Hendersonville Times-News:
As the General Assembly’s short session wound down last month, both Sen. Tom Apodaca and Rep. Chuck McGrady expressed confidence they could resolve differences between the House and Senate and pass a bill to clean up coal ash ponds.
“I fully expect that a coal ash bill will pass this short session,” McGrady told the Times-News on July 29. “The conferees are meeting today and we could have a conference report by tonight … Sen. Apodaca and I have gone through the entire bill together and we’re largely on the same page.”
What a difference two days can make.
During the conferee’s meeting July 31, negotiations disintegrated, with the county’s delegation splitting over new language proposed by the House. In a joint press release issued the next day, Apodaca and Senate Leader Phil Berger blamed three unyielding House members — McGrady among them — for the breakdown.
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