Last month, Majority legislative staff provided their analysis of written comments to the Joint Regulatory Reform Committee established by Senate Joint Resolution 17. See the analysis here, and then check the math and judge for yourself.
The numbers show that North Carolinians who submitted comments oppose regulatory reform by two to one – 740 oppose, and 344 support. But the Majority dismisses 573 North Carolina citizens who oppose regulatory reform, and what do you know – now their analysis shows people supporting regulatory reform by two to one. This is the math they brought to the budget debate?
If you add in people who came out and testified at six hearings held by the Joint Committee over the past few months, the picture doesn’t change. Based on a review of video recordings of the six hearings, 162 people voiced support for environmental regulations and 129 expressed an objection to regulations or complained about inconsistent application of regulations.
See how the public really feels about regulatory reform in the video below:
Then there’s the substance of the comments. Of the written comments in favor of regulatory reform, nearly half supported legalization of the sale of raw milk and legalization of marijuana for medicinal purposes. The only environmental regulation identified as a specific topic of correspondence is “coastal wetlands/river buffers” – and it’s unclear whether the correspondence supported or opposed these regulations.
Here are the real numbers:
- 902 North Carolinians wrote or spoke out opposing regulatory reform, the vast majority in support of health and environmental safeguards
- 473 North Carolinians spoke out in favor of regulatory reform, with many of those talking about milk and marijuana
