Self-proclaimed “recognized leaders in the North Carolina business community” are jumping into the Leandro school funding debate. They filed paperwork Wednesday in the N.C. Supreme Court to support plaintiffs seeking court-ordered education funding.
The N.C. Community College System elected Thomas Stith III to lead it through the coronavirus pandemic and steep enrollment losses. Stith will become president of a system of 58 community colleges that enroll about 700,000 students a year. He now serves as district director of the U.S. Small Business Administration, a federal agency that secured...
RALEIGH — North Carolina is among a number of state governments plagued by massive unfunded liabilities for state retirees’ health insurance benefits, and, like many of its counterparts, it is placing greater responsibility for costs on members in a movement known as medical consumerism. The State Health Plan is shifting toward coverage that puts more responsibility on plan members to contain costs while giving them more choices.
RALEIGH — Administration officials hope the move would free up efforts to recruit businesses while providing rewards for the individuals who bring jobs to the state, not just tax breaks and cash incentives to the businesses themselves. Senate Bill 127, allowing the Department of Commerce to contract with a nonprofit corporation to conduct economic development functions, passed an initial House vote 76-38.
RALEIGH — Jobs and education are the top issues in the campaign to succeed retiring five-term Republican Sen. Richard Stevens for state Senate District 17, which covers southwestern Wake County. The race pits Republican attorney Tamara Barringer against Democratic Wake County Commissioner Erv Portman in this Republican-leaning district.
RALEIGH — Court documents show that five prominent individuals were implicated in questionable and potentially illegal financial schemes involving former Gov. Mike Easley and his general counsel, Ruffin Poole. None were charged with crimes.
RALEIGH — State Treasurer Janet Cowell has appointed six people, including a former CEO of Wachovia, to an expanded Investment Advisory Committee to help her decide how to invest the state’s pension funds.
Dr. Dennis Rondinelli believes that soaring costs and dubious benefits of corporate welfare, such as the Dell deal, will haunt North Carolina for years.
RALEIGH — A bill that would expand funding and the number of projects that can be subsidized for economic development was tabled in a Senate Finance Committee meeting Tuesday. Both Democrat and Republican senators doubted the worth of the Job Development Investment Grant program in a lively debate. Some thought the legislation might have failed in a vote before its sponsor, GOP Sen. Fletcher Hartsell of Concord, asked that the bill be set aside. Current law allows the state to provide tax-rebate incentives for 15 businesses per year, with up to $10 million per year for the entire program. The new legislation would increase the potential number of projects to 25, at a cost of up to $18 million annually.
University of North Carolina officials on Monday pressed legislators for increased faculty salary pay, saying that UNC campuses would suffer significant losses of their best faculty if pay and benefits aren't improved soon.
