Dr. Donald van der Vaart, John Locke Foundation senior fellow, discusses concerns about public investments limited by environmental, social, and governance criteria. Van der Vaart offered these comments during an interview with Donna Martinez for Carolina Journal Radio.
North Carolina’s individual and corporate income tax rates dropped again on Jan. 1. The personal income tax rate now stands at 5.25 percent, down more than 30 percent from the top marginal rate of 7.75 percent that it was in effect in 2013. North Carolina’s 2.5 percent corporate tax rate is the lowest rate of...
An ethics complaint cloud hanging over House Speaker Tim Moore for nearly a year has been lifted. Kim Strach, executive director of the now defunct Bipartisan State Board of Elections and Ethics Enforcement, filed notice of the dismissal Dec. 28. Moore, a Cleveland County Republican, discussed the action with reporters Wednesday, Jan. 9, after being elected...
If Gov. Roy Cooper felt so strongly he had legal authority to create the unusual $57.8 million Atlantic Coast Pipeline mitigation fund, then why didn’t he sue to prevent the General Assembly from commandeering the money? “That’s a good question. I don’t know,” said Pat Ryan, spokesman for Senate leader Phil Berger, R-Rockingham. “Maybe [the...
If activists can’t find the votes to jack up green taxes enough to matter in places such as Washington and France, you can be sure they will fall short in North Carolina.
As expected, Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper vetoed the General Assembly’s most recent attempt to restructure the state’s elections and ethics enforcement agencies. He also vetoed a “technical corrections” measure, rejecting two provisions in the catch-all legislation. The vetoes extend Cooper’s record. He has vetoed 28 bills since taking office in January 2017. The General Assembly...
Quoting a Dr. Seuss character, a panel of 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals judges vacated a vital U.S. Forest Service permit developers of the Atlantic Coast Pipeline need to continue work on the 604-mile natural gas transmission line from West Virginia to North Carolina. The matter was returned to the Forest Service for further...
A team of former federal special agents with a rich background investigating public corruption and fraud will dig through documents and interview members of Gov. Roy Cooper’s administration to determine whether his $57.8 million Atlantic Coast Pipeline discretionary fund was a political pay-to-play scheme. “This matter is not a criminal matter so far as we...
Who is Doug Heyl? Members of a special legislative committee looking into the Atlantic Coast Pipeline would like to know. Heyl is a top communications official in the state Department of Environmental Quality. But what role did Heyl play in the pipeline permitting process? Sen. Paul Newton, R-Cabarrus, flashed a PowerPoint presentation during a meeting...
A recent Civitas poll suggests North Carolina will continue to play a role as an election battleground state in 2020. Rick Henderson, Carolina Journal editor-in-chief, dissects the poll’s key findings. Henderson assesses the implications for Tar Heel politics during the next two years. Partisans on both the left and right tend to agree that our...
A state legislative committee plans to hire an outside investigator to look into a controversial $57.8 million fund tied to the Atlantic Coast Pipeline. Rick Henderson, Carolina Journal editor-in-chief analyzes the decision to seek outside investigative help. Henderson explains why the fund has raised concerns about North Carolina’s environmental permitting process. Some people want to...
