Carolina Journal News Reports
CJ Series

2013 General Assembly

For the first time since the 19th century, Republicans will control both the executive and legislative branches of state government. Carolina Journal will cover the doings of this initial legislative session under full GOP control here.

(5.22.13) (WED 5/22 NOT LEAD)Senate Budget Plan Excludes Funding For Eugenics Survivors
RALEIGH — Gov. Pat McCrory’s budget, released in March, proposes to spend $10 million to compensate victims of the involuntary sterilization program that the state operated for decades. The Senate's budget plan did not include that compensation.

(5.22.13) House K-12 Voucher Bill Attracts Impassioned Rhetoric But No Vote
RALEIGH — House Bill 944 has engendered bipartisan support from black and white lawmakers from rural and urban districts with markedly different political philosophies. It drew a large audience Tuesday in the House Education Committee, but will not be voted on for another week.

(5.21.13) Senate Budget Would Require EV/Hybrid Drivers To Pay More
RALEIGH — Drivers of some of the most fuel-efficient cars in North Carolina could be hit with extra license registration fees. The proposed Senate budget would add $100 annually for electric vehicle registration and $50 annually for hybrid vehicles.

(5.17.13) House Would Replace Graduated Income Tax With Flat Tax
RALEIGH — The House Republican tax modification plan would lower the sales tax rate slightly and broaden the sales tax to include repair, maintenance, cleaning, and installation services, and service contracts. Unlike a competing tax plan presented by Senate Republicans, it would not expand the sales tax base to cover all services.

(5.17.13) House Passes Tuition Reimbursement for Parents With Special-Needs Children
RALEIGH — House Bill 269 would provide reimbursement of $3,000 per semester or $6,000 a year for tuition and special education services. It would replace a tax credit for such services that was approved by the General Assembly in 2011. Sponsors said they introduced the measure because many low-income families did not earn enough to qualify for the tax credit.

(5.16.13) House Passes Campaign Spending Measure Expanding Disclosure
RALEIGH — A bill that supporters say would require more timely reporting by independent groups engaging in political campaigns in North Carolina passed the House by an overwhelming margin. The bill would require many electioneering expenditures by groups not affiliated with a candidate to report the spending, often within 48 hours.

(5.16.13) Senate ‘Protect Commerce’ Bill Would Silence Whistleblowers, Critics Say
RALEIGH — Lawmakers are considering a bill that critics say would stifle the actions of whistleblowers trying to uncover wrongdoing by North Carolina businesses. It also would require recordings taken or documentation removed in secret to be turned over to law enforcement agencies within 24 hours. Failure to do so would be a crime.

(5.15.13) Certificate of Need Study Bill Passes First House Vote
RALEIGH — House Bill 177 initially would have relaxed state certificate of need regulations to allow private surgeons and physicians to establish low-cost, single-specialty, ambulatory surgery centers. If the current bill passes the Senate, a legislative study committee would draft fresh legislation for next year’s short session.

(5.15.13) House Moving Elections Bills as Crossover Date Looms
RALEIGH — The House, by a 117-0 vote, gave its approval to a proposed amendment that would remove this sentence from the N.C. Constitution: “Every person presenting himself for registration shall be able to read and write any section of the Constitution in the English language.” The language somehow got into the 1971 state constitution even though the 1965 Voting Rights Act outlawed such restrictions.

(5.13.13) Bill Blocks Cities from Regulating Home Appearance
RALEIGH — The proposed law makes strange bedfellows, pitting Republican state lawmakers and liberal groups like the North Carolina Housing Coalition and Habitat for Humanity against liberal mayors who want to ensure that new development does not clash with the appearance of established neighborhoods.

(5.13.13) Election Measures Set For House Votes Today
RALEIGH — This evening’s House session is scheduled to consider a couple of election-related bills that, perhaps surprisingly, have not been subjected to partisan wrangling. Measures expanding ballot access to minor parties and restoring partisan labels to judicial races are not scheduled for floor votes in their current form.

(5.09.13) Physicians Remain Unhappy With Certificate of Need Reforms
RALEIGH — A bill intended to reduce medical-related lawsuits and expenses stemming from the state’s certificate of need process and to make it easier for private physician clinics to compete with hospitals is getting pushback from an organization representing doctors. The North Carolina Medical Society prefers the current law to House Bill 83.

