Watching McCrory's State of the State

By Jeanne Milliken Bonds

Since his inauguration in January, Governor Pat McCrory has emphasized a "broken" government that needs to be "fixed" but we have heard very little detail of policies and specifics plans for the "fix." We've also heard no specific details about where the Governor stands on issues the NC General Assembly is presently addressing or has acted on to date -- in particular, tax reform, regulatory reform, cutting boards and commissions, cuts to unemployment insurance, and halting medicaid expansion. The first bill he signed into law was technical education but let's hear the rest of the plan. Which bills will McCrory sign into law? Which will become law without his signature?

Let's hear the specifics of a broken government he has encountered but more importantly, if state government is broken, how will he fix it. We heard a few quick blasts of customer service focus but no details. What is the initiative and how will it take form?

Which regulations are standing in the way of job creation? How will regulatory reform be achieved? Does the stripping of boards and commissions per SB 10 achieve that purpose? Does the regulatory review of the administrative code in HB 74 achieve regulatory reform? Certainly, most Governors do not comment extensively on every bill in the legislature but regulatory reform in conjunction with job creation was a theme of McCrory's for four years.

Fresh off a meeting on energy with other Governors, how will fracking create jobs and what are the policy details of other energy development, specifically off-shore drilling. When will the Governor articulate details of the meeting?

We've heard specifics on what he thinks of higher education in the form on what classes "not to take" and how universities need to get their graduates jobs but those remarks turned into an apology from him later when the higher education community erupted. Will he dare to mention higher ed and the UNC system again?

I hope we hear where he stands on tax reform. We've heard the Senate Republican plan and we've heard Art Pope say he doesn't agree with the Senate plan, but very little on what McCrory wants in the way of reform of the old tax code. McCrory talks about our state of competitiveness with South Carolina and Virginia but no details on now that can happen. Who will take the leadership role on tax reform? A centerpiece of his his creation plans, it seems the Governor would make this the centerpiece of his speech tonight.

Judgment and vetting matter. The Governor has been mum on the debacle of the hiring-resigning of Diana Lightfoot or the in-out dress code at DHHS. He has consistently referred question to Secretary Aldona Wos, but she has dodged reporter questions. Doubtful that this will surface but it would be nice to hear accountability for a department with 17,000 state employees.

And, certainly the questions about recent passed legislation on unemployment insurance and medicaid expansion are on the minds of many North Carolinians. It is reasonable to expect the Governor to articulate where he stands on the signing of these bills, if he will sign these bills and his overall view of fiscal responsibility and "fixing the State."

We're waiting Governor.

Jeanne Bonds is a political analyst and an NC Spin Panelist