There are the numbers associated with the biennial budget proposal from the N.C. Senate, of course, but, as with most budgets, the numbers are sometimes associated with policy initiatives wrapped into the spending plan. This budget cycle is no exception. With ‘Health and Human Services’ being one of the single largest budget outlays, health care...
N.C. Gov. Roy Cooper was in Charlotte Monday to welcome the Centene Corporation, a provider of managed care services for Medicaid, public, and private health plans. It claims to be the largest provider of Medicaid services in the nation. The company announced last year that it selected Charlotte for its East Coast regional headquarters after...
In a press conference Monday afternoon, Republican state senators presented a state budget proposal they say is grounded in North Carolina’s strong fiscal position after a decade of prudent budgeting. The Senate proposes returning a portion of surplus revenues to taxpayers and advancing needed capital infrastructure projects in their version of the two-year budget. Senate...
The week of the Big Rock Blue Marlin Tournament is always a busy one on the Crystal Coast of North Carolina. This year the 63rd annual running of the world-famous deep-sea fishing tournament with a deep local history is bigger and busier than ever. A record number of boats (270) and anglers are competing for...
North Carolina has over-collected more than $6 billion in state taxes when compared to May of 2020 economic forecasts. This according to data just presented to members of the Joint Full Chairs Appropriations Finance Committee by the nonpartisan Fiscal Research Division at the General Assembly and the Office of State Budget and Management, obtained by...
The judge in the ongoing Leandro school funding case has signed an order that attempts to compel the General Assembly to fund the components of the Comprehensive Remedial Plan agreed to by both the defendants and plaintiffs in the case last year. The move by Superior Court Judge David Lee appears to be a reversal...
A bill to provide more transparency to the public regarding performance and disciplinary records of government employees moved one step closer to becoming law Monday evening as House Bill 64, Government Transparency Act of 2021, passed its third reading in the N.C. Senate. If enacted as law, the new requirements would apply to state employees...
Are offshore wind farms a job creating investment that makes North Carolina’s energy portfolio more environmentally friendly? That is debatable, but, more important, who gets to make the call one way or another? Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson doesn’t think it should be the left up to one partisan politician, and so, when Gov. Roy Cooper...
A unanimous N.C. Supreme Court has ruled that public school students can sue their school board for ignoring harassment from other students that blocks their access to a sound basic education. Chief Justice Paul Newby wrote the 16-page opinion. It allows a family with three students to proceed with a lawsuit against the Pitt County...
Jaden Ng, 13, and her family sat in the gallery on Thursday morning to watch the N.C. Senate vote to ban abortions sought based on the likelihood of Down syndrome, the condition Jaden has had her entire life. As a Down syndrome teen, she and her family worked the halls of the N.C. General Assembly...
Former U.S. Rep. Mark Walker on Wednesday pointed to former 11th District congressman and former President Trump’s chief of staff Mark Meadows for the surprise endorsement of Rep. Ted Budd of North Carolina for U.S. Senate. Walker says the endorsement “hijacked” the Republican State Convention. Walker and former Gov. Pat McCrory were seated near the...
