Bipartisan legislation overwhelmingly passed the General Assembly last month that takes steps to fix the ongoing challenges in North Carolina’s child welfare system. It was signed into law on June 21. “Rylan’s Law” (House Bill 630) was named after Rylan Ott, a Moore County toddler who drowned in a pond after he was put back […]
Government Reform
Reviewing North Carolina’s FY2017-19 Budget
Planning your summer vacation and looking for some light beach reading? Joseph Coletti over at the John Locke Foundation has you covered with a comprehensive analysis of this year’s state budget: A New State Budget Based On Time-Tested Principles In his 1985 address to the North Carolina Foundation for Research and Economic Education (NC FREE), […]
Legislature Approves State Budget
The North Carolina General Assembly gave its overwhelming approval yesterday to a $23 billion state budget that, among other things, increases education investments by more than $700 million, raises teacher pay for the fourth consecutive year, provides needed disaster relief to communities affected by Hurricane Matthew, helps lower-income people by further expanding the state’s zero-tax bracket, and adds $363.9 million to the state’s savings reserve account. […]
Legislative Leaders Craft Budget Deal
Senate Leader Phil Berger (R-Rockingham) and House Speaker Tim Moore (R-Cleveland) held a joint press conference Monday to announce details of the roughly $23 billion budget and tax relief agreement reached between the state House and Senate. As a result of responsible budgeting decisions, millions of middle-class families and job-creating small businesses will keep more […]
House Releases 2017-18 Budget Plan
The North Carolina House of Representatives released highlights of its balanced budget proposal for the 2017-2018 biennium on Thursday, submitting a plan that continues to advance successful government investment strategies contributing to revenue surpluses, rainy day reserves, rapid economic and population growth this decade. The budget highlights released on Thursday were provided to area appropriations subcommittees […]
A New Era of Bipartisanship
What if you found yourself in court, suing a big company, and you learned that seven of the 12 of the jurors worked for the same company that your were suing? Would that make you wonder if the verdict might be rigged? How about the crooked politician who is facing charges of violating the State Government Ethics […]
Majority Leader Outlines Record of Success
The following piece was written by North Carolina House Majority Leader John Bell and first appeared in the North State Journal on February 8, 2016. What We’ve Done for North Carolina North Carolina was once a state that was defined by slow economic growth, high unemployment, burdensome taxes, and massive federal debt. Our great state […]
Throwback Thursday: A Little History
A few weeks ago, when the General Assembly called itself back into a special session following the passage of The Disaster Recovery Act of 2016, the legislature took up some important bipartisan reforms to North Carolina’s ethics, elections, and court systems. At the same time, another piece of bipartisan legislation, House Bill 17, was also passed […]
The NC Economy: Then vs. Now
Details of the Budget Compromise
Senate Leader Phil Berger (R-Rockingham) and House Speaker Tim Moore (R-Cleveland) held a joint press conference yesterday to announce details of the $22.34 billion budget agreement reached between Senate and House conferees this past weekend. The compromise budget includes a responsible 2.8 percent spending increase and achieves both chambers’ shared goals with Governor Pat McCrory of […]