Certificate-of-need reforms were left out of the final budget compromise passed by the General Assembly. But backers aren’t giving up on curtailing or ending the regulation that forces medical providers to get permission from the government to make major new investments. Sen. Ralph Hise, R-Mitchell, successfully inserted a phased-in repeal of the state’s certificate of...
General Assembly budget writers have a monumental challenge this year that they haven’t faced in the past four. A Democrat in the governor’s mansion. “I think there is zero chance that any budget passed by the General Assembly the governor won’t veto, and that we would have to ultimately override,” said Sen. Ralph Hise, R-Mitchell,...
The House Finance Committee voted unanimously Tuesday to approve state funding to help offset local property tax abatements for disabled veterans, and widows and orphans of first responders. State Rep. Nelson Dollar, R-Wake, said House Bill 2 would raise from $45,000 to $100,000 the cap on local property tax exclusions for 100 percent disabled veterans....
RALEIGH — Gov. Roy Cooper’s proposal to try to lure the film industry to make movies, TV shows, and commercials in North Carolina by returning to an abandoned tax incentives program is meeting resistance. Rep. Chris Millis, R-Pender, said the governor’s plan “shows how inconsiderate he is toward the taxpayers of our state by proposing...
RALEIGH — A noted tax expert calls Gov. Roy Cooper’s proposed middle-class tax break an example of social engineering. Roy Cordato, an economist and vice president for research at the John Locke Foundation, said the proposal is an attempt to use the tax code to promote social policy. “Instead of discriminating against struggling families with...
RALEIGH — The House on Wednesday overwhelmingly approved a bill aimed at beefing up the state’s rainy day fund. “It takes North Carolina from frankly one of the weaker savings regiments of any state to what the Pew Center believes will be one of the strongest,” said Rep. Nelson Dollar, R-Wake, the sponsor of...
RALEIGH — The General Assembly’s top economist on Tuesday told legislative budget writers that the state had a “steady as we go” economy that is now faring better than most other states. “We now have reached a point where we are now surpassing the average growth of the nation as a whole,” said Barry Boardman...
North Carolina should end the budget year more than a half-billion dollars above revenue projections, and House and Senate Republican leadership swiftly credited their tax-cutting, and regulatory-relief policies for the positive budget news. The General Assembly’s Fiscal Research Division and the Office of State Budget and Management released a consensus report Thursday projecting 2016-17 tax...
Lawmakers began filing bills, assigned committee members, and remembered a former state representative as the N.C. General Assembly returned to the state capital after a two-week break. Democratic leaders laid out an agenda they hope the Republican majority might consider. Sen. Dan Blue, D-Wake, and Rep. Darren Jackson, D-Wake, the minority leaders in their respective...
State Rep. Nelson Dollar, R-Wake, is confident President-elect Trump would overturn any unlawful agreement to fast-track the state’s Medicaid program. It would be unprecedented for Sylvia Burwell to work with Cooper to approve the expansion before President Obama leaves office Jan. 20, said Dollar and Lanier Cansler, former secretary of the state Department of Health...
Katherine Restrepo on Obamacare's future; Phil Berger & Nelson Dollar on tax reform & economic health; legislators discuss the privilege license tax; Andy Baxter & Terry Stoops on teacher pay; George Leef on Supreme Court ruling on racial preference ban