(5.09.13) ‘B’ Corps Bill Would Let For-Profit Companies Pursue Charitable Purposes
RALEIGH — Supporters called it “a new concept” allowing North Carolina corporations to operate as for-profit entities with an environmental and public benefit mission. Critics said it was more insidious, and linked to a socialist agenda. After 25 minutes of debate Wednesday, the House Judiciary Subcommittee B approved House Bill 440.

(5.08.13) Senate Tax Plan Would Broaden Base, Cut Rates
RALEIGH — Senate leaders used a Tuesday press conference to announce their long-awaited tax proposal, a proposal that would lower personal and corporate income tax rates, along with the sales tax rate. It also would expand the sales tax base to cover services not currently taxed in the state.

(5.07.13) Proposed Charter School Board Faces Test in Senate
RALEIGH — Senate Bill 337 would establish an 11-member state Charter Schools Board to oversee the state’s growing number of charter schools and operate independently of the State Board of Education. Supporters of traditional public schools have raised objections to the proposal for a separate board.

(5.06.13) Treasurer Could Make Invest More in ‘Alternatives’ Under Senate Bill
RALEIGH — The bill would allow the treasurer’s office to invest up to 40 percent of the value of the state retirement system in “alternative” investment vehicles such as private equity and hedge funds. Currently, the treasurer can invest up to 36 percent in such portfolios.

(5.06.13) Taxpayers Will Get ‘Standing’ To Sue If Bill Becomes Law
RALEIGH — House Bill 457 sponsor Rep. Hugh Blackwell, R-Burke, said the bill would help taxpayers get cases to court so that they could be decided on the “merits of the argument as to the constitutionality or the appropriateness of the actual law or statute in question.”

(5.06.13) Berger Video Previews Senate Tax Package
RALEIGH — Sabra Faires, a former assistant revenue secretary and currently an attorney with the Raleigh law firm of Baily & Dixon, said tax reform is needed because the current tax structure does not provide sufficient and stable revenue, is not aligned with the state’s economy, does not treat similar taxpayers the same, and is viewed as being uncompetitive with other states.

(5.02.13) Addressing the Keys To Economic Recovery
With an early summer adjournment expected, lawmakers have only a few months to make good on campaign promises to get our economy moving, stimulate long term growth, and create jobs.

(5.02.13) Bill Gutting Renewable Mandate Survives in Senate Committee
RALEIGH — The Senate bill would cap state-mandated utility generation of renewable energy at 3 percent of total use, and eliminate the mandate and its subsidies after 2023. The House alternative would allow the mandate to rise to 12.5 percent and then end in 2021. The support of House Speaker Thom Tillis, R-Mecklenburg, is uncertain.

(4.30.13) Independent Brewer Wants Out of Wholesaler Controls
WHITSETT — Bill Sherrill chooses to hire people to distribute and deliver the beer he makes at Red Oak Brewery rather than use an outside distributor. But under current state law, he would lose that option if his production exceeds 25,000 barrels a year. Legislation would increase the cap on production, but wholesalers are fighting that proposal.

(4.26.13) Hager Vows Bill Capping Renewable Energy Mandate Remains Alive
RALEIGH — A handful of House Republicans dealt a stunning blow to state Rep. Mike Hager’s bill to phase out slowly North Carolina’s subsidies, tax credits, and purchase mandates propping up renewable energy companies. Six Republicans voted against the Affordable and Reliable Energy Act in Hager’s committee Wednesday, helping to sink it on a 13-18 vote.

(4.25.13) Voter Photo ID Measure Passes House
RALEIGH — Following nearly three years of debate, the state House Wednesday gave its approval to a bill requiring North Carolina voters to provide photo identification when they go to a polling place. The photo ID requirement would be in place for the 2016 primary and elections. And ID would not be required during the 2014 election cycle.

(4.22.13) N.C. Medical Society Offers Medicaid Reforms
RALEIGH — The society is lobbying the state to adopt a system under the supervision of Community Care of North Carolina that would allow physicians to keep the majority of money the state would save through health care delivery reforms, similar to the federally approved Medicare Shared Savings Program.

