Senate Republicans are again pushing State Treasurer Dale Folwell’s request to limit risk in the underfunded state pension plan by narrowing the number of retirement options. The Repeal Risky Retirement Payments Act, as Senate Bill 374 is titled, divides Republicans against Democrats, and pits the…
Duke Energy intends to challenge a state Department of Environmental Quality order to excavate all its coal ash pits, saying it would impose undue financial harm. Duke, one of the nation’s largest power providers, announced its decision in a news release…
A group of House Republicans is taking another whack at what they call an alternative to Medicaid expansion so uninsured North Carolina residents can obtain health coverage. State Reps. Donny Lambeth, R-Forsyth; Josh Dobson, R-McDowell; Greg Murphy, R-Pitt; and Donna McDowell White, R-Johnston, held a news…
In 2011, a then-new Republican majority in the N.C. General Assembly was alarmed at an expensive new trend in local government. Residents in Wilson, Salisbury, Mooresville, Davidson, and Morganton were being hit with higher taxes and even electricity and water rates as their cities were bleeding money. Why? To…
The state Department of Health and Human Services improperly paid more than $100 million in Medicaid claims during fiscal year 2018, State Auditor Beth Wood reported. An audit released Monday, April 8, highlighted a series of errors and weaknesses in DHHS operations. Some…
Under a recently introduced bill, teachers would be directly responsible for using $400 to buy school supplies through the N.C. Classroom Supply Program, but not everyone is sold on the proposal. During a news conference Wednesday, April 3, Republican lawmakers and…
The state House passed a bill Wednesday, April 3, limiting State Treasurer Dale Folwell’s plans to make the State Health Plan more solvent. But the bill may not get a hearing in the Senate, letting Folwell move forward. House Bill 184 would block…
Talk of momentum is mostly an exercise in mysticism. Unless measured physically — as it relates to velocity and mass — momentum is figurative, nothing more than idea, a feeling. Yet it’s an apt description of something in motion, and I can think of no…
North Carolina for many years has been a battleground over government-backed broadband services. The issue seemed to be settled in 2011, when the Republican-controlled General Assembly passed the Level Playing Field Law, which severely restricted local governments’ ability to get into the broadband…
State Treasurer Dale Folwell says if lawmakers shelve his State Health Plan reforms they will have nobody to blame but themselves. Folwell is locked in a heated battle with state hospitals, health systems, doctors, and legislative supporters of…
