Opinion
Ignoring The Rules
Regardless of what its members might think, the N.C. State Board of Education does not operate above the law.
News
JLF President Documents State-Level Budget Crises for National Affairs
RALEIGH — This is a “year of reckoning” for American states and American federalism, as governments across the United States scramble to cope with “gaping holes” in their budgets. John Locke Foundation President John Hood reaches that conclusion in an article for the Winter 2011 issue of National Affairs.
News
Top State Investment Officer Resigns Unexpectedly
RALEIGH — One of the state’s highest-paid public employees tendered her resignation not long after pension fund announced losses.
News
Market Crash Pinches N.C. Pension for Teachers and State Employees
RALEIGH — North Carolina has been among a handful of states to fund its pension program fully for public school teachers and state workers in recent years, but it will have to pay millions more this year and for years to come because of the recession and the downturn in financial markets.
Opinion
Please Raise This Tax
Please raise the tax on state and local government bonds – immediately.
News
Audit Examines NC Energy Office
RALEIGH — A major source of funding for the State Energy Office, which is responsible for promoting energy efficiency and alternative fuels, will disappear next year if the General Assembly continues allocations at the present levels, the State Auditor’s Office said in an audit released Friday. Auditors said that the legislation which created the office had not undergone a major revision since 1975 and that it may no longer reflect the state’s energy landscape or needs. They also recommended that the office do a better job of maintaining centralized files for each grant project and monitoring projects that it finances.
Opinion
The Bush Tax Cuts and the States’ Budgets
Contrary to what many local politicians predicted, the Bush tax cuts of 2003 appear to have helped, not hurt, state budgets by boosting growth. But North Carolina still lags.
Opinion
Crazy California Beats North Carolina
The Golden State's political system is wacky, and its recall election is downright zany, but it did outperform North Carolina this year in one important regard.
Opinion
Suspend Skepticism — Just This Once
It is exceedingly strange that the Strates family has regained the North Carolina State Fair contract. But it's just for one year -- and it appears to be on the level.
Opinion
The Jolly Good Pirates
If the Pirates of the Caribbean swung onto your ship, took virtually everything, but let you keep a change of clothes, would you feel grateful?
Opinion
Let’s Make a Deal: 2003
The State Senate fell short in its last-minute bid to slip a $180 million cancer hospital through the House. Was it truly the "deal" some Senate leaders claimed?
News
North Carolina’s State of Disrepair
RALEIGH — Because the state’s Repairs and Renovation Reserve has been drastically underfunded for at least three years, universities and other state institutions are patching their buildings with operating funds — or in some instances, are closing buildings. In Raleigh, even the State Capitol building proved no match for neglect. Plaster in its dome, soaked by rainwater that leaked inside, cracked and fell into interior walkways. Critics of North Carolina’s political leadership say the problem stems from a misplacement of priorities rather than from a lack of money.
