Though the legislation is far from perfect, charter school supporters earned something of a victory when the Senate passed HB 856. The bill increases the charter school cap from 100 to 106. Unlike the recommendations of the Blue Ribbon Commission on Charter Schools which argued for a soft cap which could increase based on academic [...]
Monthly Archives: May 2009
- 1May15
Bad Bill of the Week
This week's bad bill goes to Senate Bill 575 – or the Apple Bill many of you have probably heard about. Here's a teaser: Senate Bill 575 (Hoyle D – Gaston), aka the Apple bill, would establish a different tax liability formula for eligible companies. The eligibility requirements are so specific, however, that it has [...]
- May14
NC Senate Votes for Traditional Marriage, Sort Of
Politics can be a strange game and the game gets no stranger anywhere else but the North Carolina Senate. Freshman Senator Don Davis(D-Greene), the former mayor of Snow Hill had wanted to extend the authority to perform marriages to the mayors of cities and towns. Everything had moved along smoothly until the bill was about [...]
- May14
ND: Shooting Yourself in the Foot — Again
As a conservative Catholic I’ve watched the debate over President Obama’s upcoming commencement address at the University of Notre Dame. So you thought there were only two sides to this issue? Think again. Richard Kahlenberg, writes in the online edition of American Prospect , one of larger mouthpieces for American liberalism, the following: Conservative Catholics [...]
- May14
HB 348: A lobbyist’s dream
Several high profile corruption scandals have served to keep relations between government officials and lobbyists at arms length. So we’re told. A new bill, HB 348, takes that notion and turns it on its head. HB 348, which passed the Senate today, modifies the education requirements for service on local school boards. The legislation requires [...]
- May14
NC House Approves Health Insurance Increase
The NC House today approved HB 535, a bill that would add lymphedema to North Carolina's already extensive list of health insurance coverage mandates. Basically, health insurance providers will be forced to include coverage for lymphedema in all of the insurance plans they offer, and consumers will have to pay extra for the coverage whether [...]
- May13
Legislative Overload
This week is particularly busy at the legislature. In order for bills to continue to be considered, they must be successfully voted out of either the Senate or House of Representatives. Bills that have substantial financial implications are exempt from the so called "crossover" deadline. So lawmakers push, pull, cajole, deal and whine in order [...]
- May13
Why Gov’t “Stimulus” Doesn’t Work
The Chapel Hill News recently published my column discussing the flawed theory behind government stimulus as a way to bring the economy out of recession. A sliver: The recently-passed federal stimulus package, therefore, will do nothing to remedy the current situation because simply force-feeding new money into the economy takes no account of the true [...]
- May13
Civitas Poll: Small Businesses Are Way to Economic Growth
North Carolina voters show a clear preference for small businesses to lead the way to economic growth according to our latest poll. We asked: From the following list, who do you think is better able to create jobs and rebuild the economy? 1. Small businesses and Entrepreneurs 2. Large, multinational corporations 3. The Government 4. [...]
- May12
Marriage Rally Draws a Crowd in Grifton
The fine citizens of the eastern North Carolina town of Grifton held a little rally for the defense of traditional marriage and 400 people show up to support marriage between a man and a woman and calling on the legislature to allow a vote on HB 361. Given Grifton's small size, the fact that rally [...]