The N.C. legislature has passed a bill that would allow someone with a concealed carry permit to carry a handgun onto property that is both a church and a school, but only during non-school hours. The bill heads to the desk of Gov. Roy Cooper. Current law makes carrying a weapon onto a school property...
Sports betting legislation hasn’t seen much movement in North Carolina, although sponsors are hopeful to see action in June. Senate Bill 688, sponsored by Sens. Jim Perry, R-Wayne, and Paul Lowe, D-Forsyth, was referred to the Committee on Rules and Operations of the Senate on April 8 and has sat there since. As previously reported...
The state House has voted to make North Carolina the 26th state to withdraw from the Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation program, which provides an extra $300-a-week in jobless benefits to the unemployed because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Senate Bill 116 passed in a largely party-line 71-36 vote on Wednesday, June 3. In addition to ending...
Unemployed people who get a job would receive a one-time bonus of $1,500 under legislation spearheaded by Republicans in the N.C. General Assembly. “We’ve got to get our folks back to work,” said Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson, a Republican, at a press conference on Tuesday, June 1. “We believe that the way to get folks...
Personal income tax rates would be slashed and the corporate tax rate entirely eliminated by 2028 under a proposal rolled out on Tuesday, May 25, by N.C. Senate Republicans. The plan would reduce North Carolina’s flat income tax rate from 5.25% to 4.99%. It would also raise the standard deduction from $21,500 to $25,500 for...
A proposed tax cut from Senate Republicans would move North Carolina to fifth in the state business tax climate rankings, the Tax Foundation says. North Carolina, now 10th, ranked 46th when Republicans took control of the General Assembly in 2011. The Tax Foundation is an independent, nonprofit tax research group. The proposed cut would slash...
A legislative bill that would allocate $750 million in federal relief money toward broadband growth has passed the House Appropriations Committee. That vote last week came a day after Gov. Roy Cooper unveiled his plan to spend $1.2 billion of $5.7 million in funding from the federal American Rescue Plan Act for high-speed internet access. ...
An executive order issued by Gov. Roy Cooper on Friday, May 21, requires recipients of unemployment benefits to prove they are searching for work to continue receiving benefits. The move makes North Carolina part of a growing number of states to reimplement the work-search requirement. The order, which kicks into effect June 6, requires all...
In anticipation of delayed results from the U.S. Census this year, N.C. lawmakers have introduced a bill that gives local municipalities the option of delaying their 2021 elections to 2022. The change would only apply to about 37 local jurisdictions — including Raleigh, Charlotte, Cary, Fayetteville, and Greensboro — who elect candidates on a district...
For the average American, disconnect from the federal government remains exorbitant. It should be with lawmakers running up obscene amounts of debt on top of the nonstop partisan bickering. Yet, even now, all is not lost in representative government, thanks mostly due to the work of state legislatures. This is a point made particularly well...
Occupational therapists who move to North Carolina would have an easier time getting back to work under a bill in the General Assembly. Two bills with significant support would have the state join an interstate compact to recognize occupational therapy licenses in other states. They mark another small step toward removing artificial barriers created by...
