Bathroom bill may cost North Carolina $3.7 billion

A year after North Carolina enacted a law regulating transgender people’s use of public restrooms, sparking boycotts and costing the state jobs and sports events alike, a new analysis says the legislation’s economic fallout is greater than estimated.

The so-called “bathroom bill” could cost the state at least US$3.7 billion by 2028, according to an Associated Press assessment that tallied the losses — confirmed and projected — from events, meetings and business expansions that were scrapped due to the law.

North Carolina has grappled with protests, lost tourism dollars and high-profile rebukes from sports leagues since it enacted the measure requiring people to use public restrooms that match the sex on their birth certificates instead of their gender identities in March 2016.

The NBA pulled its AllStar Game from North Carolina, the NCAA withdrew a number of sporting events, and Bruce Springsteen, Pearl Jam, Ringo Starr and Cirque du Soleil performances were all scrapped.

Most of the losses the AP tallied came from a tech company calling off big plans for the state just days after then-governor Pat McCrory, a Republican, signed the law.

PayPal had said it planned to open a global operations centre in Charlotte, which McCrory’s office said would pump millions into the area and employ 400 people.

Deutsche Bank, the German financial giant, called off its own expansion that it said would have added 250 new jobs.