With the end of the state’s fiscal year just three weeks away, the N.C. House and Senate have reached a deal for the next budget. After weeks of closed negotiations, N.C. Senate and House leaders have agreed to a top-line spending number of $25.7 billion in the first year and $26.7 in the second year....
As families across North Carolina headed to the beach, festivals, and family celebrations for Memorial Day, Rep. Virginia Foxx, R- N.C, is on the move. On Sunday, the nine-term congresswoman who calls Banner Elk in Watauga County home is traveling an hour and 15 minutes via mountainous and windy N.C. Highway 105 and 221 to...
The state House has voted to make North Carolina the 26th state to withdraw from the Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation program, which provides an extra $300-a-week in jobless benefits to the unemployed because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Senate Bill 116 passed in a largely party-line 71-36 vote on Wednesday, June 3. In addition to ending...
North Carolina relies on a single pipeline for its natural gas, making it uniquely vulnerable to disruptions, shortages, and even more nefarious problems. “North Carolina’s future, not to mention lights, heat, and air conditioning in millions of homes, is at risk because of the state’s full reliance on a single natural gas pipeline,” Sen. Norm...
Unemployed people who get a job would receive a one-time bonus of $1,500 under legislation spearheaded by Republicans in the N.C. General Assembly. “We’ve got to get our folks back to work,” said Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson, a Republican, at a press conference on Tuesday, June 1. “We believe that the way to get folks...
Carolina Journal has been following the movement to reform High School Athletics in North Carolina for more than two months. NCHSAA leaders have defended the organization and called the accusations surrounding the organization “disheartening and infuriating.” CJ wrote in-depth about how we got here, and it was not just because the NCHSAA has amassed an...
In Spring Lake, N.C., flags dot a hillside in stoic formation. Red, white, and blue flutters in the breeze over gravestones, reminding all who pass of true sacrifice. This weekend at the Sandhills State Veterans Cemetery, Wreaths Across America has left its mark, honoring fallen soldiers with flags on their graves. Some of the headstones...
The state auditor said in an examination released Wednesday, May 26, that the N.C. Department of Transportation’s sloppy record keeping led to inaccurate reports on advance construction. That type of construction allows for road projects to be financed with federal highway money administered by the Federal Highway Administration in advance of receiving them. But Auditor...
With one month to go before the end of the fiscal year, at the General Assembly lawmakers are hammering out how to budget more than $25 billion in the next state spending plan. Republican leaders in the House and Senate have already agreed to spend significantly less than budget priorities submitted by Gov. Roy Cooper...
A bill that would open disciplinary records of government employees is crawling through the Senate, and employee unions and Democrats are determined to kill it. Lawmakers filed Senate Bill 355, the Government Transparency Act of 2021, in late March, and it has been mired in committee since. Republic Sens. Norm Sanderson of Craven County, Bill...
A bill sponsored by Democrats in the N.C. House would pump billions of additional dollars into public education over the next few years toward meeting the requirements of a new remedial agreement in the ongoing Leandro lawsuit. House Bill 946 was assigned to the House Rules Committee, an indication that Republican leadership has no intention...
