Lawmakers, union representatives, and government officials are calling for repeal of North Carolina’s prohibition on public-sector employee collective bargaining. Sen. Wiley Nickel, D-Wake, led a news conference Wednesday, April 24, calling for passage of Senate Bill 575. He’s a sponsor of…
A scathing report from N.C. State Auditor Beth Wood released Wednesday, April 24, found the accounting methods used by the N.C. Global TransPark Authority were so bad that “fraud could occur and go undetected.” The executive director of the GTP…
How are North Carolina lawmakers different from movie directors? They find it hard to say “cut,” especially when giving Hollywood producers taxpayer subsidies to make films here. A bipartisan group of state representatives filed House Bill 751, resurrecting a 25 percent…
WINSTON-SALEM — No big announcement. No contentious public meetings. No press conference. But most important — no economic incentives. News that MRO Holdings Inc. — a leader in the aircraft maintenance, repair, and overhaul industry — was setting up shop in Winston-Salem’s Smith…
A bipartisan group of House members hopes to break a regulatory chokehold on surgical facilities. Reps. Billy Richardson, D-Cumberland; Ed Goodwin, R-Chowan; and David Rogers, R-Rutherford, on Tuesday, April 16, filed House Bill 857. The bill abolishes certificate-of-need laws preventing standalone…
As I listened Tuesday to a N.C. House committee discuss an alcohol bill, I thought about how America debated the 18th Amendment. In 1917, and for years after that. I thought about how we spoke to each other — those influenced by the…
The Senate, in a 33-11 vote, approved a bill giving charter school operators the option to bypass local county commissioners in winning approval of charter facility bonds. Senate Bill 392 would allow the Superintendent of Public Instruction to approve the issuance of…
More than 500,000 N.C. students won’t be in class May 1 as school districts across the state close so teachers can attend a planned rally in downtown Raleigh. As of Tuesday, April 16, 11 school districts and two charter schools will be closed for the…
Persistent questions about the constitutionality of legislation to stabilize the underfunded state retirement system have slowed the bill’s advance. On Tuesday, April 16, Senate Rules Committee Chairman Bill Rabon, R-Brunswick, recommended sending Senate Bill 374 back to the Senate Pensions, Retirement, and…
A pair of bills representing steps toward reforming the way North Carolina governs alcohol are on the House calendar for Tuesday, April 16. The bills easily passed the House Rules Committee on Monday and should face little opposition. One bill would give a boost…
