Republican leadership in the General Assembly has introduced legislation to increase penalties for rioting across North Carolina. House Bill 805 would establish a new level of felony penalties for rioters who cause property damage or serious bodily injury or death to others, including physical violence to first responders. The bill allows business owners who sustain...
Legislation introduced in this session of the General Assembly seeks to reduce restrictions created by certificate of need laws, which critics say reduce access to health care and increase costs. Bills in the General Assembly have been filed with the intention of doing everything from making minor changes to complete repeal. Certificate of need laws...
Republican state legislators have the full backing of their voting base on three key issues now being debating at the North Carolina General Assembly. This is according to new survey results of likely 2022 GOP primary voters obtained exclusively by Carolina Journal. Large majorities of North Carolina Republican voters continue to back GOP efforts in...
This week Apple Inc. announced North Carolina will be the new home to a billion-dollar campus working in machine learning, artificial intelligence, and software engineering. The move will create 3,000 jobs that pay an average of $187,000 annually. It is a high-impact announcement for the area around the state capital, Raleigh/Durham and Cary, but the...
Legislation to expand school choice in North Carolina is on the move in both chambers of the General Assembly, after both the N.C. Senate Education Committee and Rules Committee OK’ed a measure to increase the dollar value of Opportunity Scholarships and open them to more families. Senate Bill 671 passed out of committee with little debate,...
Former N.C. Supreme Court Chief Justice Cheri Beasley has formally announced she’s running for U.S. Senate on the Democratic side in hopes of replacing three-term Republican incumbent Richard Burr, who is retiring. The announcement was not unexpected, as Carolina Journal reported Beasley’s plans in February. In a video announcement, Beasley, the first African-American female to...
After two years of stalemate with the General Assembly, Gov. Roy Cooper used his “State of the State” address to pressure lawmakers to embrace his priorities — expanding Medicaid and dramatically increasing state spending. Cooper, a Democrat, touted his administration’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic and took credit for keeping hospitals from being overwhelmed. Moving...
Editor’s note: This story was updated 10 a.m. Tuesday, April 27, to correct an error. A Wake County Democrat spoke out against expanding Opportunity Scholarships and pointed to one private school as a reason. “State dollars should go to public schools,” said Rep. Abe Jones, D-Wake. “Private schools will get their money, believe me. They’ll...
Editor’s note: This story has been updated from its original posting to reflect that the information provided is based on data research and the writer’s analysis. North Carolina has grown large enough over the last decade to earn a 14th congressional seat, the U.S. Census Bureau announced today in a news release. That seat will...
Editor’s note: This story was updated at 3:45 p.m. Monday, April 26, to correctly report money raised by the N.C. Education Lottery. A recently introduced Senate bill would authorize and regulate sports betting in North Carolina beyond the tribal casinos with the revenue primarily going to schools and economic development. Senate Bill 688, from Sens....
Gov. Roy Cooper is leading a nationwide effort in cooperation with Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer to encourage business leaders to publicly oppose states that pass election-reform laws. “We are asking the business leaders in our states, and throughout the country, to add their voices to the growing chorus of corporations standing on the right side...
