News
NC legislature adjourns, returning July 27 for unfinished business
NC lawmakers adjourned short session with the budget, pending bills, and veto fights awaiting action ahead of a July 27 return.
Opinion
General Assembly should go big, then go home
The 2026 primary has given legislators a chance to show their constituents that they can do their jobs well and go back to their districts in a reasonable amount of time. They should not squander that opportunity.
News
Berger introduces reappraisal delay bill as property tax pressures grow
Under the bill, counties that conducted property revaluations this year would be required to ignore their newly updated property values for the 2026-27 fiscal year and instead continue using values from their previous reappraisal.
Opinion
Let’s change how the legislature works
North Carolina House Speaker Destin Hall earned at least two rounds of bipartisan applause at the start of this year’s legislative session. One was for assuming his new leadership post. The other was for releasing a House calendar for the next six months, complete with specific deadlines and a pledge to “give you some certainty...
News
Cooper vetoes HB 10 after crticizing Opportunity Scholarship funding
Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper has vetoed H.B. 10, the multifaceted bill that fully funds Opportunity Scholarships, requires sheriffs to cooperate with ICE, and includes adjustments to the budget proposal. Just a day before, Cooper spent most of his time as the keynote speaker Thursday at the Legislative Session of the 151st Annual North Carolina Press Association (NCPA) Convention blasting Opportunity Scholarships, insisting they will hurt public schools.
Opinion
Short and sweet: My wish for the legislative session
As the pinks, purples, and whites of blooming dogwood trees paint the landscape and a blanket of yellow pine pollen settles over everything, signaling the unmistakable arrival of springtime in North Carolina, another significant event is near — the “short session” of the state General Assembly. Yet, amidst the seasonal renewal, there is a healthy...
Opinion
The pros and cons of legislative session limits
Legislative session limits can be imposed by rule, statute or constitution. Rules and statutes do not work as intended because they will be overridden when important business needs to be attended to. A later statute trumps the previous one, as in “Notwithstanding General Statute XYZ, the General Assembly enacts.” So if the state wants to...
Opinion
Budget delay strengthens case for limits
House Speaker Tim Moore told reporters last week that the North Carolina General Assembly is unlikely to craft and approve a state budget deal before Labor Day. That’s more than two months into the 2023-24 fiscal year that began July 1. The good news is that, in stark contrast to the rules of the federal...
Opinion
Strike a better balance on housing
The North Carolina General Assembly is bustling with activity. Lawmakers are considering a dramatic increase in parental control over the education of their children, major changes in school governance and the structure of state government, pro-consumer reforms of the state’s energy policies, an acceleration of pro-growth tax cuts, huge investments in public buildings and infrastructure,...
Opinion
Short session priorities for the General Assembly
The 2021 long legislative session was the longest in North Carolina history, lasting from January 2021 into March of this year. During the session, lawmakers faced many complex issues, such as dealing with the ongoing pandemic, passing a biennial budget, and redrawing voting district lines for the next decade. While those issues dominated the headlines,...
Opinion
General Assembly session now expected to last deep into fall
Members of the North Carolina General Assembly will take a couple of extra days off over the Labor Day weekend. No votes are planned before September 8. However, the long session has now touched nine different months, with no end in sight. As of Friday, September 3, the North Carolina House will have conducted business...
Opinion
Next session gives lawmakers chance to practice for 2019
The General Assembly should stick to the business it needs to complete before the end of the year.
