“Economies of scale, lower administrative costs, and more coordinated care will lower overall costs and improve the quality of health care.” This is a line we typically hear when large hospital systems merge or acquire smaller practices. To many, this may seem reasonable. For example, think about a large retail…
The N.C. Alcoholic Beverage Control system — created in 1937 in the wake of the repeal of Prohibition — for the past 80-plus years has remained mostly static. But this may soon change, as lawmakers have offered several proposals to repair the broken, outdated system. …
In 2011, Thom Tillis, Phil Berger, and the Republican leadership in the N.C. General Assembly removed the 100-school school cap included in the 1996 law that authorized the creation of charter schools, which are tuition-free public schools that have more freedom than district-run public schools. Removing the cap, along with…
Texas did it in 1985. California did it in 1987. Pennsylvania did it in 1996. New Hampshire did it in 2016. Florida did it in 2019. I’m talking about states that repealed their Certificate of Need laws. CON laws were implemented by almost every state as a condition to receiving…
The N.C. Senate on Wednesday, May 8, sparred over a pair of school choice bills that would expand eligibility for private school vouchers and lift the enrollment cap on virtual charter schools. Democratic lawmakers argued the two bills devalue public education and harm students. Republican…
A $470-million surge in April tax collections could push the state budget surplus to more than $700 million. Barry Boardman, chief economist for the General Assembly’s nonpartisan Fiscal Research Division, in a Monday, May 6, email alerted legislative leaders of both parties, House, and Senate…
As I listened Tuesday to a N.C. House committee discuss an alcohol bill, I thought about how America debated the 18th Amendment. In 1917, and for years after that. I thought about how we spoke to each other — those influenced by the…
More than 500,000 N.C. students won’t be in class May 1 as school districts across the state close so teachers can attend a planned rally in downtown Raleigh. As of Tuesday, April 16, 11 school districts and two charter schools will be closed for the…
Out-of-state teachers will have an easier time getting licensed in North Carolina. The State Board of Education voted Thursday, April 4, to allow out-of-state teachers to become licensed in North Carolina if they have already passed a licensing test in their home states.
The first step to saving money is to stop wasting it. A full-scale recodification of our criminal laws would empower North Carolina to accomplish exactly that. In December, the N.C. Supreme Court issued its opinion in State v. Rankin, a felony littering case that illustrates how North Carolina’s haphazard collection…
