Civility and trust among North Carolina politicians were already being sorely tested, and now the controversy surrounding an override of the governor's budget veto has greatly damaged both.
A joint legislative redistricting committee met Wednesday to begin the court-ordered process for redrawing a minimum of 28 legislative electoral maps. Sen. David Lewis, R-Harnett, chairman of the House redistricting committee, said the goal is to get input from public hearings in August, September, and October. That would be added to lawmakers’ recommendations to create...
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,...
While the juvenile justice system can cost more in the short run, it appears to produce lower rates of recidivism — of young offenders committing more crimes in the future.
Republicans in the General Assembly have contended nonpartisan elections mask important candidate information from the voting public. Many blamed last year’s loss of Republicans’ majority on the state Supreme Court to the absence of party labels by candidates’ names. The GOP-led General Assembly passed legislation at the end of 2016 to require Supreme Court and...
RALEIGH — State lawmakers have introduced a broad bill aimed at cracking down on certain undocumented immigrants. The bill, sponsored by Rep. Harry Warren, R-Rowan, would increase penalties for people who manufacture or sell false ID cards. It would also make it more difficult for people not lawfully in the country to post bond if...
The House higher education committee on Tuesday gave its nod to a bill decreasing the number of members on the UNC Board of Governors from 32 to 24. The measure would eliminate positions on the board as the terms of current members expire. “The intent of this bill frankly is to make the Board of Governors,...
A coalition of policy and advocacy groups renewed their efforts to convince the General Assembly to set up an independent redistricting process based on a model adopted in Iowa as a means of ending partisan gerrymandering. The Iowa redistricting model empowers the nonpartisan legislative staff to draw the congressional and legislative maps. It emphasizes compactness, and...
The 2017 long session of the General Assembly starts Wednesday, and the first day is likely to be more ceremonial than substantive. Once members are sworn in and leaders in the House and Senate are elected, lawmakers will head home. They return Jan. 25 to get to work in earnest. Lt. Gov. Dan Forest will gavel...
RALEIGH — Eighty percent of the members of the N.C. House are cosponsors of a bill that would allow a public vote on a constitutional amendment limiting the powers of governments to seize private property, but that doesn’t mean it will ever come up for a vote.