(4.12.13) Public Charter Schools Board Would Tackle School Governance
RALEIGH — The multi-faceted bill includes provisions addressing such thorny issues as funding formulas, allowable enrollment growth, and the relationship between local school districts and charters. It relaxes teacher licensure requirements and states that only nonprofit corporations can apply to operate charter schools.

(4.12.13) Berger’s Education Reform Package Moves Forward
RALEIGH — Senate leader Phil Berger's education reform proposal got the stamp of approval Wednesday from a key committee as his effort to end teacher tenure, strengthen teacher education and licensing standards, and provide more transparency on school performance gained momentum.

(4.11.13) House Bill Would Free Auto Insurers To Set Rates
RALEIGH — The bill that Rep. Jeff Collins, R-Nash, promoted during Tuesday’s meeting of the House Insurance Committee would allow auto insurance companies to set their own rates. Currently, rates are set by the N.C. Rate Bureau. Insurance companies could continue going through the rate bureau if they chose. But sponsors of the bill suggested that they wouldn’t.

(4.11.13) Lawmakers Hear Pros and Cons of Voter ID Proposal
RALEIGH — N.C. NAACP President William Barber hinted a voter ID law would "rob the poor of their rights." Indiana Elections Division attorney Jerry Bonnet said the Hoosier State's law gave residents more confidence in the integrity of elections.

(4.11.13) Dirty Politics on Dix Hill
If anyone has engaged in dirty dealing linked to the 300 acres of prime Raleigh real estate, it's the crowd that rushed a 75-year lease through state government as Beverly Perdue exited the governor's mansion.

(4.11.13) Dirty Politics on Dix Hill
If anyone has engaged in dirty dealing linked to the 300 acres of prime Raleigh real estate, it's the crowd that rushed a 75-year lease through state government as Beverly Perdue exited the governor's mansion.

(4.10.13) Stam To Unveil Expansive School Voucher Plan
RALEIGH — House Speaker Pro Tem Paul “Skip” Stam proposes to spend $90 million the next two years providing “equal opportunity scholarship grants” to low-income students for private education, an initiative he says will save the state money. New State Board of Education Chairman Bill Cobey backs the proposal.

(4.08.13) JLF: Current N.C. Auto Insurance System Hurts Safest Drivers
RALEIGH — North Carolina's auto insurance system imposes a special tax on all drivers that helps subsidize rates for high-risk drivers. That tax is part of a system designed to guarantee profits for insurers. Those are just two of the key facts highlighted in a new John Locke Foundation Spotlight report. It arrives as the General Assembly considers potential reforms.

(4.05.13) Voter ID Legislation Introduced in House
RALEIGH — While the current version has some resemblance to the one vetoed in the previous legislative session by former Gov. Bev Pedue, it also has a significant number of differences. It would expand the allowable forms of identification and allow those older than 70 to use the ID cards that were valid on their 70th birthdays.

(4.03.13) Sweeping Reforms in Hospital Regulations Set Aside For Now
RALEIGH — Some House Republicans believe that increasing competition by allowing more procedures to be done at ambulatory surgery centers would lower health care costs to individuals, and save state taxpayers tens of millions of dollars in both the State Health Plan for state employees and Medicaid payments.

(4.03.13) UPDATED: Bill Freezing Renewable Mandate Squeaks Through First Vote
RALEIGH — After two hours of discussion and comment earlier this afternoon, House Bill 298, a measure freezing the state’s renewable energy portfolio standard, squeaked through a House Commerce subcommittee 11-10. Republicans Tom Murray of Wake County and Ruth Samuelson of Mecklenburg County joining eight Democrats opposing the bill.

(4.03.13) Good Samaritan Bill Headed to Governor
RALEIGH — The state Senate Wednesday went along with changes that the House made to the bill, which would provide limited immunity from prosecution for people who call 911 or otherwise summon medical help for a person who has overdosed on drugs.

(4.02.13) Cut Your Electric Bill: Repeal the Mandate!
A bill moving through the General Assembly would block higher electricity costs that are being imposed on North Carolinians for no good reason.

(4.02.13) Bill Ending Election Matching Funds Program On To Senate
RALEIGH — Without dissent, the state House Thursday passed House Bill 297, which repeals all matching funds provisions in state judicial and Council of State public financing programs. After the 110-0 vote on the House floor, it was moved to the Senate, which assigned the bill Monday to that chamber’s Rules Committee.

