Sweat and Tears as NCGA Nears End of 2011 Session
RALEIGH — A collection of grumpy lawmakers are ready to leave Raleigh and head back to their districts. That won't happen before Saturday, when the session currently is scheduled to end.
RALEIGH — A collection of grumpy lawmakers are ready to leave Raleigh and head back to their districts. That won't happen before Saturday, when the session currently is scheduled to end.
RALEIGH — A difference of about 2 percent over two years may seem small, but that did not stop Gov. Bev Perdue from uncapping her veto pen, temporarily striking down a state budget for the first time in North Carolina history.
RALEIGH — While earlier versions of Senate Bill 8 fostered weeks of tense debate in committee and on the chamber floors, the legislation hammered out by a conference committee sticks closer to school-choice advocates’ original objective — lifting the 100-school cap.
RALEIGH — The bill would cover investors’ outlays by giving them taxpayer-funded credits if returns from the startup companies weren’t as much as expected. Foes of the proposal say the credits would have taxpayers assume at least part of the venture capitalists’ risk.
RALEIGH — The study defines restrictions on personal freedom, or “paternalism,” as including regulations against gambling and alcohol, asset-forfeiture rules, gun control, and limits on school choice.
RALEIGH — Between 2004 and 2009, the state has taken on $3.3 billion in debt from COPs, and the state’s total debt service payments alone will total $685 million next year. House Bill 491 would end the use of COPs by the General Assembly.
RALEIGH — Legislators will face a hectic schedule this week due to a looming crossover deadline, the drop-dead point for non-fiscal bills to clear either the House or Senate before they can be considered during next year’s short session.
RALEIGH — Lee County superintendent Jeffrey Moss said that the writing assignment at Tramway Elementary was appropriate and only directed students to write their state representative, senator, and the governor “in support of public education.”
RALEIGH — Unofficial plans are for the legislature to adjourn by June 17 and reconvene for special sessions in July and September to resolve redistricting and to pass constitutional amendments.
RALEIGH — Charter school advocates began the legislative session in January with high hopes. Lifting the 100-school cap was an integral plank of the new Republican majority’s agenda, and a one-page bill doing that was among the first introduced in the Senate.
RALEIGH — The $19.6-billion proposal is halfway between the $19.3-billion budget approved by the House earlier this month and the $19.9-billion plan submiteed by Gov. Bev Perdue in February. It allows a temporary 1-cent sales tax increase to expire.
RALEIGH — Three Republicans — House Majority Leader Paul “Skip” Stam of Wake County, Rep. Leo Daughtry of Johnston County, and Rep. Johnathan Rhyne of Lincoln County — joined eight Democrats in voting against the legislation.