent years, Progressive Pulse, March 1, 2017)

5---percentage raise proposed for teachers each year for the next two years in Cooper’s budget (Ibid)

With the one-year anniversary of the passage of the sweeping anti-LGBTQ law HB2 rapidly approaching and the NCAA poised to lock North Carolina out of hosting dozens of championship events for the next six years, legislative leaders and Gov. Roy Cooper are scrambling to find a way to repeal the law and remove the stain on North Carolina’s reputation around the world and end the second class treatment of thousands of people in the state.

1---number of days since the Winston-Salem Journal reported that efforts are underway to start a drug treatment court in Forsyth County to deal with growing opioid epidemic (“Efforts underway to start a drug treatment court in Forsyth to deal with heroin epidemic,” Winston-Salem Journal, February 27, 2017)

Promoters of the latest so-called compromise on HB2 filed in the General Assembly this week apparently believe that discrimination in their communities should be up for a vote.

There is some good news in Raleigh these days for teachers. The state’s top political figures are currently arguing about who is more committed to raising teacher pay in the next few years.

Well one side is arguing anyway---and childishly at that.

52---percentage of voters without a college degree who cast their ballot for Donald Trump in the November election (“Behind Trump’s victory: Divisions by race, gender, education, Pew Research Center, November 9, 2016)

44---percentage of voters without a college degree who cast their ballot for Hillary Clinton (Ibid)

The clock is ticking yet again on HB2 and the news from Raleigh is not encouraging. As the NCAA prepares to decide where championship events will be held for the next six years, North Carolina is on the verge of being locked out of hosting any of them because the anti-LGBTQ law remains on the books.

Senate President Pro Tem Phil Berger and other Republican leaders have spent the last few days desperately distorting the facts and rewriting history to try to blame Governor Roy Cooper for the disaster of HB2 that was passed by the GOP supermajority in the House and Senate and signed into law by former Governor Pat McCrory last March.

1.3 million---number of people with a serious mental illness who will lose health care coverage if the Affordable Care Act is repealed (“ACA Repeal Would Jeopardize Treatment for Millions with Substance Use Disorders, Including Opioid Addiction, Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, February 9, 2017)

North Carolina’s anti-LGBT law HB2 was featured on Jeopardy Thursday night. The answer was "HB2 is this state’s controversial public facilities privacy and security act, aka the Bathroom Bill."