UNC FactCheck: DCCC claims about Bishop are mixed

Story by Ari Sen

A press release from the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee on May 15 makes several claims about N.C. Sen. Dan Bishop, the Republican candidate for the 9th Congressional District race. We’re here to break down what’s fact and what’s not.

“$3.76 billion dollars lost from North Carolina’s economy. That has been the impact of Senator Bishop’s political career, and it underscores the choice families living in North Carolina’s Ninth Congressional District face this September.”

Bishop

This refers to Bishop’s sponsorship of the Public Facilities Privacy and Security Act, more commonly known as HB2 or the “Bathroom Bill,” passed in March 2016. The law prevented municipalities from passing anti-discrimination ordinances against transgender persons and compelled schools and public facilities with single-gender bathrooms and locker rooms to allow only people of corresponding birth-sex to use them.

It was widely criticized as discriminatory and led to economic boycotts by several companies and travel bans from California, Connecticut, Minnesota, New York, Vermont, Washington and the District of Columbia. Several large cities and counties also issued travel bans. The law also prevented municipalities from implementing their own minimum wage, placing the control in state government hands.

The DCCC statement is false or misleading in several ways. The $3.76 billion comes from an Associated Press analysis of projected, not actual, losses over a 12-year period. Since HB2 was repealed by HB 142 on March 30, 2017, a little more than a year after it was passed, the 12-year AP analysis could be invalid. The exact figure lost by HB2 is unknown, but a rough analysis conducted by WRAL suggests the figure may be closer to $505 million, or less than one-tenth of a 1 percent of North Carolina more than $518 billion GDP.

The statement also seems to imply that Bishop is solely responsible for the economic losses from HB2, when in fact, he was one of 36 total sponsors of the bill.

“According to the Charlotte Chamber of Commerce, approximately 2,000 new jobs headed for Charlotte did not come to the area because of their concerns with Senator Bishop’s job killing HB2.”

This is accurate. Charlotte Chamber of Congress Research Director Chuck McShane told the Associated Press in an email that the city lost 2,000 jobs from HB2. Public records obtained by AP show the majority of these were from the CoStar, a real estate research firm which planned to offer 732 jobs and PayPal, which planned to bring 400 jobs to the area. 

“Not only did Senator Bishop endorse Mark Harris and donate to Harris’s campaign, but Bishop refused to put the dignity of his state above partisanship and attacked the investigative body that had uncovered Harris’s fraud.”

Bishop did endorse Harris in the original race and Federal Election Commission filings show a $1,000 donation from a James Daniel Bishop of Charlotte to the Harris campaign. For context, Bishop’s contribution ties for 65th highest, with the largest contribution coming in at $125,275 and the smallest reported contribution being $2.

The claim that Bishop “refused to put the dignity of his state above partisanship” and“attacked the investigative body that had uncovered Harris’s fraud” refers to statements Bishop made in a December 2018 news conference, where he expressed doubt in the State Board of Elections’ ability to investigate Harris in a non-partisan manner.

The board consists of four Republicans, four Democrats and an unaffiliated member. In the same conference, Bishop called for the creation of an independent task force to investigate the allegations against Harris, as well as alleged Democratic absentee ballot tampering.

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