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Lawmakers Not Concerned About ‘Green’ Energy Claims

RALEIGH — Two leading legislative critics of tax incentives to the renewable energy industry have not taken issue with an unusual new program used by Duke Energy allowing high-consumption electricity customers using traditional energy to claim their plants are powered by renewable sources.

Dan Way
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N.C. Obamacare Patients See Surging Premiums

RALEIGH — As the Jan. 31 deadline to obtain a health insurance policy for 2016 on the federal health exchange looms, enrollment has grown slightly, but individuals signing up for Obamacare in 2016 should expect to pay premiums that are between 20 percent and 30 percent higher than those charged last year.

Dan Way
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Critics Worry About Debt Load From Bond Package

RALEIGH — While publicly lobbying for the $2 billion Connect NC bond referendum that will be on the March 15 ballot, Gov. Pat McCrory and members of his administration say the measure will be fiscally prudent, reducing state General Fund debt over the next five years. But a small and growing chorus has criticized the bond proposal.

Dan Way
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Watchdogs Keep Tabs on Government Press Officers

RALEIGH — A national government watchdog group is collecting examples of government employees who are responsible for providing public information but in fact impede the free flow of information to journalists. Media executives in North Carolina say the problem is pervasive here, especially in state government.

Dan Way
News

McCrory Names New Budget, Revenue Chiefs

RALEIGH — Lee Roberts will have completed 18 months as state budget director when he leaves Feb. 1 for a private sector job. Andrew Heath, chairman of the North Carolina Industrial Commission, will succeed Roberts. Gov. Pat McCrory tapped Revenue Secretary Lyons Gray for an emergency appointment to a vacant seat on the North Carolina Utilities Commission. Department of Revenue Chief Operating Officer Jeff Epstein will succeed Gray.

Dan Way

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Lawmakers Notified Of Renewable Tax Credit Cost

RALEIGH — State officials, lawmakers, and renewable energy consultants attempted Tuesday to downplay the $937.8 million cost of tax credits sought under the state’s new Safe Harbor Act — a total more than five times higher than initial projections. Some worried the program will be a drain on state finances that will provide large banks and insurance companies a windfall at the expense of taxpayers.

Dan Way
News

Direct Primary Care Could Cover State Workers, Medicaid

RALEIGH — A growing health care alternative in North Carolina that shuns insurance for services provided by physicians at a set price could be incorporated into the state’s insurance program for government employees, along with Medicaid — the federal/state health insurance plan for the poor, aged, and disabled.

Dan Way
News

Dozens of Lawmakers Face Smooth Path to Election

RALEIGH — Gov. Pat McCrory, U.S. Sen. Richard Burr, and 2nd District U.S. Rep. Renee Ellmers are among high-profile Republican incumbents who have drawn Republican primary opponents, but 54 other candidates were, in effect, elected to the General Assembly on Monday because nobody chose to run against them from either party when filing ended.

Dan Way
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Both Sides Declare Victory In Ruling On Open Meetings

RALEIGH — A Superior Court judge ordered the Alamance-Burlington Board of Education to release previously undisclosed information about the circumstances surrounding the departure of a school superintendent in what media lawyer John Bussian said was “a big deal” for the public’s right to know. A former school board member disputes the importance of the ruling.

Dan Way
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Rucho: Lawmakers Not Done With Tax Reform

RALEIGH — North Carolina residents could receive a larger personal income tax exemption if the General Assembly’s 2016 short session follows the lead of state Sen. Bob Rucho, R-Mecklenburg, who has led the Senate’s tax reform efforts since 2011, when Republicans took control of that body.

Dan Way
News

Brash Trump Wows Crowd Friday in Raleigh

RALEIGH — The enthusiasm expressed by more than 7,000 attendees Friday night in a packed Dorton Arena suggested they agreed with the brash statements of billionaire businessman Donald Trump, the GOP presidential candidate who was lauded by several attendees as an astute entrepreneur and charismatic leader who would protect the nation.

Dan Way