(4.01.13) ‘Dream Team’ Immigrants Looking To GOP?
RALEIGH — The McCrory administration’s decision to offer temporary driver’s licenses to some young-adult illegal immigrants has led several of the more outspoken activists to reconsider their exclusive allegiance to self-described progressive groups in North Carolina that have been tied closely to the state’s Democratic Party.

(3.28.13) Cut Your Electric Bill: Repeal the Mandate!
A bill moving through the General Assembly would block higher electricity costs that are being imposed on North Carolinians for no good reason.

(3.28.13) Bill Unifying Election Dates Headed to House Floor For Vote
RALEIGH — A bill passed Wednesday by the House Elections Committee would require local government special elections to be conducted during regularly scheduled general elections and primary elections in even-numbered years. Skimpy voter turnout is a driving force behind requiring counties, municipalities, and special districts to schedule special elections on a day voters are expecting to head to the polls.

(3.28.13) JLF Report Urges Repeal of Costly, Ineffective Renewable Energy Mandate
RALEIGH — North Carolina should repeal its six-year-old renewable-energy mandate. It has raised electricity prices for consumers while failing to meet its original goals. That's the key conclusion in a new John Locke Foundation Spotlight report, which also questions new job-related justifications for the mandate. At the very least, state legislators should cap the mandate at its current level, according to the report. House Bill 298 would address that goal.

(3.28.13) Good Samaritan Bill Passes House, Returns to Senate
RALEIGH – The state House Thursday gave its final approval to a Good Samaritan law, a change in state law that would provide limited immunity from prosecution for people who summon medical help for a person who overdoses on drugs. The bill also provides criminal and civil liability immunity for medical practitioners prescribing an antidote for opiate-related overdoses.

(3.27.13) Legislators To Deal With Dueling Taxpayer Bill of Rights Measures
RALEIGH — North Carolina taxpayers would receive a tax relief refund when state revenues exceed 5 percent of budgeted amounts under a state constitutional amendment proposed by Rep. John Blust, R-Guilford. House Speaker Pro Tem Paul “Skip” Stam, R-Wake, is offering a statutory alternative to Blust’s amendment.

(3.26.13) Obamacare’s Impact on Low-Income Workers Debated
RALEIGH — Tax subsidies in Obamacare could push at least half of privately insured, lower-income North Carolinians into the federal health exchange and off of private coverage, critics of the federal health reform law say. Backers of the law say such “crowd-out” will be much smaller, perhaps less than 10 percent.

(3.21.13) McCrory’s Initial Budget Shores Up Existing Programs
RALEIGH — Gov. Pat McCrory unveiled his first budget Wednesday that would spend $20.6 billion in the next fiscal year, an increase of about 2.2 percent over the current fiscal year’s General Fund budget. The total state budget, including federal funds, fee collections, and other revenues, is $49.6 billion.

(3.21.13) Renewable Energy Study Using ‘Job-Years’ Likely Overstates Employment Gains
RALEIGH — A study produced by the renewable energy industry claiming significant employment gains from the adoption of green technologies has come under fire because, in part, it uses the misleading "job-years" statistic to exaggerate the positive impact of a legislative mandate forcing utilities to purchase renewable power.

(3.21.13) Fix What Is Broken First
Before considering new or expanded government programs, let's make sure what we're doing now works.

(3.20.13) Senate Leader Introduces Second Round of Education Reforms
RALEIGH — N.C. Senate leader Phil Berger Tuesday unveiled the second phase of his education reform agenda, calling for an end to teacher tenure, placing a greater emphasis on literacy, pushing for accountability in the classroom, and allowing state employees to volunteer in a public school literacy program for up to five hours per month.

(3.18.13) Renewable Energy Standard, Subsidies Targeted In Bill
RALEIGH — State Rep. Mike Hager says support is building for his effort to end costly state tax subsidies for renewable energy. But Hager’s bill has been referred to four committees, normally a signal that a chamber’s leadership does not back the measure. Gov. Pat McCrory also has not offered vocal support for the bill.

(3.14.13) N.C. Lawmakers Moving Ahead With Fracking
RALEIGH — North Carolina lawmakers are ready to capitalize on what some are calling the “natural gas boom.” A bill lifting the state’s moratorium on fracking — a method for releasing natural gas that environmentalists feel is controversial — passed the state Senate by a landslide recently and is making its way through the House.

