The 2019 legislative session won’t end until 2020. The N.C. House and Senate are adjourning Thursday, Oct. 31, and will return Nov. 13 to consider redistricting matters and possibly tie up a few loose ends, per a joint resolution. After that, they’ll return Jan. 14 to attend to the rest of the session’s unfinished business. ...
Rep. Jeffrey Elmore, R-Wilkes, said one of his teaching colleagues inadvertently took a pay cut. Elmore is the House Education K-12 Committee co-chairman and the only public school teacher in the General Assembly. He said Thursday, Oct. 31, his friend increased the contributions to her retirement account, anticipating pay increases the General Assembly had passed...
U.S. Rep. Mark Walker, R-6th District, has the NCAA’s attention when it comes to fair pay for student athletes. But he wants action from the collegiate sports giant — and from Congress. The NCAA’s board of governors voted Tuesday, Oct. 29, to allow college athletes to use their name, image, or likeness for profit. It’s a...
Measured properly, average compensation per hour rose 81 percent from 1973 to 2017, after adjusting for inflation, while productivity rose by 83 percent — not a significant difference.
Each week, staff at Carolina Journal looks back at the week in N.C. politics and chooses what we think are some interesting, relevant stories you may have missed. Here’s a week in review: Donor perks: WRAL reports the Office of State Budget and Management contracted with McKinsey and Co., a consulting firm from Washington, D.C.,...
Senate Republicans introduced Wednesday, Oct. 23, a pair of mini-budget bills that would raise pay for K-12 educators and university employees. The move continues the GOP’s strategy of introducing mini-budgets to get around Gov. Roy Cooper’s budget veto. Senate leader Phil Berger, R-Rockingham, said the Senate will pass these piecemeal spending plans until Oct. 31,...
The University of North Carolina System and Vidant Health — the eight-hospital system that holds a close relationship with East Carolina University’s Brody School of Medicine — have settled a months-long turf war. UNC sued Vidant on May 20 after the nonprofit corporation decided to block the UNC Board of Governors from appointing members to...
Lawmakers spent Tuesday, Oct. 8, advancing four mini-budget plans as the budget veto stalemate drags on into another month. Gov. Roy Cooper vetoed the $24 billion budget June 28. The N.C. House overrode the veto, but the Senate has yet to try. In lieu of a full budget, Republican lawmakers have pushed forward mini-budgets to...
A common political shorthand is to pit “neighborhood interests” against “developers.” But while past versions tended to associate the former with the Left and the latter with the Right, that formulation doesn’t capture the current mood.
The University of North Carolina System’s controversial chairman has resigned from that post. Harry Smith’s decision shakes up the university’s Board of Governors as that board deals with other leadership issues. That includes the search for a new system president and for a new chancellor at the flagship campus in Chapel Hill. Rick Henderson, Carolina...
Mitch Kokai, John Locke Foundation senior political analyst, assesses a California law that would allow a college athlete to benefit financially from use of his name, image, or likeness. Kokai offered these comments during the Oct. 4, 2019, edition of UNC-TV’s “Front Row with Marc Rotterman.”
