A split 2-1 state Superior Court panel has rejected North Carolina’s voter ID law, five months after holding a trial in the case. The court majority labeled the 2018 law racially discriminatory and unconstitutional. Judges Michael O’Foghludha and Vince Rozier, both Democrats, issued the majority opinion in the case. Judge Nathaniel Poovey, a Republican, dissented....
When the calendar flipped from 2020 to 2021, some breathed a sigh of relief. The advent of COVID-19 and the associated pandemic policies were a whirlwind of emergency measures that threw the state, nation, and world into disarray. What has transpired over the first half of this year could well be considered the aftermath, even...
Former state lawmaker David Lewis will serve two years of supervised release and is ordered to pay a $1,000 fine, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorneys Office told Carolina Journal. Lewis, a Harnett County Republican, served in the N.C. House. Lewis, who won’t serve prison time, resigned from the House in August 2020. A court...
The state Senate plan offers much more aggressive tax relief for North Carolinians.
The city of Charlotte is set to approve an ordinance aimed at barring businesses and employers from discriminating against people based on transgender identity and other “protected classes.” The measure is similar to the one that launched the “Bathroom Bill” controversy in 2016 and led to a significant fundraising advantage for Democrats in that year’s...
Things are quiet this week on Jones Street in Raleigh, even as work on a state budget plan, which the governor may or may not sign, looms in the legislature. The N.C. Senate on June 25 approved its budget proposal, supported by all Republicans and a handful of Democrats. The House, though, probably won’t take...
A bill that advocates say would boost access to dentistry, especially in the state’s rural areas, is sailing through the General Assembly. Senate Bill 146, sponsored by Sen. Jim Perry, R-Lenoir, has received nearly unanimous support in both chambers. After minor revisions in the House, the Senate could reconsider the legislation Wednesday, July 21. From...
The General Assembly may allocate hundreds of millions in federal relief toward closing the digital divide this session, but a John Locke Foundation expert says lawmakers still need to reduce regulations to further help the expansion of broadband infrastructure. The budget passed by the Senate would allocate $330 million for Growing Rural Economies with Access...
At least one local board of education has voted to delay controversial new social studies standards that emphasize race and gender in teaching U.S. history and civics. The Moore County Board of Education voted unanimously June 14 to adopt a resolution, urging the N.C. State Board of Education or lawmakers to delay implementation of the...
While the N.C. Senate didn’t handle sports betting legislation before the Fourth of July break, there’s still hope of legal wagers in the state outside of the two Cherokee casinos. Senate President Pro Tem Phil Berger, R-Rockingham, said recently that he expects lawmakers to discuss sports betting legislation later this session. The Legislature focused on...
After years of delays, North Carolina’s Medicaid program has finally transitioned to a managed care system — becoming the last large state to do so. Starting July 1, the state’s Medicaid system will be operated as a managed care program, essentially privatizing a system that once relied on the government paying medical providers directly based...
