The fate of the budget veto override lies in the Senate, but don’t expect a vote any time soon. For now, redistricting is the Senate’s primary focus. Bill D’Elia, spokesman for Senate leader Phil Berger, R-Rockingham, said the Senate is laser-focused on finishing the process of redrawing the legislative maps as required by a three-judge...
The budget passed the N.C. House in a controversial veto override, but the debate over Medicaid expansion is far from over. House Speaker Tim Moore, R-Cleveland, promised a vote on Medicaid expansion after a veto override passed. He said members will debate the Republican version of the plan, House Bill 655, this week. The Senate,...
Newly released school performance grades show reading scores have remained stagnant despite millions spent on reading interventions. The N.C. State Board of Education in its monthly meeting Wednesday, Sept. 4, released the 2018-19 Accountability and School Performance Grades report. The report includes test data for a variety of subjects, school growth data, and the number...
The Republican-led N.C. General Assembly must draw new state House and Senate district maps, a court has ruled. But the ruling — delivered in Common Cause v. Lewis — won’t prevent excessive future gerrymandering, experts say. Tuesday, Sept. 3, a three-judge Superior Court panel scrapped North Carolina’s election maps. The voting districts were cases of...
Three days. Three vetoes. Gov. Roy Cooper announced late Friday, Aug. 23, that he vetoed Senate Bill 438, the Excellent Public School Act of 2019. Wednesday he vetoed House Bill 370, a measure requiring local law officers to cooperate with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials who have issued detention orders on illegal immigrants who...
Certificate of Need reform could join the other health-care issues that are ensnared in the fight over the budget veto override and Medicaid expansion. House Bill 126 would have loosened CON laws, which require health providers to apply to the government for permission before building, expanding, or buying expensive medical equipment. The bill had passed...
Gov. Roy Cooper isn’t waiting for lawmakers to act. Cooper on Monday, Aug. 12, signed an Executive Directive aimed at improving gun safety and preventing gun-related suicides in North Carolina. The Democratic governor announced the initiative at the N.C. Department of Public Safety’s School Safety Summit in Greensboro. “Recognizing that the odds are long for...
[This story has been updated with additional comments] Democratic lawmakers want the General Assembly to act on a pair of gun-control bills. In a morning news conference, Democratic lawmakers urged Republicans to sign discharge petitions, which would move two gun-control bills out of committee and onto the House floor for debate. “I invite my Republican...
[This story has been updated with additional comments] Gov. Roy Cooper has vetoed a bill that would allow a low-performing virtual charter school to add students. Senate Bill 392 contains a provision that would lift the maximum student enrollment cap for one of the state’s two virtual charter schools, N.C. Virtual Academy. Under the bill,...
A group of House Republicans is taking another whack at what they call an alternative to Medicaid expansion so uninsured North Carolina residents can obtain health coverage. State Reps. Donny Lambeth, R-Forsyth; Josh Dobson, R-McDowell; Greg Murphy, R-Pitt; and Donna McDowell White, R-Johnston, held a news conference Tuesday, April 9, before they introduced House Bill...
State Treasurer Dale Folwell wants the U.S. Department of Justice to require all North Carolina hospitals to be transparent in their pricing and recover excessive charges hospitals made to the State Health Plan. He said the N.C. Healthcare Association, which represents hospitals, wants the General Assembly to derail his cost-cutting reforms. Folwell made those claims...
