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Success of Local Bonds May Not Translate Statewide

RALEIGH — Voters in five municipalities passed all 16 bond referendums on Tuesday’s ballot, mostly by wide margins, but some political observers caution against reading too much into those results as a way of predicting the passage of a pending $2 billion state bond package, noting that local voters often translate the promises of direct benefits to their communities as reason to support a borrowing measure.

Dan Way
News

Wind Farm Officials Differ On Need for Subsidies

RALEIGH — Despite earlier claims by Iberdrola Renewables officials that the $400 million, 300-megawatt Amazon Wind Farm that will cover 22,000 acres near Elizabeth City would be built totally from company funds, another Iberdrola official says the project requires some tax incentives to be viable economically. “We’re not at a point yet where we don’t need subsidies,” Eric Thumma told a recent meeting of the North Carolina Energy Policy Council.

Dan Way
News

McCrory Signs Medicaid Reform

RALEIGH — After several major revisions, on Tuesday Medicaid reform that had delayed budget approvals in recent years passed the General Assembly. Gov. Pat McCrory signed the measure yesterday. The law overhauls the delivery of Medicaid services in a hybrid plan comprising Managed Care Organizations and separate Provider-Led Entities.

Dan Way
News

New Budget Could Double Opportunity Scholarships

RALEIGH — The compromise budget just agreed to by legislative leaders and Gov. Pat McCrory appropriates $6.8 million for the Opportunity Scholarship Program for 2015-16, and $14 million for the program in 2016-17. That’s in addition to $10.8 million a year that already had been earmarked for the voucher program.

Barry Smith

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Bill Easing Rules Could Aid Struggling Rural Hospitals

RALEIGH — Two rural hospitals could be reopened under state legislation that includes the first substantive reform of North Carolina’s certificate of need regulation. Pungo District Hospital in Belhaven could be the first beneficiary of the legislative change to the state CON law contained in an amended version of House Bill 20. Yadkin Valley Community Hospital in Yadkinville stands to benefit from a separate provision in the bill.

Dan Way
News

Budget Deal Includes New Round of Tax Reform

RALEIGH — State taxpayers will pay $400 million less over the next two years if lawmakers pass a $21.735 billion state budget deal announced Monday by legislative leaders. The 2016-17 state budget also expands the sales tax base to include more repair and service work to help offset the tax rate reductions. The bill cuts the personal income tax rate to 5.499 percent beginning in 2017.

Dan Way
News

Budget Provision Could Delay Corporate Rate Cut

RALEIGH — A new round of tax cuts in the $21.735 billion state budget for 2015-16 may prevent the state from lowering the corporate income tax rate to 3 percent in 2017 because tax collections are projected to be $74.7 million lower than a revenue target set two years ago. Even so, legislative leaders say they are confident that the state will collect enough revenues to trigger a second cut in the corporate income tax that would take effect Jan. 1, 2017.

Dan Way
News

Friends, Foes Agree: Subsidies Drive Renewable Industry

RALEIGH — An environmental group lauding North Carolina for ranking No. 4 nationally in solar energy capacity agrees with foes of renewable energy mandates — the state’s purported boom in clean energy mostly results from the government forcing utilities to purchase the higher-cost energy, along with lucrative incentive deals that shift costs to taxpayers.

Dan Way
News

Budget Deal Boosts Starting Teacher Salaries, Gives Others $750 Bonuses

RALEIGH — The budget provides $750 one-time bonuses for state employees and other teachers, ends transfers from the Highway Fund to the General Fund to pay for the State Highway Patrol, gives troopers and correction officers an additional bump in pay, and provides money affording additional students from lower income families the opportunity to use vouchers to attend private schools.

Barry Smith
News

Critic: N.C. Insurance Rules Favor Companies Over Consumers

RALEIGH — Despite recent legislation easing some restrictions on the marketplace, North Carolina’s rate-setting structure for car insurance is little more than a government price-fixing scheme that hits consumers in the wallet while protecting the profits of some insurance companies, a consumer advocate contends.

Dan Way