A bill allowing a few towns to operate their own charter schools is closer to becoming law. The Senate education and rules committees passed House Bill 514 on Wednesday, May 30, but not without criticism. H.B. 514 would allow four Mecklenburg County towns — Mint Hill, Matthews, Cornelius, and Huntersville — to run charter schools...
Sen. Jerry Tillman, R-Randolph, posed a question summing up the sometimes tense relationship between charter schools and traditional public schools. “When I talk to charter people, they say that funding is not equal,” Tillman said during a Thursday, Feb. 22, meeting of the Joint Legislative Task Force on Education Finance Reform. “When I talk to...
Flexibility was the word of the day in a meeting of the Joint Legislative Task Force on Education Finance Reform. Several superintendents and local education agency finance officers Wednesday, Jan. 31, shared recommendations with legislators on reforming the school funding formula. These included increasing flexibility on how allocated funds are spent in regard to meeting...
The Senate’s sweeping $1 billion tax cut plan passed its first vote Tuesday along party lines. But even bigger news — and a larger tax cut — might emerge from the House. Rep. David Lewis, R-Harnett, a vice chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, said after the Senate and House tax plans are reconciled, “We...
Stark differences in conservative Republican and liberal Democratic fiscal priorities were clearly on display during a Senate Finance Committee meeting Wednesday at which a $1 billion tax cut package was approved by voice vote. Senate Bill 325 was then forwarded to the Senate Rules Committee, where it was passed Thursday morning, and now heads to...
Updated, 2:19 p.m. Another day, another veto override vote went against Gov. Roy Cooper. On Thursday, after minimal debate the state Senate voted 32-15 to override Cooper’s veto of House Bill 100, a measure restoring partisan designations on the ballot for Superior and District court elections. With Wednesday’s 74-44 override from the House, the measure becomes law....
A bipartisan group of House members this morning filed a bill to amend the state constitution to prevent government taking private property. House Bill 3, the first proposed legislation filed as lawmakers returned to Raleigh today, states: “Private property shall not be taken by eminent domain except for a public use. Just compensation shall be...
As legislative Republicans return to Raleigh, additional tax reforms will be on their agenda. The 2017 session opens in earnest Wednesday, and the leaders of the House and Senate have said they want to continue the pace of tax reform, including lowering personal income taxes and spreading the sales tax base across more areas. Precise...
UPDATE: House Bill 242 was ratified Tuesday afternoon by the Senate. The state Senate on Monday gave its initial approval to what Sen. Jerry Tillman called a “clean-up bill” for charter schools. “It’s a bill to streamline regulations regarding charter schools, the fast replication of them,” said Tillman, R-Randolph. Currently, the State Board of Education...
Rick Henderson on Patrick Cannon corruption charges; legislators discuss targeted tax incentives; Timothy Barnsback & Jerry Tillman on performance pay for teachers; Shawn LeMond on competition in delivery of electricity; Jon Sanders on film incentives