(3.13.13) Bill Criminalizing Violations of Open Government Laws Faces Pushback
RALEIGH — A Sunshine Week meeting to discuss a proposed new law making a violation of the state’s open government laws found some senators not too keen on the idea. Several members of the Senate Judiciary Committee expressed reservations with the bill’s provision that would make violating the law a misdemeanor.

(3.13.13) Fireworks Continue As CLT Regional Authority Bill Moves Forward
RALEIGH — Calling it a “hostile takeover” that sets a dangerous precedent of allowing the state to seize municipal assets, Senate Democrats unsuccessfully attempted to block a bill transferring ownership and operation of Charlotte Douglas International Airport from the city of Charlotte to a regional authority.

(3.01.13) ‘Good Samaritan’ Bill Heading To Senate For Vote
RALEIGH — The bill would provide immunity from prosecution for people seeking medical assistance for themselves or others experiencing a drug-related overdose. The immunity would be from prosecution for misdemeanor possession of drugs, misdemeanor possession of drug paraphernalia, felony possession of less than one gram of cocaine, and felony possession of less than one gram of heroin.

(2.28.13) Bills Would Restore Party Labels To Judicial Races
RALEIGH — Supporters of the change say party affiliation provides information to voters who tend to have little knowledge of the philosophical leanings of judicial candidates. Backers of the current system say survivors of partisan primaries are likely to represent the ideological extremes of each party and may not be inclined to judge legal issues fairly.

(2.28.13) Controversial CLT Airport Authority Measure Moves to Senate Floor
RALEIGH — Charlotte officials believe Senate Republicans have an ulterior motive in sponsoring legislation to create a regional authority to own and operate Charlotte-Douglas International Airport. Frustrated Democrats on the Senate Finance Committee grilled bill sponsor Bob Rucho, R-Mecklenburg, Wednesday about transferring the city-owned airport to a multicounty board.

(2.28.13) CJ Editorial: Educational Opportunities
Legislative leaders seem poised to build on the positive K-12 reforms they initiated in the last session.

(2.27.13) Amendment Limiting Union Organizing Could Go To Voters
RALEIGH — House Bill 6, which was co-sponsored by Reps. Tim Moffitt, R-Buncombe, and Tom Murry, R-Wake, would allow citizens to vote on constitutional amendments that not only would cement North Carolina’s status as a right-to-work state and guarantee the right of union members to elect their leaders by secret ballot, but also prohibit collective bargaining among public sector employees at all levels of government.

(2.26.13) Tillis Launches Education Week At Legislature
RALEIGH — A merit pay system for teachers, changes to teacher tenure, tax credits for private school tuition, and new charter school initiatives are among education reform measures that could be passed in the state House of Representatives in the next few weeks, House Speaker Thom Tillis, R-Mecklenburg, said Monday.

(2.25.13) Certificate of Need Law Under Microscope
RALEIGH — Private surgeons and physicians want to reform the state’s certificate of need law — the legal process to obtain state approval for a variety of equipment, facilities, and procedures to ensure they are not duplicative of existing situations. Hospitals say specialty surgery centers will cherry-pick the insured patients hospitals need to cover the costs of treating the indigent and uninsured.

(2.25.13) Two Recommendations for GOP Leaders Regarding Higher Ed
The governor and Republican leaders are right to insist on reforms in higher ed, but they may be pushing students to seek skills valued in the 20th century.

(2.22.13) Rules Commission OKs Religious Activities at NC Pre-K Schools
RALEIGH — The Rules Review Commission voted 9-1 to reject the Child Care Commission’s proposal, which would have prohibited religious activity during the Pre-K class day. Rules commission members cited a state law forbidding the Child Care Commission from interfering with religious activities at such centers, and said that the Child Care Commission should take it up with the General Assembly if they wanted a change.

(2.21.13) Fireworks Erupt As CLT Bill Passes Committee
RALEIGH — Who gets to run Charlotte Douglas International Airport has become a prickly, billion-dollar turf battle. City of Charlotte and Mecklenburg County officials want to ground what they see as an unnecessary power grab orchestrated by Republican lawmakers to end longstanding city control in favor of a new regional authority.

