CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The stock market is up and unemployment is down, but North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper said the state still is not doing enough for middle-class families.
During his Charlotte visit Friday, Cooper spoke with Channel 9 about his focus for 2018.
Cooper said 2017 was “frustrating” when the Republican-led General Assembly stripped the governor's office of power as he was taking office.
"I think that mix in the Legislature's going to change after the elections this year," Cooper said.
Cooper said he's not dwelling on that, however, and noted the state has added 21,000 jobs on his watch so far, the most in more than a decade.
A lot of eyes are on Amazon and where it will put its second headquarters.
Charlotte is among the 238 cities that submitted bids.
Cooper said it doesn't matter which company is eyeing North Carolina.
For him, the same rules apply: CEOs want two things.
"They're asking about education, where their kids are going to go to school when they move to North Carolina and 'Are you going to have the highly trained workers for me?'" Cooper said.
Cooper criticized Republican leaders for focusing on tax cuts for the wealthy and for corporations.
"We already got the lowest corporate tax in the southeast,” Cooper said.
Cooper is pushing breaks for the middle-class and more money for schools instead.
"One of the reasons you're seeing the financial companies and technology companies expand in Charlotte is the great [colleges], Central Piedmont Community College, UNC Charlotte. They're a pipeline of talent for these companies,” Cooper said.
Cooper also talked about renewable energy jobs.
North Carolina is No. 2 in the country for solar energy.
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