RALEIGH — A recent NC Business Journal article featured criticisms from the three Democrats challenging North Carolina’s State Treasurer Dale Folwell.
Those seeking to be the Democratic candidate include Duke professor Ronnie Chatterji, Charlotte City Councilwoman Dimple Ajmera and Matt Leatherman, an adviser to former state treasurer Janet Cowell.
“Several members of our [party] leadership recruited me to run to flip that seat,” Ajmera told NC Business Journal, yet she would not name names.
Ajmera also stated that “We have seen how the current treasurer has gambled with over a half million lives just to win political points.”
Chatterjee said, “Doing things in a confrontational way doesn’t seem to have yielded benefits,” and that he would use a more “collaborative approach.”
Leatherman claimed that Folwell “is prone to mistakes” and that the treasurer’s “failure to convince N.C. hospitals to change their pricing has wound up raising costs for the state and its workforce.”
That claim has been made by others and the state’s largest employee association seems to disagree. On Jan. 17, the State Employees Association of North Carolina (SEANC) endorsed Folwell for reelection, specifically applauding Folwell’s Clear Pricing Plan.
“He put his career on the line for us in last year’s fight over the Clear Pricing Project, which would bring transparency and cost savings to the State Health Plan,” said the SEANC press release. “The big health care machine showed its true colors by enacting a boycott rather than sign on to the much-needed reforms. Folwell was able to get more than 25,000 providers in the state to sign on to the plan, which ties reimbursement rates to Medicare rates.”
With early voting starting next week on Feb. 13, NSJ reached out to Folwell to give him a chance to respond to the NC Business Journal article, as it did not appear the publications sought comment or reaction from him.
“As keeper of the public purse, I focus my time on saving and making money for those that teach, protect and serve and for the taxpayers like them,” said Treasurer Dale Folwell.
“We didn’t create North Carolina’s nearly 50 billion in unfunded pension/healthcare liabilities, rising hospital/drug cost but we have the responsibility to fix them by attacking problems, not people,” Folwell said.
