Each week, staff at Carolina Journal looks back at the week in N.C. politics and chooses several interesting, relevant stories you may have missed. Here’s this week’s review: Hello, Jacksonville: The Republican National Convention is heading to the Sunshine State. While a few hundred RNC officials will conduct business in Charlotte to satisfy the contract...
Appropriation leaders in the House and Senate are busy working behind closed doors to find consensus on a COVID-19 relief package. The House approved a $1.7-billion omnibus bill Thursday, April 30, a day after the Senate passed its 1.3-billion version. The two chambers will now hash out their differences to pass a single appropriations bill...
Each week, staff at Carolina Journal looks back at the week in N.C. politics and chooses several interesting, relevant stories you may have missed. Here’s this week’s review: Coronavirus worries: A little more than 70% of North Carolinians are concerned about catching COVID-19, a Civitas Institute poll found. Significantly more people are worried now than...
Now that North Carolina knows how much it can borrow, politicians are arguing about how much the state should borrow. But while the legislature and Gov. Roy Cooper wrestle over “credit card limits,” they are ignoring the red flags raised in the most recent Debt Affordability Study unanimously approved by the Debt Affordability Advisory Committee....
A decision Tuesday, Dec. 3, by the N.C. Court of Appeals rebuking Gov. Roy Cooper could have ramifications beyond the initial scope of the case, and it could influence a dispute over the Atlantic Coast Pipeline. Tuesday, a unanimous three-judge panel affirmed a lower court’s ruling that the General Assembly has full control over the...
Did Gov. Roy Cooper’s administration require operators of the Atlantic Coast Pipeline to provide Cooper a $57.8-milion “mitigation fund” before the state would approve the portion of the pipeline heading through North Carolina? Reporting by Carolina Journal suggests it did. The results of a legislative investigation into the issue will be released this week. The Joint Legislative...
North Carolina is all set for its 2020 congressional and legislative elections. For now. The state Senate adopted the House’s version of the new congressional map Friday, Nov. 15, without approving any additional amendments. In addition, the N.C. Supreme Court has decided not to hear an appeal of redrawn legislative districts plaintiffs challenged as partisan...
A legislative investigation into the permit process for the Atlantic Coast Pipeline is a sham, say representatives of Gov. Roy Cooper. The claim was part of a news release sent from Cooper’s office 30 minutes after a Friday, Nov. 8, legislative committee meeting in Raleigh. Legislators, who are looking into how Cooper’s administration handled an...
Rep. Jeffrey Elmore, R-Wilkes, said one of his teaching colleagues inadvertently took a pay cut. Elmore is the House Education K-12 Committee co-chairman and the only public school teacher in the General Assembly. He said Thursday, Oct. 31, his friend increased the contributions to her retirement account, anticipating pay increases the General Assembly had passed...
Senate Republicans introduced Wednesday, Oct. 23, a pair of mini-budget bills that would raise pay for K-12 educators and university employees. The move continues the GOP’s strategy of introducing mini-budgets to get around Gov. Roy Cooper’s budget veto. Senate leader Phil Berger, R-Rockingham, said the Senate will pass these piecemeal spending plans until Oct. 31,...
The Senate approved a plan to return millions in surplus tax revenue to taxpayers, despite complaints from some Democratic lawmakers who wanted to use the money for education or infrastructure. After a lengthy debate Tuesday, Aug. 27, the Senate voted 30-16 to pass House Bill 74, the Taxpayer Refund Act. The bill intends to refund...
