UPDATE, June 8: The House and Senate have scheduled separate “extra session” meetings Thursday at 2 p.m. The only agenda item is the governor’s proclamation. Carolina Journal will report on the session as it occurs. Gov. Roy Cooper ordered the General Assembly to convene Thursday in…
North Carolina electric ratepayers would save a projected $849 million on their power bills over the next 10 years under legislation that begins to peel away some of the most favorable state mandates for the renewable energy industry. House Bill 589 sailed through the Energy…
RALEIGH — While the Trump administration opts out of the Paris climate change agreement, North Carolina will opt in, Gov. Roy Cooper said Tuesday. The Paris accord was signed in 2015 by 195 world leaders, including President Barack Obama, who promised to reduce greenhouse emissions and subject themselves to the oversight of the…
RALEIGH — Gov. Roy Cooper is calling on rank-and-file Republicans to go toe-to-toe with legislative leaders in budget negotiations. The budget proposals are troubling, Cooper said, and the majority of state Republican lawmakers are worried the budget invests too little in education and workforce development.
Alternatives to the traditional four-year university are getting the attention of the General Assembly. The House and Senate have set aside serious funding for workforce development programs. Gov. Roy Cooper’s budget mentioned apprenticeship programs as well but didn’t put up as much money. Lawmakers made commitments to specific programs, while the governor’s…
The U.S. Supreme Court has upheld a lower court’s ruling striking down 28 North Carolina legislative districts as cases of unconstitutional racial gerrymandering. But the high court has rejected the idea of holding special legislative elections this year. The Supreme Court had issued a stay on Jan. 10 blocking…
RALEIGH — A stint in juvenile detention is tough for kids who run afoul of the law, but it’s nothing compared to time spent in adult prison. Seventeen-year-old M.B., whose name is withheld because he’s a minor, would know. In North Carolina, kids older than 16 are prosecuted…
While teacher salaries generally dominate employee benefit discussions during budget debates, other state employees stand to receive higher pay. But the House, Senate, and Gov. Roy Cooper all have different notions about how much to increase compensation. Cooper’s budget includes an across-the-board salary increase of 2 percent or $800, whichever is higher.
The House budget includes more than $3 billion in transportation funding each year of the biennium, in addition to the General Fund appropriations for other state operations. In 2017-18 the House budgets $2.26 billion in transportation-related taxes and fees to the Highway Fund, which pays for…
Once clear message from the 2017 budget discussion: School choice remains a priority for the General Assembly. Both the House and Senate have included funding increases for Opportunity Scholarships in their respective budgets, with a few key differences. • The House…
