Gov. Beverly Perdue has proposed her budget for the next fiscal year that begins July 1, and the new Republican-led state legislature is now working on their version to address the estimated $2.4 billion budget deficit. How the two documents will be reconciled is the unanswered question. John Locke Foundation Director of Health and Fiscal Policy Studies Joe Coletti discusses the key components of Perdue’s proposal, the targets announced by the GOP, and his own alternative budget that returns North Carolina spending to mid-1990s levels and puts the state on a track toward fiscal solvency. Then we turn to more questions of debt and deficit. As state lawmakers debate the best way to plug a multibillion-dollar budget hole, leaders in Washington are also looking for ways to set the federal government’s finances back in order. Stanford University economist Michael Boskin recently addressed the federal budget picture during the annual Pope Lecture at N.C. State University. He shares some of his concerns about government growth in an exclusive interview with Carolina Journal Radio. Next is a look at the latest statewide controversy in K-12 education. Some state lawmakers want to scrap four standardized tests used in high school classes across the state. Critics such as Rep. Bryan Holloway, R-Stokes, say the tests in subjects such as U.S. History and Algebra II do little to improve student achievement. Supporters such as Rep. Larry Bell, D-Sampson, say statewide standardized testing is the only way to ensure all students get the proper instruction in these important core subjects. That’s followed by a look at the marketplace of ideas in higher education. You might expect a college campus to serve as the setting for the free flow of a wide range of ideas, but the actual range of discussion is limited by political bias. That’s the case Jenna Ashley Robinson, outreach coordinator for the John W. Pope Center for Higher Education Policy, made during a recent public presentation. Robinson explains how liberal bias among college faculty members affects the campus discussion of important political and social issues. And finally, we turn to the state’s rules for occupational licensing. Carolina Journal Managing Editor Rick Henderson analyzes two examples – African hair braiding and barbers – that have some folks scratching their heads. Henderson also discusses an incident related to the power of licensing in a case about Raleigh residents who have challenged the recommendations of the state Department of Transportation that resulted in an investigation of the residents for practicing engineering without a license.