North Carolina moves up to No. 11 in the Tax Foundation’s latest ranking of states’ business tax climates. Before comprehensive tax reform launched in 2013, the Tar Heel State’s ranking languished in the 40s. Roy Cordato, John Locke Foundation senior economist and resident scholar, discusses the reasons for the improvement. Cordato also outlines some top priorities for federal tax reform. Free speech will get additional attention and protection on N.C. public college campuses. That’s thanks to the Campus Free Speech Act state lawmakers approved this year. Jenna Robinson, president of the James G. Martin Center for Academic Renewal, explains why this legislation means good news for students and faculty in universities across North Carolina. Better gas mileage in gasoline-fueled cars and the emergence of electric cars present significant challenges to North Carolina’s state transportation budget. N.C. Department of Transportation Secretary Jim Trogdon delivered that warning recently to state lawmakers. Trogdon says changing conditions threaten the long-term viability of the state gas tax as the chief funding source for transportation projects. Fans of North Carolina’s Campus Free Speech Act can give much of the credit to the Goldwater Institute, a Phoenix, Arizona-based free-market think tank that has been pushing for similar legislation in states across the country. During a recent visit to North Carolina, Goldwater President Victor Riches discussed his group’s approach to enacting market-based reform ideas at the state level nationwide. Legislators returned to Raleigh recently to override Gov. Roy Cooper’s veto of an election-related bill. The new law loosens restrictions for third parties and unaffiliated candidates who want access to the state’s election ballot. It also lowers the threshold from 40 percent to 30 percent for winning primary candidates to avoid a runoff. The provision that generated Cooper’s opposition eliminates 2018 primary elections for judicial races. Rick Henderson, Carolina Journal editor-in-chief, discusses the new law and the political debate surrounding it.