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State fiscal forecast: cloudy

Legislative and executive-branch fiscal forecasters say they anticipate the state will collect $34.7 billion in general-fund revenues in fiscal 2026-27, about 1% less than what they think the state’s likely to collect by this summer. In dollar terms, that’d be $360 million less than in fiscal 2025-26, which nonetheless is...

By Ray Gronberg

March 25, 2026

Commerce gauges counties’ vitality

State Commerce Department officials have created an “economic vitality” dashboard to help gauge how well North Carolina’s counties are faring relative to others and to the country as a whole. It uses a fairly simple composite set of metrics from 14 years, namely average unemployment rates, private sector weekly wages,...

By Ray Gronberg

March 25, 2026

Berger concedes to Page

Senate leader Phil Berger, R-Rockingham, on Tuesday conceded that he lost his District 26 party primary to challenger Sam Page. “While this was a close race, the voters have spoken, and I congratulate Sheriff Page on his victor,” Berger said in a statement issued by his campaign just before 4...

By Ray Gronberg

March 24, 2026

Turner vs. Winston

Asheville-area Rep. Brian Turner, D-Buncombe, is unhappy with the way a prominent Triangle hotelier and developer responded to a recent campaign email about the Iran war’s likely effects on the economy. The focus of Turner’s ire is Bob Winston, founder and CEO of Raleigh-based Winston Hospitality, which operates in North...

By Ray Gronberg

March 24, 2026

French company agrees to give up offshore wind leases for $928M

France’s TotalEnergies says it’s signed a settlement agreement with the Trump administration to give up two offshore wind leases, including one off the North Carolina coast. The company says its studies “have shown that offshore wind developments in the United States, unlike those in Europe, are costly and might have...

By Ray Gronberg

March 24, 2026

Justices allow class-action challenge to Raleigh fee

tate Supreme Court justices have rejected Raleigh’s bid to avoid a class-action lawsuit from real-estate developers who want compensation for what they allege was an illegal water and sewer fee. Speaking for a 6-0 court, Justice Anita Earls rejected the city’s contention that the case didn’t merit class-action status because...

By Ray Gronberg

March 23, 2026

Bolas named new CEO of NCInnovation

NCInnovation has taken the “acting” qualifier off the title of its CEO and says Michelle Bolas will continue in the role on a permanent basis. A former UNC Chapel Hill administrator, Bolas has headed the state-endowed nonprofit since former CEO Bennet Waters stepped down last November. She joined NCI in...

By Ray Gronberg

March 20, 2026

Leadership conference coming up on May 15

The 2026 NC Leadership Conference will bring together business, government, and policy leaders from across the state for a focused half-day program on Friday, May 15, at the N.C. Museum of Natural Sciences in Raleigh. Presented by Business North Carolina and the N.C. Tribune, the event is designed as a...

By Ray Gronberg

March 20, 2026

DOT offers assurances about I-40 rebuild

The rebuilt Interstate 40 in the Pigeon River Gorge will include things that should give it “a significant amount of resilience” against another major washout like the one triggered by Hurricane Helene, DOT’s top engineer says. “Long term, we expect the I-40 infrastructure repairs to be sustainable,” Chief Engineer Patrick...

By Ray Gronberg

March 20, 2026

Calls grow to rework McCrory-era road-planning system

There are now bipartisan calls for the state to rework the system it established under former Gov. Pat McCrory for deciding what transportation projects it should undertake. Multiple members of a new select committee House Speaker Destin Hall has assigned to look at “North Carolina’s transportation future,” said Thursday, the...

By Ray Gronberg

March 20, 2026

NYT: Trump pursing buyouts of offshore wind leases

The New York Times reports that the Trump administration is considering paying $133 million to buy out a French company’s lease of a potential offshore wind-energy site near the North Carolina coast. The potential offer would target the Carolina Long Bay project, which would go up about 22 miles south...

By Ray Gronberg

March 19, 2026

Rep. Mike Clampitt, 1955-2026

Sad news from Swain County, where Rep. Mike Clampitt, 71, died Wednesday after a lengthy battle with a rare type of cancer. House Speaker Destin Hall called the retired Charlotte Fire Department captain “a true patriot.” “He loved the people he served and cared deeply about the issues that mattered...

By Ray Gronberg

March 19, 2026

Duke rolls out “HomeGrown” program

Duke University and Duke Health say they’ll channel $203 million over three years into an effort to expand economic opportunity in Durham and the Triangle region. What they’re calling the HomeGrown initiative focuses on four areas where Duke says it can directly impact economic mobility: employment pathways, construction opportunities, local...

By Ray Gronberg

March 19, 2026

House panel set to vote in April on bills reducing hospital tax breaks

House leaders seem serious about the idea of cutting back on two key tax breaks for North Carolina’s nonprofit hospitals. Bills pending in the chamber’s Select Committee on Property Tax Reduction and Reform could combine to cost hospitals about $200 million a year, legislative staffers say. One of these would...

By Ray Gronberg

March 19, 2026

State Health Plan still battling deficit projections

New estimates are once again predicting that the State Health Plan faces a deficit in the not-too-distant future. Plan executive administrator Tom Friedman’s briefing of trustees on Tuesday shows its cash balance dropping into negative numbers by the middle of 2027. “We’re candidly never going to be done having to...

By Ray Gronberg

March 18, 2026