NCGA allocating money in reserve funds lacks transparency.
Nearly 72,000 applications were received for the expanded Opportunity Scholarship program in North Carolina by the close of the priority application window March 1, according to new data from the state government agency that oversees the program. That record-breaking number more than doubles the current number of recipients. Demand was so high in the first...
Congressional leaders have once again narrowly averted a government shutdown by passing a short term spending bill to fund government through March. Undoubtedly most political insiders and pundits are familiar with this reoccurring dance. The perpetual reliance on short-term funding bills not only reveals deep partisan divisions but also highlights the inability of Congress to...
Republican leaders have confirmed a new strategy that is expected to get Senate leader Phil Berger, R-Rockingham, the casinos he wants. That strategy includes a plan to expand Medicaid and legalize casinos in the same bill.
I feel a bit like Charlie Brown trying to kick the football with Lucy holding. In 2023, the word on Jones Street was that state legislators would come into session in January, work on the state budget early, pass the budget before June 30, and be done with the legislative session by Independence Day. Yet...
Donna King, Carolina Journal editor-in-chief, discusses Gov. Roy Cooper’s last State of the State address. King offered these comments during the March 10, 2023, edition of PBS North Carolina’s “Statelines.”
The 2022 General Election has come and gone. And while the oft-prophesied national “red wave” failed to materialize, North Carolina Republicans had a successful election season. Republican Congressman Ted Budd defeated Democrat Cheri Beasley for a US Senate seat that was considered one of the most competitive in the nation. Republicans won both state Supreme...
Another free-market think tank has ranked Democratic North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper positively with regard to fiscal policy, with the Cato Institute’s new governor’s rankings putting Cooper 6th overall. Cooper was the only Democrat in the top 10 and received a “B” grade overall. Cato’s report created scores for governors “on the basis of seven...
The revised budget being considered this week by the North Carolina General Assembly would increase funding for the Opportunity Scholarship Program and raise income thresholds needed to qualify. The budget puts an extra $56 million into the reserve fund for the scholarships, which are designed to give low- and moderate-income families the opportunity to leave their...
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.”
