I spent Wednesday afternoon down at the N.C. General Assembly, where the Senate Finance Committee approved legislation that would pave the way for the State of North Carolina to take our privately-owned dams along the Yadkin River.
Many of the Senators asked good questions. Fundamental questions like “Why do we need to do this?” and specific questions about how the state would operate a hydropower plant.
But no one raised the obvious question: How can our state legislators even contemplate spending $500 million of taxpayer money to take a privately-owned business ... just one day after Gov. Perdue announced mandatory unpaid furloughs for all state employees and school teachers?
North Carolina is facing a $3.2 billion budget shortfall and the pain is being felt by families across North Carolina. Our school teachers are being forced to sacrifice a portion of their salary… healthcare and education spending is being slashed … new taxes are being proposed. And yet no one seems to be overly concerned about the potential price tag that comes with a government takeover of Alcoa's dams.
Granted, there are a lot of different opinions about what a government takeover will really cost. Alcoa is confident that the cost would exceed $500 million, but even the conservative estimate offered in a draft fiscal note prepared by Senate staff pegged the likely cost at almost $200 million, not including the cost of required upgrades that could add another $200 million to the price.
What sort of message does this send to North Carolina families who are tightening their belts to make ends meet? As people struggle with financial challenges – whether it’s cutting back on vacations and summer camps for their kids, or dipping into their 401k savings to pay the mortgage – the politicians in Raleigh don’t seem to have any hesitation about spending half a billion dollars to take over a few privately-owned dams.
It just doesn't make sense.
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