Senate leader Phil Berger sat down with the N.C. Tribune to discuss the legislature’s priorities for the 2022 short session, which will start in the spring.

If you’re an early bird who likes to file your tax returns as soon as possible, your state refund might take a little longer this year.

No, they’re not from Publishers Clearing House – but state legislators are making the rounds this month with oversized fake checks. The checks are being used for ceremonial events highlighting multi-million-dollar funding for local communities in the recently passed state budget.

Late last month, Gov. Roy Cooper gave Republican legislators a choice: Agree to Medicaid expansion and Democrats would support major tax cuts; or they could decline to expand Medicaid and pass a budget without any income tax rate cuts.

Rep. Jason Saine took his family to Queens, N.Y., a few years ago because his son wanted to see the world championship for the popular video game Fornite. He says it made for a fun vacation, but he kept wondering why the event couldn’t be held in North Carolina instead.

Gov. Roy Cooper is trying once again to fill a vacant seat on the Division of Employment Security’s Board of Review, after the legislature didn’t take action to confirm his previous pick, former House Democratic Leader and former Secretary of Military and Veterans Affairs Larry Hall.

With the budget and redistricting done, what were legislators rushing to do on their (likely) final day of lawmaking for 2021?

In Buncombe County – home to Asheville and a four-hour drive from the state capital – all three incumbent House legislators are calling it quits.