State Politics

Leading budget writers offer details on $20.6 billion plan

Sen. Phil Berger during session at the N.C. legislature Wednesday, April 17, 2013.

The state Senate’s $20.6 billion budget proposal has no raises for state employees, puts new limits on health services for some Medicaid patients, and anticipates a tax cut. 1 hour ago

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Archive by category ''State Politics

The Missing Money

STATE POLITICS

NC Senate delivers $20.58 billion budget proposal

The Senate budget is about $17 million short of the budget proposed by Gov. Pat McCrory in March.
STATE POLITICS

NC General Assembly police defend arrests of demonstrators

As protesters gear up to assemble again Monday, legal analysts are raising questions about whether the NC General Assembly police are within their power to arrest the nonviolent demonstrators. But those tasked with ensuring public safety contend the First Amendment is not absolute, that government...
UNDER THE DOME

Dome: Triangle GOP lawmakers aren’t keen on rewriting Jordan Lake rules

Senate Bill 515, which would repeal current environmental protections at Jordan Lake so that new ones could be written, is a GOP-promoted idea. But not all Republicans are on board.
STATE POLITICS

NC Senate proposes $20.58 billion budget

The N.C. Senate's budget proposal will clock in at $20.58 billion, just short of Gov. Pat McCrory's $20.6 billion proposal, according to Senate leader Phil Berger's office.
LOCAL/STATE

In General Assembly, push continues to conceal gun data

One of the only surviving bills in the N.C. General Assembly related to gun control would close permit information to the public, making it nearly impossible for groups to watchdog how the government issues licenses to buy hundreds of thousands of handguns.
UNDER THE DOME

Dome: LaRoque theft, money-laundering trial begins Monday

Former N.C. Rep. Stephen LaRoque goes on trial in federal court Monday in Greenville to defend himself against charges that he illegally used federal loan money in his re-lending enterprise.
HEALTH AND SCIENCE

Victims: Marines failed to safeguard water supply

A simple test could have alerted officials that the drinking water at Camp Lejeune was contaminated, long before authorities determined that as many as a million Marines and their families were exposed to a witch’s brew of cancer-causing chemicals.
LOCAL/STATE

Drescher: Feisty Baptist editor was one of a kind

R.G. "Gene" Puckett was a verbal pugilist who enjoyed a good argument. Puckett, a man who enjoyed conflict, probably reveled in the split vote that installed him as editor of the Biblical Recorder. He was not for everybody. Nor did he want to be.
STATE POLITICS

BCBS influence waning with NC lawmakers

The state's largest health insurer so far this session has seen three measure pieces of legislation go against its wishes.
EDUCATION

NC Community colleges, high schools emphasize training for manufacturing jobs

North Carolina's community colleges offer skills certifications geared to advanced manufacturing, and a new Triangle apprenticeship program is launched.

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Politics blogs

Wake County Manager David Cooke recommends fully funding school board's budget request

It doesn't look like there will be a budget fight this year between the Wake County school board and board of commissioners. Citing the increased revenues from the improving economy, Wake County...
Posted 8 minutes ago
Advocacy group wants Shanahan to disclose clients, or resign

Now that the N.C. Senate is trying to move the State Bureau of Investigation to the N.C. Department of Public Safety, an outside group is putting a spotlight on Secretary Kieran Shanahan's record...
Posted 23 minutes ago
Inside the Senate's transportation spending priorities

Here are some of the transportation funding and policy changes outlined in the proposed Senate budget ( PDF ) released Sunday. Some of these are new proposals, and others were previously aired this...
Posted 32 minutes ago
McCrory highlights his concerns with Senate budget plan

Gov. Pat McCrory is making his difference known with the Senate budget writers. In a statement, McCrory said he is "pleased the Senate's budget proposal aligns with some of our major priorities...
Posted 33 minutes ago
Cooper says SBI needs independence, move risks cover-ups

From AP: North Carolina's Democratic attorney general is opposing a state Senate budget provision that moves much of an investigative unit from his department to one headed by an appointee of ...
Posted 42 minutes ago
Senate offers details on its budget plan

The state Senate’s $20.6 billion budget proposal has no raises for state employees, puts new limits on health services for some Medicaid patients, and anticipates a tax cut. Leading senators...
Posted 46 minutes ago
Senate budget taxes hybrid cars, extends ferry tolls, broadens transportation board

Here are some of the transportation funding and policy changes outlined in the proposed Senate budget ( PDF ) released Sunday. Some of these are new proposals, and others were previously aired this...
Posted 1 hour ago
North Carolina's 10 largest school districts oppose vouchers to attend private schools

Interim Wake County Schools Superintendent Stephen Gainey is among 10 superintendents who are raising concerns about equation changes being considered by the Republican-led General Assembly. In a ...
Posted 2 hours ago
U.S. Senate as polarized as the early 1900s

The recent debates in Washington about budget cuts and guns show increasing evidence of polarization, a new study highlights. Researchers at Duke University and UNC-Chapel Hill visualized the divide...
Posted
Wake County Commissioners on assuming school construction duties

Joe Bryan, chairman of the Wake County Board of Commissioners, has got some definite plans in mind should the state House also sign off on the bill letting them take over school construction from ...
Posted