North Carolina just lost out on another 730 jobs because of its anti-LGBT law
This week, North Carolina found out it is not getting 730 new jobs and a quarter-billion-dollar impact that it was the top contender for. The reason? Its anti-LGBT law, HB2, which bans trans people from using the bathroom and bars municipalities from protecting LGBT people from discrimination.
CoStar Group Inc., a real estate analytics company, had been shopping around cities to build a new research operations headquarters, and the contenders were Charlotte, Richmond, Atlanta, and Kansas City. The Atlanta Business Chronicle heard from sources that Charlotte was the favorite. But the jobs are going to Richmond.
According to David Dorsch, CoStar Group’s commercial real estate broker, “The primary reason they chose Richmond over Charlotte was HB2.” CoStar Group was itself, a bit mum, simply confirming the jobs were going to Richmond — and no expansions were planned anywhere else. But Dorsch was adamant that the jobs were another casualty of the discriminatory law. “The best thing we can do as citizens in North Carolina is to show up on Nov. 8 and think about which party is costing us jobs and which one is not.”
Co-Star’s expansion is the latest — and one of the biggest — losses the state has faced over HB2. In April, PayPal backed out of a 400-job expansion in Charlotte and Deutsche Bank froze a 250-job expansion in Cary — both companies openly stating they refused to expand in a state with such a discriminatory law.
North Carolina has also lost several prominent sporting events, such as the NBA All-Star Game, various NCAA championships, and the ACC championships, each a significant economic impact the state will no longer enjoy.
Additionally, there are countless conventions, entertainers, and film companies that have backed out of economic commitments in North Carolina. Numerous states have even banned state-funded travel to the state. Plus, the state has to spend money to defend the law in court; the legislature even redirected $500,000 from emergency relief funds to cover the legal costs. That was before Hurricane Matthew devastated the state with massive flooding, and Gov. Pat McCrory (R) insists that even though he didn’t veto that measure, he hasn’t actually spent that money (yet).
But McCrory’s administration denies there’s been any backlash whatsoever. His Commerce Secretary, John Skvarla, insisted this week that HB2 “hasn’t moved the needle one iota.” Indeed, he claimed that the state is financially and operationally in the “best position” it’s ever been.
As the Charlotte Observer pointed out, this doesn’t jibe with the losses that local business leaders have reported because of decreased tourism and development. Johnny Harris, a real estate developer in Charlotte, believes that “ for every one company that decides to relocate to North Carolina that another 10 probably are not, deterred by HB2.”
They’re not in total denial, though. Skvarla also admitted that the state made PayPal give back a ceremonial wooden bowl that McCrory had given to the company as a gift celebrating the original plan to expand in North Carolina. As the Observer described it, “state officials did what any jilted ex might: Asked for their stuff back.”
It could be that because the boycotts were either new expansions that don’t appear as losses or recurring events that haven’t happened again yet, they don’t show up in Skvarla’s numbers. But the numbers do show up.
In September, Facing South estimated that, based only on the backlash that was evident so far at the time, the law’s cost would be well over $200 million. Wired similarly crunched the numbers in September and found losses approaching $400 million. And back in May, the Williams Institute made a similar estimate, but also counted the $4.8 billion in federal funding North Carolina receives that it would no longer be eligible for because of its enforcement of HB2 in schools and universities — a grand total of $5 billion in potential losses, per year.
McCrory, who is fighting for re-election in two weeks and is down six points, continues to defend HB2 and deny that it’s a problem. His opponent, Attorney General Roy Cooper (D), refuses to defend the law in court and staunchly opposes it. In a recent debate, Cooper called out McCrory’s version of reality: “Gov. McCrory continues to go across the state and tell people it is not hurting our economy. He attacks businesses who are opposed to it and says everything is going fine. Governor, what planet are you on?”
***
This has been reposted from Think Progress.
