_
Facebook-f Twitter Linkedin-in

Independent. Informative. Intelligent.

Advertisement

Budget & Taxes

Troxler: Crop bill “not quite halfway” what ag needs

Agriculture Commissioner Steve Troxler says a House proposal to set up a $475 million crop-loss aid program for farmers who endured bad harvests in 2024 is only part of what the ag sector needs to recover. “Even though this bill addresses crop loss, we still have considerable losses in infrastructure...

By Ray Gronberg

February 21, 2025

House trying again on foreign-adversary controls

House leaders are going to have another stab at passing a bill that would greatly restrict the ability of Chinese state-owned businesses and other foreign adversaries to buy land in North Carolina. Filed Monday, House Bill 133’s lead sponsors include Rep. John Bell, R-Wayne, who’s chairman of the House Rules...

By Ray Gronberg

February 19, 2025

Bill calls for NCInnovation clawback

A quartet of House members want to terminate the state’s involvement with NCInnovation and reclaim the $500 million the legislature endowed the group with back in 2023 and 2024. Rep. Harry Warren, R-Rowan, filed House Bill 154 on Tuesday. Warren is the House GOP’s designated liaison with Senate Republicans. His...

By Ray Gronberg

February 19, 2025

Revenue forecast sets stage for budget talks

The first domino in the state’s budget process for the 2025-27 biennium has fallen with issuance of the joint executive/legislative revenue forecast. Analysts from the Office of State Budget and Management and the General Assembly’s Fiscal Research Division agree that North Carolina is likely to generate almost $69 billion in...

By Ray Gronberg

February 17, 2025

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

Facebook-f Twitter Linkedin