Gov. McCrory’s HB2 Will Cost North Carolina $5 Billion a Year, New Study Finds

Lost Federal Funding Is Just the Beginning

Governor Pat McCrory‘s anti-LGBT law HB2 will end up costing taxpayers and businesses about $5 billion a year – every year – if it is not repealed. That figure comes from a new study by the Williams Institute, a UCLA School of Law think tank focused on sexual orientation and gender identity law and public policy.

“The repeal of HB2 would not only reverse the threat to over $5 billion in economic activity for the state, but would also begin to bring North Carolina some of the economic advantages that come when a state embraces diversity and its LGBT citizens,” according to a co-author of the new report, Christy Mallory, Senior Counsel at the Williams Institute.

A summary of the study lists “ten actual or potential harmful economic impacts”:

Discrimination.  HB2 conflicts with federal laws, the laws of other states, and the policies of most large companies.  As a result, North Carolina risks losing:
          1. Loss of Federal Funding
          2. Loss of Business Investment
          3. Reduced Travel and Tourism
          4. Litigation and Enforcement Costs 

Development.  HB2 adds to a challenging environment that LGBT people already face in North Carolina.  By moving toward exclusion and away from inclusion, HB2 exacerbates:
          5. Bullying in School
          6. Workplace Discrimination
          7. Health Disparities 

Diversity.  HB2, by adding to an already challenging legal landscape and social climate for the over 168,900 LGBT workers in North Carolina, has the following harmful economic impacts:
          8. Productivity
          9. Retention
          10. Recruitment 

Loss of federal funding is put at $4.8 billion, “primarily from the loss of $4.7 billion in funding for public schools, colleges, and universities.”

Since announcing his lawsuit against the federal government, Gov.McCrory has falsely and repeatedly suggested only one company, Paypal, has pulled jobs out of the state.

The study reports that, actually, North Carolina has already suffered a loss of more than “$40 million in business investment that has been withdrawn from the state, resulting in a loss of over 1,250 jobs, and the risk of losing over $20 million more in business investment and 550 more jobs.”

“Over 60% of North Carolina voters already feel that HB2 has hurt the state’s image with the rest of the U.S., making it harder to attract the best and brightest,” the study notes.

“By moving toward exclusion and away from inclusion, HB2 contributes to the discriminatory environment that LGBT people face at school, in the workplace, in housing, and in public life— creating health and economic disparities for LGBT people in the state and taking a significant toll on LGBT youth in particular,” Mallory adds.

The Williams Institute says HB2 directly affects “North Carolina’s over 336,000 LGBT residents” including “37,800 transgender people in the state.”

 

EARLIER:

Watch: Pat McCrory Says He’s ‘Extremely Sensitive’ to Gender Identity

Turns Out, Pat McCrory Has Been Using His Office to Battle LGBT Civil Rights Since 1991

Watch: McCrory Admits Transgender Protections Have Never Been Used to Commit Crimes in Bathrooms

 

Image by Ervins Strauhmanis via Flickr and a CC license
Hat tip: Dominic Holden