Opinion
CJ Editorial: Legislators Deserve A Time-Out
Many legislative leaders behaved like petulant children at the end of the short session.
News
Public Budget Negotiations Result in Breakthrough
RALEIGH — House and Senate budget negotiators cleared a major obstacle Wednesday by compromising on the Medicaid component of a $21 billion 2014-15 General Fund spending plan, but still face potentially prickly deliberations on Medicaid reform, teacher pay, and teacher tenure. Senators insisted that a Medicaid agreement would enable further talks.
News
Late Budget From NCGA Nothing New
RALEIGH — Senate budget negotiators will meet Wednesday morning in a public “conference committee” to start ironing out differences between three fiscal plans: one proposed by Gov. Pat McCrory and two passed by each legislative chamber. The questions are whether House conferees will take part, and whether the Senate will consider a trimmed-down, adjusted budget the House passed last week.
News
McCrory Embraces JLF ‘Reverse Logrolling’ As Cost-Cutting Tool
RALEIGH — As outlined in a June 23 memo from state budget director Art Pope to department heads and fiscal officers, each state department and agency would operate under the lower of the previously approved figures from the House and Senate for individual budget line items. Unlike the status quo, which would allow state government to operate at 2014-15 budget levels agreed to during last year’s budget debate, “reverse logrolling” would impose immediate cuts to agency and department budgets.
News
McCrory’s Budget Raises Pay While Keeping Tax Cuts
RALEIGH — Gov Pat McCrory telegraphed his top spending priorities in the weeks leading up to Wednesday's unveiling of a $21 billion General Fund budget. The proposed 2014-15 budget is $359.5 million more than the current 2013-14 budget, representing a 1.7 percent increase. The spending plan includes modest spending increases even though the 2013 session of the General Assembly enacted a sweeping tax reform package including lower marginal tax rates.
News
Governor, NCGA Leaders Unveil Teacher Pay Plan
JAMESTOWN — Early career teachers will get pay raises starting in the fiscal year beginning July 1, and teachers with up to seven years of service will collect double-digit percentage increases, Gov. Pat McCrory announced Monday. The package is expected to cost less than $200 million and will not require a tax increase.
News
Catawbas’ Bid For Off-Reservation Casino Has Precedent
KINGS MOUNTAIN — After a lengthy court battle, the federal government approved a casino project in Kansas City, Kans., for the Wyandotte Nation of Oklahoma because of the tribe’s historical link to the area. The Seneca Nation of New York opened an in-state but off-reservation casino in a litigation-heavy case that has some similar elements to the Catawba project.
News
Audit: Medicaid Computer System Remains a Mess
RALEIGH — Widespread, serious flaws in the state Department of Health and Human Services’ long-suffering NCTracks Medicaid computer system might jeopardize more than $9 million in anticipated annual cost savings, according to a stinging state performance audit released late Monday afternoon.
Opinion
Better Roads, Better Jobs, Better Schools
Despite some negative headlines, the McCrory administration and the Republican-led General Assembly have made some historic accomplishments in their first year of work.
News
State Wants Court To Toss Voter ID Suits
RALEIGH — The response by the state to the lawsuits was filed Monday in the U.S. Middle District Court. In addition to asking that the lawsuits be dismissed and that a judgment be entered for the state, the state asked to be awarded attorneys’ fees and further relief that the court may deem just and proper.
News
McCrory Calls Federal Election Lawsuit ‘In The Fringes’
RALEIGH — Gov. Pat McCrory on Monday struck back at the federal government, saying the U.S. Department of Justice was “working in the fringes.” McCrory, a Republican, said the state would defend the lawsuit filed by the Democratic administration of President Barack Obama against the state’s new election laws vigorously.
News
Governor 0-for-2 During Veto Override Session
RALEIGH — Before this week, the only time the General Assembly had overridden the veto of a governor who shared the same political party as the legislative majority occurred in 2008. That override also occurred during a reconvened veto session, which at the time was another first.
