State legislators and Gov. Pat McCrory are working out the details of a new revenue and spending plan to operate state government for the new budget year that begins July 1. If they want to protect taxpayers and show fiscal discipline while funding key services, John Locke Foundation Director of Research and Education Studies, Terry Stoops, says they should use JLF’s alternative budget as a roadmap. Stoops discusses key areas of the JLF plan, which funds key services while spending $21.5 billion, or $25 million less than Gov. Pat McCrory’s proposed budget. Then we turn to ongoing discussions at the legislature. The N.C. General Assembly has approved a regulatory reform bill each year since Republicans took control of the legislature in 2011. Now some lawmakers want to take regulatory reform efforts on the road. You’ll hear highlights from their recent discussion about creating a new task force to collect reform ideas from across the state. In addition, while the legislature debates the future of the state’s Map Act, some lawmakers are pursuing other changes in the process the N.C. Department of Transportation uses to condemn property. The N.C. House recently discussed measures designed to strengthen protection of private property rights. That’s followed by remarks from a renowned legal scholar. Our system of government depends on the existence of fixed legal rules. That’s the assessment of libertarian constitutional scholar Richard Epstein. A law professor and director of the Classical Liberal Institute at New York University, Epstein outlines the problems related to legal rules that vary based on changing judicial interpretation. And finally, we detail a scathing investigative audit published by State Auditor Beth Wood. The audit details nepotism and wasted money within the state Department of Health and Human Services program to process Medicaid claims. Carolina Journal Managing Editor Rick Henderson talks about the auditor’s findings