(The Center Square) – Long a volatile discussion topic, proposed legislation involving K-12 school calendars is back to the Judiciary Committee of the North Carolina Senate when it convenes this week.

School Calendar Flexibility: A New Alternative, known also as Senate Bill 754, puts two options before local school boards and adds compliance penalties for any of the 115 districts statewide that may break the law. The law no earlier than the Monday closest to Aug. 26 for starting and finishing no later than the Friday closest to June 11 will remain as one of the options.

The alternative is starting no earlier than the Monday closest to Aug. 19 and ending no later than the Friday before the last Monday in May, otherwise known as Memorial Day weekend.

North Carolina has about 1.5 million school children and 90,000 educators. Spending on education was the largest share of the last state budget at $17.9 billion for 2024-25, and $17.3 billion for 2023-24 of the $60.7 billion two-year plan.

School calendar dates for most of the state’s history have been linked to agriculture, the No. 1 industry. Agriculture and agribusiness remain the top economic impact at $111.1 billion annually, but its workforce and the logistics of planting and harvesting have evolved while tourism has grown to a $35 billion juggernaut.

The latter often involves not only students working summer jobs but 10-month educators.

“Finding compromises like this isn’t always easy, but this bill is the culmination of good-faith efforts from stakeholders and legislators,” Sen. Amy Galey, R-Alamance, said in a release. “With the evolution of the school choice landscape, as well as North Carolina becoming the fifth most popular state for travel and tourism, it’s time to update and adapt our school calendar law.”

Civil penalty for breaking the law would be up to $10,000 against the local school board. Enforcement will lie with the State Board of Education through notifications from the superintendent of the Department of Public Instruction.

“This balances the desire of some school districts to start the school year earlier while still supporting our local businesses dependent on summer tourism,” said Sen. Phil Berger, R-Rockingham, the president pro tempore of the chamber. “We must take the appropriate steps to hold school districts that break the law accountable.”

Galey, Berger and Sen. Michael Lee, R-New Hanover, are the primary sponsors of the bill.

The proposed law passed out of the Education/Higher Education Committee on Wednesday. It would become effective immediately and apply to the 2026-27 school year.

(The Center Square) – No one was injured in what authorities are investigating as arson early Sunday at Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro’s house in Harrisburg.

State Police said the 2 a.m. fire was arson. Shapiro and his family, home at the time, were in a different part of the house from the fire and evacuated safely.

The investigation is ongoing. Damage was significant.

A statement from the troopers said, “While the investigation is ongoing, the State Police is prepared to say at this time that this was an act of arson. While the fire was successfully extinguished, it caused a significant amount of damage to a portion of the residence.”

The governor’s residence is on North Front Street.

Shapiro, on social media, wrote, “Last night at about 2AM, my family and I woke up to bangs on the door from the Pennsylvania State Police after an arsonist set fire to the Governor’s Residence in Harrisburg. The Harrisburg Bureau of Fire was on the scene and while they worked to put out the fire, we were evacuated from the Residence safely by Pennsylvania State Police and assisted by Capitol Police. Thank God no one was injured and the fire was extinguished.”

(The Center Square) – Americans could soon pay higher prices for cars as a result of President Donald Trump’s new tariffs on passenger vehicles, pushing prices that were already out of reach for many even higher.

A new analysis from the Center for Automotive Research, a nonprofit, underscores the complexity of the automotive supply chain, noting that “the modern automotive supply chain is both global and complex, convoluting the seemingly simple question of the cost of 25% tariffs on the industry.”

“Automakers and their suppliers are often multinational companies with facilities spread out across the world, making it difficult to discern how much of a vehicle is domestically produced,” said Dr. K. Venkatesh Prasad, senior vice president of research and chief innovation officer at CAR.

One thing is clear: Price hikes are coming for every vehicle. 

“All vehicles – whether produced or sold in the U.S. – would be affected by the 25% tariffs, as no vehicles are built with 100% U.S. domestic content,” the report noted.

Even before Trump’s auto tariffs – which extends to passenger vehicles and auto parts – many cars were too expensive for many Americans. The average price of a new vehicle in the U.S. is above $48,000, according to Cox Automotive. Real median household income was $80,610 in 2023, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. 

However, more than 40% of new-vehicle sales by volume in 2024 were priced less than $40,000.

“These vehicles are particularly vulnerable to the new tariffs,” according to an analysis from Cox. “Our analysis suggests the 25% tariff on imported vehicles will apply to nearly 80% of vehicles priced under $30,000.”

The Center for Automotive Research estimated the average tariff cost per vehicle would be $4,239 based on the imported auto parts for U.S. produced vehicles. For imported vehicles, CAR estimated the average tariff cost per vehicle would be $8,722.

Altogether, the tariffs would increase costs for all U.S. automakers by $107.9 billion, according to CAR. 

“The Detroit Three automakers would bear greater overall cost increases from tariffs on imported parts – affecting domestic vehicle production – than from tariffs on their imported vehicles,” CAR noted.

CAR said its estimates were likely low. 

“CAR’s tariffs impact estimate is likely understated because of cross-border trade activity – common for parts but difficult to estimate on a case-by-case basis,” it noted.

Cox put it this way: “All roads lead to this fact: In the coming months and years, as new tariffs settle into place, vehicle prices in the U.S. are expected to increase.”

“Our expectation is that vehicles impacted by these tariffs could see prices increase 10-15%,” Cox noted. “In addition, given market dynamics, we also anticipate seeing at least a 5% increase in prices of vehicles not subjected to the full 25% tariff.”

Cox also said it expects production disruptions and production declines as a result of the tariffs.

“April and May may well be good months for vehicle sales, with consumers feeling an urgency to buy, even though loan rates remain close to 25-year highs and incentives are likely to shrink,” the report noted. “Production disruptions and declines could be a reality this summer, especially as automakers and suppliers work to align practices with the new rules.”

The Budget Lab at Yale came up with similar estimates. It estimated prices would climb by 13.5% on average, the equivalent of an additional $6,400 to the price of an average new 2024 car.