(2.20.13) McCrory Signs Unemployment Insurance Reforms
RALEIGH — House Bill 4 increases taxes for some employers, shortens the number of weeks an unemployed worker is eligible for benefits, and reduces the maximum benefits such a person can receive. The federal government has slapped a surcharge on businesses as a means of repaying a $2.5 billion debt accumulated during the Great Recession.

(2.18.13) Renewable Energy Mandates Face Scrutiny From GOP Lawmakers
RALEIGH — Interest is coalescing around legislation that would repeal a law forcing energy companies to buy increasingly larger volumes of costly, tax-subsidized, renewable energy. Rep. Mike Hager, R-Rutherford, is drafting language for a bill as Gov. Pat McCrory pushes for offshore wind farms — a form of renewable energy — and endorsing an “all-of-the-above” approach to energy.

(2.15.13) Feds: Exchange Cost To N.C. = Zero
RALEIGH — Published reports that North Carolina must pay $181 million to the federal government annually as a consequence of failing to set up a state-run health exchange under Obamacare are false. The money would come from fees assessed on health insurance providers, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the N.C. Department of Insurance.

(2.14.13) DHHS Secretary Tells Lawmakers Of Agency Disarray
RALEIGH — Secretary Aldona Wos said the Department of Health and Human Services, the state’s second-largest bureaucracy with an $18 billion budget, is entangled in legal woes, lacks supervisory accountability, rushes multimillion-dollar payments through chaotic processes, and routinely fails to complete timely financial and operational reports vital to legislative oversight and department effectiveness.

(2.14.13) Senators Consider Local Impact Fees As Part of Fracking Permit Process
RALEIGH — The Senate Finance Committee Wednesday gave its blessing to a bill allowing companies to receive fracking permits as early as March 2015. The committee’s role was to consider the tax portions of the bill, not to discuss the merits of fracking. The measure now goes to the Senate Commerce Committee.

(2.13.13) Bill Rejecting Key Obamacare Provisions Headed to House Floor
RALEIGH — Buoyed by Gov. Pat McCrory’s announcement that he does not support expanding Medicaid rolls or creating a state-run health insurance exchange, a state House committee voted Tuesday over Democrats’ objections in favor of Senate Bill 4, legislation rejecting the same provisions of Obamacare.

(2.13.13) Unemployment Insurance Reform Could Go To McCrory Within Days
RALEIGH — The unemployment insurance bill is the GOP-led effort to repay a $2.5 billion debt that was borrowed from the federal government to pay unemployment benefits during the Great Recession. Supporters say that if nothing is done, the state’s businesses will see federal surcharges mount on their tax bill until the debt is repaid, likely in 2019.

(2.12.13) House Set To Take Up Senate Medicaid Reforms
RALEIGH — House leaders said they would conduct a full review of Gov. Pat McCrory’s misgivings that a $40 million federal grant associated with accepting the terms of the Affordable Health Care law could be lost if Senate Bill 4 is approved. Even so, passage of the bill is expected as early as this week.

(2.11.13) Child Care Commission Maintains Pressure on Religious Pre-Ks
RALEIGH — The Child Care Commission made another attempt Feb. 4 to get a procedural committee that sifts through administrative rules to approve a controversial rule prohibiting religious instruction at NC Pre-K centers. The commission implements regulations at private and public centers statewide.

(2.07.13) Voter ID Under Microscope At Raleigh Forum
RALEIGH — At a Wednesday forum, proponents of voter ID laws said the requirements protect the integrity of the ballot and pose no undue burdens on the right to vote. Opponents questioned the need for the law and argued that it would make voting less accessible.

(2.07.13) CJ Editoral: License To Stifle
Many licensing rules are little more than a protection racket, allowing existing practitioners to block would-be competitors from offering their services. Time to clean house.

(2.06.13) Second Amendment Freedom Rally Attracts Attention of General Assembly
RALEIGH — Flag-waving, placard-toting gun rights advocates from around the state and Virginia rallied in front of the North Carolina legislative building on Tuesday to deliver a stirring message to lawmakers: “We will not compromise.” One speaker after another at the Second Amendment Freedom Rally proclaimed fealty to the Second Amendment.

