Donna King, Carolina Journal editor-in-chief, discusses the week’s major developments at the N.C. General Assembly. King offered these comments during the June 17, 2022, edition of PBS North Carolina’s “Front Row with Marc Rotterman.”
Gov. Roy Cooper wants to increase the state budget for the 2022-23 fiscal year from $27 billion to $29.3 billion, an increase of 8.5%. The money would come from $6.2 billion in additional revenue spelled out in the state’s latest forecast. Cooper would place another $2.4 billion in reserves, leaving the remaining $1.5 billion unspent....
A myriad of associations come to mind when thinking about President Biden’s FY2023 budget, but the one that comes to mind instantaneously is “dumpster fire.” Like the budget he submitted to Congress just last year, one fact remains constant: President Biden does not have the slightest clue what fiscal responsibility entails. Families across North Carolina...
Leaders at the General Assembly have forgotten two crucial political maxims: sound policy makes good politics, and sound policy comes from good debate.
Regardless of your politics, we can all agree that the prolonged sacrifices made by members of our armed forces run deeper than any physical wound.
A state senator is drawing attention to the new N.C. state budget’s measures to fight human trafficking. The budget “provides a lifeline to victims” of trafficking, according to a news release from Sen. Ted Alexander, R-Cleveland. “Human trafficking is all too prevalent in North Carolina,” Alexander said. “We have the means to both combat this...
Friday, Nov. 18 will go down as an important day in our state’s recent history. That is the day when the Republican-led General Assembly and Gov. Roy Cooper came to terms on a state budget for the new biennium. It’s a state budget that propels our state one step forward in funding students rather than...
Gov. Roy Cooper says he will sign the first budget from the General Assembly since he took office in 2017. The announcement came in a news conference Tuesday, Nov. 16, and before the first vote from the Senate on Tuesday afternoon. The General Assembly released the $25.9 billion budget plan Monday, Nov. 15. Senate lawmakers...
As the Biden administration tries to sidestep states refusing to expand Medicaid, all eyes are on North Carolina. It is one of only 12 states that have held out for a decade—and for good reason. Medicaid expansion has proven to be a disaster in every state it has been implemented. It has ballooned program enrollment,...
Six hundred days and counting. Gov. Roy Cooper has ruled North Carolina with a proverbial iron fist since unilaterally enacting a state of emergency March 10, 2020. The order came without following statutory mandates to consult with the North Carolina Council of State, as Rep. John Bell, R-Wayne, wrote recently for Carolina Journal. But Cooper,...
N.C. House Speaker Tim Moore, R-Cleveland, adjourned a quick session Tuesday, Oct. 26, but not before promising a busy week ahead. House Bill 259, the Election Integrity Act, was on the agenda for discussion and possible vote, but the bill’s sponsors — Reps. Keith Kidwell, R-Beaufort; Kyle Hall, R-Rockingham; and George Cleveland, R-Onslow — asked...
