NC’s new governor: An inaugural Capitol speech on a snowy weekend
Welcome to the governor edition of our Under the Dome politics newsletter. I’m Dawn Vaughan, The News & Observer’s Capitol bureau chief.
This week I’ve got some behind-the-scenes details about the governor’s inaugural address, plus an update on his former opponent’s family nonprofit.
The snow and ice that came through Friday night meant that new North Carolina Democratic Gov. Josh Stein didn’t have the inauguration weekend that he expected.
No ceremony on the Capitol grounds with thousands of people watching — 6,000 people had requested tickets. No block party. No Inaugural Ball. No open house at the Executive Mansion.
But the ball is just postponed, and Stein said that there could be more celebration to come.
Stein’s staff had to make the call a few days prior amid the winter weather forecast.
What he did do on Saturday was give his inaugural address before a small crowd inside the Capitol, in the House chamber. Just before 2 p.m., he and his wife, Anna Stein, and their grown children Leah, Sam and Adam walked quietly out of the Senate chamber across the rotunda into the House. The event was essentially a live viewing of him giving a speech that was livestreamed by PBS North Carolina.
He began his speech mentioning the change in plans: “I regret that we are unable to be together in person. So many people were excited to share their talents — whether in music, arts, and food. I am disappointed that we won’t be able to celebrate so much of what makes North Carolina wonderful. But of course, your safety comes first.”
“When the weather is better, I sincerely hope that we get the chance to celebrate our great state together,” Stein said.
The speech wasn’t open to the public, just to Stein’s invited family members, friends and staff. The press was there, too, myself included. The Capitol building, if you didn’t know, is a state historic site and a very cool one. The 1840 building is open for tours on weekdays and Saturdays.
Here are two photos I shot on Saturday, one of the Capitol building itself, and the other inside the Capitol dome — Under the Dome, like our N&O political branding that began in 1937, when the building was busier. Legislative Services Officer Paul Coble oversaw the recent refurbishing of the dome and Capitol roof, which cost about $10 million.
The General Assembly meets at the Legislative Building a block away, and no lawmakers attended the speech, nor did Stein’s predecessor, former Gov. Roy Cooper. Stein’s new secretary of the Department of Environmental Quality, Reid Wilson, was there — he has been a friend of Stein’s for more than 20 years. Wilson served as secretary of the N.C. Department of Natural and Cultural Resources under Cooper. The only elected official I saw, aside from Stein of course, isn’t actually an elected official anymore: Matt Calabria, who until earlier this month was chair of the Wake County Board of Commissioners. Calabria resigned that office to take a job leading the Western North Carolina Helene recovery efforts in the Stein administration.
Stein’s inaugural address included mentions of several people who he thinks exemplify North Carolinians’ character, and he also talked a lot about how much he wants to work with, rather than fight with, Republicans.
Money owed by nonprofit owned by Mark Robinson’s wife, Yolanda Hill, reduced
Stein defeated former Republican Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson in the November election. When this newsletter focused on the governor’s race, I wrote extensively about the fate of Balanced Nutrition, the nonprofit owned by Robinson’s wife, Yolanda Hill, where he once worked. Over several months, Balanced Nutrition had failed to provide a series of documents. Hill and her attorneys repeatedly postponed meetings with regulators.
In 2024, DHHS found that the now-closed Balanced Nutrition owed the state $132,000 for several disallowances, meaning improper billing. The nonprofit had worked as an intermediary between child care centers and government food and nutrition programs.
Balanced Nutrition still owes six figures, according to documents I received this past week from the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services through an ongoing public records request. DHHS sent Hill and her attorneys a letter on Jan. 7 about her most recent meeting with the agency’s Child and Adult Care Food Program about compliance reviews and documentation of the disallowances that resulted in the original debt.
According to the letter, documents provided by Balanced Nutrition have been reviewed again, and now it owes the state $101,142 and has 30 days to pay once an invoice is received.
Hill and Robinson said during the campaign that the scrutiny of Balanced Nutrition was politically motivated.
Stay informed about #ncpol
Listen to our Under the Dome podcast to stay up to date. On our new episode posting Monday, I’m joined by Washington correspondent Danielle Battaglia as we talk about the new freshman Republicans in Congress and President-elect Donald Trump’s immigration plan.
You can sign up to receive the Under the Dome newsletter at newsobserver.com/newsletters. Want your friends to get our email, too? Forward them this newsletter so they can sign up. You can also email me questions you may have about Gov. Josh Stein at dvaughan@newsobserver.com.
This story was originally published January 12, 2025 at 5:00 AM with the headline "NC’s new governor: An inaugural Capitol speech on a snowy weekend."
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