(2.05.13) Court Ban Has Not Ended Sweepstakes Operations
ROANOKE RAPIDS — Players continue to plunk cash down to play online sweepstakes games at the former Randy Parton Theatre in Roanoke Rapids despite a state Supreme Court ruling banning the electronic diversions. Several hundred Internet cafés remain open across North Carolina as their operators reconfigure their games in a manner they say complies with the law.

(2.05.13) N.C. House Poised To Pass Reform In Unemployment Insurance
RALEIGH — The bill aims to accelerate repayment of the debt by increasing unemployment taxes on some businesses while reducing the maximum benefits that some laid-off workers receive and the number of weeks of eligibility. Without a change, the debt likely would be paid back no sooner than 2019.

(2.04.13) Medicaid Audit Underscores Questions About State’s Service Model
RALEIGH — A state audit finding potentially “hundreds of millions of dollars” of Medicaid mismanagement also called for “a scientifically valid study” of North Carolina’s showcase Medicaid program due to suspect savings claims and questionable methodologies used to evaluate it.

(2.01.13) Audit: N.C. Medicaid in Major Disarray, Wastes Millions
RALEIGH — The Medicaid program deliberately violates General Assembly directives and potentially state statutes, the audit said. The program has a talent deficit in personnel capable of preparing accurate budgets or understanding the data with which they must work to administer $36 million in services daily to 1.5 million participants, according to the audit.

(2.01.13) Unemployment Insurance Reform One Step Closer After Committee Vote
RALEIGH — The bill, which would reduce the maximum weekly benefit from $535 to $350 and reduce the maximum benefit duration from 26 weeks to 20 weeks is scheduled for its first of two floor votes on Monday night. If the legislation becomes law, supporters believe the $2.5 billion debt to the federal government can be repaid by 2015 or early 2016.

(1.31.13) Thousands Receive N.C. Revenue Notices That Look Like Bills
RALEIGH — A Department of Revenue spokeswoman says that 147,800 “Notices of Intent to Assess” have been mailed since the department began sending out such notices in 2010. The notice does not declare that it is not a bill. Nor were the letters reviewed by Revenue Department employees before they were sent.

(1.31.13) Tax Reform The Key To Economic Vitality
The top priority of the governor and legislative leaders is boosting job creation and economic growth. A simpler, fairer tax system would give that agenda a major assist.

(1.31.13) Freshman Lawmaker Proposes Letting School Districts Go All-Charter
RALEIGH— Rep. Donny Lambeth, R-Forsyth, who was chairman of the Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Board of Education for 18 years, said that school officials often discussed charter schools and their flexibility. He says legislation is needed to make sure capital spending and other non-classroom services were provided.

(1.30.13) Long Session of General Assembly Gets Rolling
RALEIGH — Gavels in both the House and the Senate are set to fall at noon as the General Assembly begins its 2013 session in earnest. Legislators are prepared to tackle a $20 billion general fund budget, reform the tax code, and push through new election laws that are almost certain to include a photo identification requirement to cast a ballot.

(1.30.13) New JLF Book Outlines Policies to Help Make N.C. ‘First In Freedom’
RALEIGH — North Carolina's elected leaders would adopt a new pro-growth tax system, promote parental choice in education, say no to Obamacare's health insurance exchanges and Medicaid expansion, and redesign state government's "operating system," if they follow key recommendations from the John Locke Foundation's new book. JLF released First In Freedom: Transforming Ideas into Consequences for North Carolina Wednesday.

(1.30.13) New Study Skews Data on N.C. Tax Burdens
RALEIGH -- There's no reason to believe a new report's claim that North Carolina's tax system takes a "much larger share" from middle- and low-income families than from families with higher incomes. The John Locke Foundation documents how the misuse of selected federal tax data leads left-leaning analysts to the wrong conclusions.

(1.28.13) Legislative Review Pending For State Medicaid Administrator
RALEIGH — Free-market advocates contend Community Care of North Carolina, a nonprofit organization that runs the state’s Medicaid program, has contributed to the $1.17 billion deficits in Medicaid that have occurred over the past three years. They say CCNC is not held accountable for cost overruns.

(1.24.13) Competing Tax Plans Seek To Stimulate Investment and Growth
RALEIGH — Efforts are under way to make North Carolina the first state since Alaska in 1980 to eliminate taxes on total personal income. Competing proposals also would launch a pro-growth tax reform renaissance that would scrap corporate income taxes that discourage capital investment and savings.

