Opinion
User-fee principle should guide future N.C. transportation choices
A national expert offers five reasons to rely on fees to guide N.C. Department of Transportation decisions.
Opinion
Will hybrids drive the economy?
One recent study projects that home-based work will account for 20% of full workdays in the United States, up from 5% before the COVID crisis.
News
Audit finds inaccuracies with NCDOT advance construction report
The state auditor said in an examination released Wednesday, May 26, that the N.C. Department of Transportation’s sloppy record keeping led to inaccurate reports on advance construction. That type of construction allows for road projects to be financed with federal highway money administered by the Federal Highway Administration in advance of receiving them. But Auditor...
News
Energy leaders, experts say N.C. too reliant on Colonial, Transco pipelines
North Carolina remains vulnerable to fuel shortages because it’s too reliant on a pair of pipelines for gas and energy, industry leaders and experts told lawmakers. The point is made even more crucial because of a recent rise in both the number and sophistication of cyberattacks, such as the one that recently crippled the Colonial...
News
North Carolina running out of room to borrow for road projects
North Carolina may run out of room to borrow money for transportation projects in just a few years, according to a new report released this week by State Treasurer Dale Folwell. This puts in jeopardy the state’s Build NC Bonds, a $3 billion transportation package approved in 2018. At the current rate, the Department of...
Opinion
Sales-tax hike is unneeded
Gov. Cooper’s commission proposes raising the sales tax and using half the proceeds to reduce the gas tax. The net tax hike would come to as much as $6.3 billion over the next 10 years.
News
State lawmakers look to eliminate hand-held cellphone use by drivers
State lawmakers are trying again to eliminate the use of hand-held cellphones by operators of motor vehicles. A bipartisan group of legislators recently introduced Senate Bill 20, “Hands Free NC,” in hopes it will go into effect July 1 if passed by the legislature and signed into law by Gov. Roy Cooper. The bill would...
News
Commission recommends 40% funding increase for DOT months after an audit showed excess spending
Less than a year after an audit of the N.C. Department of Transportation found massive overspending, a blue-ribbon panel is recommending the department get a 40% budget hike. The N.C. First Commission, created by former Transportation Secretary Jim Trogdon to assess the state’s transportation priorities, recently suggested that state transportation should get an additional $2...
News
NCGA oversight committee weighs using tougher audits to get DOT spending under control
Lawmakers are trying to fix the Department of Transportation’s spending problems that triggered mass layoffs, project delays, and chaos in the transportation industry. The department’s overspending exposed failures in oversight, both in the department itself and in the Council of Internal Auditing. The department’s internal oversight is so ineffective that it violates state law, according...
Podcast
Carolina Journal Radio No. 899: Data help create a typical COVID-19 patient profile
Now that we’ve been dealing with COVID-19 for several months, health experts have better information about the typical characteristics of patients struggling with the disease. Jordan Roberts, John Locke Foundation health care policy analyst, recently reviewed available data and compiled them for a COVID-19 patient profile. The 2020 election is approaching, and the John Locke...
Video
JLF’s Mitch Kokai discusses DOT pay raises and state pension concerns
Mitch Kokai, John Locke Foundation senior political analyst, discusses the impact of recent N.C. Department of Transportation pay raises on the state’s public pension system. Kokai offered these comments during the Aug. 7, 2020, edition of UNC-TV’s “Front Row with Marc Rotterman.”
News
CJ politics week in review, July 27-31
Each week, staff at Carolina Journal looks back at the week in N.C. politics and chooses several interesting, relevant stories you may have missed. N.C. State Fair: North Carolinanians won’t get to sample overindulgent fried foods or take a spin on some of the fair’s dizzying rides this fall. COVID-19 has killed the 2020 N.C....
