_
Facebook-f Twitter Linkedin-in

Independent. Informative. Intelligent.

Budget & Taxes

House panel backs unemployment benefit increase

Meanwhile, the House Finance Committee moved its first piece of legislation, endorsing a bill that would raise unemployment insurance payouts and give employers a small tax break. Tuesday’s vote put House Bill 48 on the path to the House floor, with only a review by the chamber’s Rules committee standing...

By Ray Gronberg

February 12, 2025

House refines its latest Helene bill

State House leaders have come up with an initial plan for spending the additional $500 million they want to allot to Hurricane Helene recovery efforts. The updated version of House Bill 47 would allot: $150 million to jumpstart housing reconstruction. $150 million to help farmers remove debris, stabilize stream banks...

By Ray Gronberg

February 6, 2025

Healthcare costs, mandates in the crosshairs

I was hanging out for the GOP caucus photo because I wanted to talk to Sen. Jim Burgin, R-Harnett, who’s the lead sponsor of one of the first bills in the session that’s likely to gain traction. This would be Senate Bill 24, which would cap the number of health-benefit...

By Ray Gronberg

February 5, 2025

Bills seek to restore local downzoning powers

As Senate leader Phil Berger expected, state House and Senate members have filed multiple bills that seek to undo in whole or in part the last session’s revocation of local-government downing authority. In the House, a group led by Rep. Jay Adams, R-Catawba, has introduced House Bill 24, which would...

By Ray Gronberg

February 3, 2025

House committee assignments set

House Speaker Destin Hall, R-Caldwell, finally announced his chamber’s committee assignments for the 2025-26 sessions, and as with the Senate’s there are some changes. Perhaps the most notable is that Rep. John Torbett, R-Gaston, is no longer co-chairing the House’s Education/K-12 committee. The panel’s leaders for this biennium are Reps....

By Ray Gronberg

January 30, 2025

Rep. Joe John announces resignation

Sad news from Rep. Joe John, D-Wake, who announced he’s stepping down because he’s received “a terminal diagnosis” following the exhaustion of his treatment options for cancer. “This decision, though incredibly difficult, is made with the intention of focusing on my health and spending cherished time with my family during...

By Ray Gronberg

January 21, 2025

Auditor reports on NCDOT’s FY24 spending

State Auditor Dave Boliek’s office reports that the N.C. Department of Transportation underspent its fiscal 2023-24 its cash-outlay plan by 7.1%, leaving $583 million of a planned outlay of $8.3 billion for later use. Boliek sees this as a good thing, as he said via a news release that the...

By Ray Gronberg

January 16, 2025

Inflation risk still confronts the Fed, UNCC economist says

The Federal Reserve needs to clamp down on inflation now even if the cost is pushing the U.S. economy into a recession, UNC Charlotte economist John Connaughton says. Speaking at the NC Chamber’s annual economic forecast, Connaughton said that without counting energy and food costs, the underlying inflation rate is...

By Ray Gronberg

January 15, 2025

Berger leaves door open for AI bill

Legislators have to “tread very carefully” when it comes to regulating the uses of artificial intelligence, Senate leader Phil Berger says. Still, “I know that there are concerns out there,” many of them “legitimate concerns, about the impact of artificial intelligence on all manner of things,” Berger said. His comments...

By Ray Gronberg

January 9, 2025

Batch chooses office and caucus staff

New Senate Democratic Leader Sydney Batch has taken a page from Hall’s book by keeping some of predecessor Dan Blue’s aides, supplementing them with a few of her own hires. Batch’s chief of staff and general counsel, Lisa Stifler, was Sen. Blue’s deputy chief of staff and general counsel after...

By Ray Gronberg

January 9, 2025

Hall speaks up for rural N.C.

In his opening comments to the House, Hall said one of his priorities as speaker is finding ways to stem the hollowing-out of rural North Carolina. “We’ve got to figure out ways to incentivize people like me from rural North Carolina who left to go get an education, incentivize them...

By Ray Gronberg

January 9, 2025

Session begins

The 2025 long session of the General Assembly is officially underway, following the swearing-in of House and Senate members on Wednesday and the approval of operational rules in both chambers. Senate leader Phil Berger said committee assignments in his chamber should be announced later this week. Over in the House,...

By Ray Gronberg

January 9, 2025

Senate Bill 382 veto override

Monday saw the state Senate return to Raleigh for a veto override and some unexpected constitutional-amendment business. The chamber’s override vote on Senate Bill 382 went as expected, a 30-19 split along partisan lines that left the fate of the omnibus measure in the hands of the House. It will...

By Ray Gronberg

December 3, 2024

Tillis, Paul clash over Helene relief funding

Tensions over funding for western North Carolina’s storm-ravaged communities get hotter all the time. Late Wednesday night, U.S. Sens. Thom Tillis and Rand Paul had an unusually raucous debate on the Senate floor. The two Republicans mixed it up after the Kentucky senator accused his North Carolina peer of blocking...

By Ray Gronberg

November 22, 2024

Rainy day funds

If North Carolina blows through its $4.75 billion rainy day fund dealing with Hurricane Helene’s aftermath, and if it then needs to restock it to the tune of $10 billion or more, that begs the question of where the money’s going to come from. It won’t come from a tax...

By Ray Gronberg

November 22, 2024

Facebook-f Twitter Linkedin