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It was a tumultuous, angry year in North Carolina politics. Charlotte's mayor left for D.C. and a new mayor was elected; local GOP lawmakers led a now-stalled charge to turn Charlotte's airport over to the state; county manager Harry Jones was finally given the boot; 500,000 people were left without health insurance when Raleigh refused to expand Medicaid; spending cuts for education left North Carolina ranked 46th in the nation; and on and on and on. Take the following quiz to see how well you remember the past 12 months.
1. Which of the following statements by Gov. Pat McCrory turned out to be lies?
A. Two young McCrory campaign staffers who were given $20,000 raises and cushy posts in the Department of Health and Human Services were the most qualified applicants for those positions.
B. "I've been to the Moral Monday protests and talked to the protesters."
C. During his campaign, McCrory stated definitively that he would not sign any bills which would add new restrictions to abortion.
D. "Dr. Aldona Wos will do a great job re-organizing DHHS."
E. McCrory received $82K in campaign donations from the video sweepstakes, i.e., gambling industry, which was funneled through his former employer, Charlotte lobbying firm Moore & Van Allen. McCrory claimed he had never met with anyone from the sweepstakes industry.
F. North Carolina could not risk expanding Medicaid as part of the Affordable Care Act because the state's Medicaid program was "broken."
G. All of the above.
2. Which of the following bills were introduced by GOP lawmakers of the General Assembly?
A. A bill that says North Carolina, its counties and cities have the right to establish an official religion.
B. A bill that would force married couples that want a divorce to stay together for another two years.
C. A bill allowing charter schools to hire non-certified teachers and to not bother running criminal background checks on employees.
D. Bills allowing concealed firearms in local restaurants, bars, parks and playgrounds.
E. A bill that would exempt firearms or ammo manufactured in North Carolina from federal laws, and would force the state's attorney general to "defend a citizen of N.C. who is prosecuted" by the feds for violating federal gun laws.
F. A bill imposing a tax penalty on parents whose children register to vote at their college address.
G. All of the above.
3. Which of the bills in Question 2 were passed and signed into law?
4. City Councilman Patrick Cannon was elected mayor, brushing aside conflict-of-interest questions stemming from his parking lot company's reliance on business contracts with city agencies, and doubts about his political savvy. Cannon did nothing to quash those concerns when he asked which religious leader to give the closing prayer at his inauguration?
A. Rev. Billy Graham
B. Pope Francis
C. Rev. Rob of Apple Auto Sales commercials
D. Pastor Steven Furtick of Elevation Church, the subject of recent news reports on his new 16,000-square-foot house and Elevation's $500K per week donations haul.
E. None of the above
5. When the County Commission voted to fire county manager Harry Jones, which of the following facts most angered Democratic commissioners Dunlap, Clarke and Ratliffe?
A. The Department of Social Services has been in a seemingly perpetual state of crisis and/or financial scandal during Jones' tenure as county manager.
B. A massive and costly property revaluation was poorly managed and riddled with errors, after which Jones opposed a review of the revaluation.
C. New commission chairwoman Pat Cotham did not allow Jones to speak at the commission meeting in which he was canned.
D. County government during Jones' tenure was repeatedly plagued by revelations of behind-the-scenes financial finagling, nepotism, stonewalling of information, and attempts by Jones to have critics fired.
E. Jones took a $38,000 bonus after cutting county jobs and denying raises for everyone else who works there.
6. John Skvarla, the new head of the state Department of Energy and Natural Resources, is most well known for what?
A. Having no previous environmental science experience.
B. Saying climate change is still in dispute among respected scientists, and that oil may be a renewable resource.
C. Making North Carolina the first state in the EPA's Southeast region to refuse a federal environmental grant when he turned down a $600,000 EPA grant (which North Carolina had applied for) to monitor water quality at potential fracking sites in the state.
D. All of the above.
Answers
1. G; 2. G; 3. C and D. (new law allows charter schools decreases the percentage of certified teachers required from 75 to 50 percent); 4. D.; 5. C; 6. D
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