(1.23.13) JLF Tax Reform Proposal Could Generate 80,500 Jobs in First Year
RALEIGH — Replacing North Carolina's existing income, corporate, sales, and estate taxes with a new consumed-income tax dubbed the USA Tax could generate 80,500 new jobs in the first year, while boosting the state's economy by $11.76 billion. Those numbers are based on an outside analysis of tax reform proposals included in the John Locke Foundation's new book, First in Freedom: Transforming Ideas Into Consequences for North Carolina. JLF is releasing the book as new North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory and a Republican-led General Assembly turn their attention to potential tax reforms.

(1.22.13) GOP Lawmakers To Give Voter ID Bill Another Try
RALEIGH — North Carolinians should expect the General Assembly to pass a strict voter ID bill in 2013, and it will be one that will pass federal and judicial scrutiny, a chairman of the House Elections Committee said. Opponents continue contenting that a photo ID requirement would disenfranchise some voters.

(1.16.13) Rally Urges Republican Officials To Nullify Obamacare
RALEIGH — Speakers at the Jan. 9 rally called on Republican Gov. Pat McCrory and Republican members of the General Assembly to return $73.5 million in what they called federal “bribe” money Democratic former Gov. Bev Perdue accepted to set up a state health insurance exchange under the federal Affordable Care Act.

(1.14.13) Prospective Charter Schools Applications Surge Into Raleigh
RALEIGH — Potential charter school operators, including two that would operate online, flooded the state with 154 letters of intent to open in fall 2014, punctuating a growing appetite for alternatives to traditional public education.

(1.10.13) New DHHS Proposals Include Fourth State Mental Hospital
RALEIGH — Most of the topics discussed Tuesday at a meeting of the Joint Legislative Oversight Committee on Health and Human Services revolved around finding solutions to “critical shortages” in areas such as psychiatric inpatient beds, the number of practicing psychiatrists and psychologists, and treatment options for veterans.

(1.09.13) Unemployment Insurance Reform Moves Closer To Adoption
RALEIGH — The proposal is an attempt to repay the federal government $2.5 billion the state borrowed to pay for benefits during the Great Recession. Under the current repayment plan, the state would repay the debt by 2018. If the new proposal is adopted, the debt could be repaid by 2015.

(1.09.13) General Assembly Opens Under Full Republican Control
RALEIGH — The day was absent of surprises as the leaders of both legislative chambers were re-elected to their posts without opposition. Most of the day was filled with pomp and circumstance as lawmakers met for an organizational session. After adjournment, lawmakers promptly left town to return in three weeks, when they’re expected to get down to business in earnest.

(1.03.13) McCrory Does Not Rule Out State Funding for Triangle Rail
RALEIGH — Although he’s warned repeatedly that there is no new money in state government, Gov.-elect Pat McCrory said Thursday he could envision putting up a 25 percent state share of funding for a multibillion-dollar rail transit plan in the Triangle. He also said the plan would have to satisfy certain criteria to win consideration.

(12.27.12) Dramatic Reforms Are Possible in the New Year
Never have opportunities in North Carolina for free markets, personal responsibility, and limited government looked so promising.

(12.26.12) GOP Leaders May Expand Virtual Charter Schools
RALEIGH — Virtual charter schools and other distance-learning options would be unshackled from the legal-political bind in which they remain idled if Lt. Gov.-elect Dan Forest has his way. He will sit on the State Board of Education, which sets policy for K-12 education throughout the state, and chair the 30-member eLearning Commission, which explores ways to connect students to online learning opportunities.

(12.11.12) Medicaid Savings Illusory Under Obamacare Expansion, Critics Say
RALEIGH — A recent study suggests that taxpayer costs could go down if the states expanded Medicaid enrollment under President Obama’s signature Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. But critics say expanding Medicaid actually would cost North Carolinians directly an extra $3.1 billion more over a 10-year period — and costs to federal taxpayers, including North Carolinians, would be even greater.

(12.10.12) McCrory Mum On Obamacare Exchanges
RALEIGH — The intent of the health care reform was for states to set up the exchanges, which are clearinghouses through which tax-subsidized health care plans would be offered to uninsured individuals and small businesses. If states don’t create their own health care exchanges, the federal government would offer its own.