Sen. Charlie Dannelly (D-Mecklenburg) has the dubious distinction of being the primary sponsor of the budget bill for fiscal year 2010-11. Read the bill, SB897, and the money report. For the first time since 2003, the annual budget was passed prior to the start of the fiscal year. Perhaps lawmakers should have been more concerned [...]
Legislative Activity Archives
- Aug25
New Interactive Legislative Pay Graph
Civitas is proud to release a new tool for visualizing the pay of the North Carolina General Assembly. With it you can see at a glance not only how much your legislator is paid relative to others, but the breakdown of what that money was for. You can also narrow it down to house or [...]
- 1Aug12
Effects of Minimum Wage on Unemployment
The International Labor Organization (ILO) recently reported that the global youth unemployment rate has reached a record high, with the rate likely only getting worse as the year rolls on. In total, 81 million out of 630 million 15-24 year-olds were unemployed at the end of 2009, an increase of 7.8 million from a year [...]
- Aug05
Voter Opposition to Public Financing Remains Strong
The latest Civitas poll shows more than 3/4ths of NC voters (76%) are opposed to using taxpayer dollars to finance the campaigns of statewide candidates. Full press release here. In fact, even 78 percent of Democratic voters oppose the idea. No wonder there was such a visceral negative reaction from the public when our friends [...]
- Aug03
Gov. Perdue speaks about new Ethics Bill
Gov. Bev Perdue speaks about HB 961—a major ethics reform law— in a signing ceremony from the Old House Chamber in the State Capitol. Standing behind the Governor are Rep. Paul Stam (R-Wake), Speaker Joe Hackney (D-Orange), Rep. Deborah Ross (D-Wake), Rep. Rick Glazier (D-Cumberland), and Sen. Josh Stein (D-Wake).
- Aug03
Politicians Refuse Accountability in Ethics Bill
One can only speculate why the ethics bill signed yesterday by Governor Perdue did not include a provision that would make politicians personally liable for campaign finance penalties. Perhaps it has something to do with the ongoing drama that is the Perdue Campaign and its failure to report $56,000 in flights taken during the 2004 [...]
- Jul30
Smoking Ban Passes First Test on Merits in Court
In its first trial on the merits, North Carolina’s smoking ban has, unfortunately, been upheld. The ban was enacted during the 2009 session of the General Assembly (see legislation here) and went in to effect in January 2010. Although the ban enjoys popular support – a July Public Policy Polling survey found that 68% of [...]
- Jul28
Race-to-the-Top and its carnage
I think we’re all suppose to be giddy by yesterday’s announcement that North Carolina is a finalist in the scecond round for Federal Race to the Top Funds. I”ve spelled out my reasons why I don’t share in the excitement. However, now I can add another to the list. To improve the state’s chances of qualifying for RttT [...]
- 2Jul27
Governor Perdue Has Right Idea
Dare I say that Governor Perdue may be on to something? According to a recent article on WRAL.com, a good read by the way, the Governor is open to privatizing parts of the ABC System and legalizing video poker for the purpose of increasing tax revenue and allowing government to focus on its core missions [...]
- Jul21
New Commission Could Acquire Alcoa’s Dams
The General Assembly has created an avenue through which the state may strike a blow to property rights. As reported in the Charlotte Observer on Monday, the General Assembly passed HB972 which is an act to create the Uwharrie Regional Resources Commission. The bill was sponsored by Rep. Cullie Tarleton (D-Watauga) and passed unanimously in [...]
- Jul19
Wake Diversity Policy is a Potential Election Issue
Per the News & Observer, recent legislation commissioned a group to study the impact of school assignment policies based on socioeconomic status, which, by proxy, is an unabashedly racial policy. The study commission will examine whether the socioeconomic (race) based assignment policies, that lead to busing students long distances in an effort to achieve racially diverse [...]
- 2Jul15
DNA Sampling Bill Signed
This morning Governor Perdue will sign the DNA sampling bill in Greenville, NC (you can follow the live tweet of the signing here). HB1403, “Collecting DNA Sample on Arrest,” requires police to take DNA samples of suspects charged with serious crimes, including murder or rape. Then, the DNA sample will be entered into a larger [...]
- Jul14
Government Hires Workers, College Students Pay
With college students facing rising tuition costs to compensate for lost general fund appropriations, which went instead to hire 894 additional government workers, every step should have been taken to ease the pain of this year’s budget cuts in the public higher education sector. However, every practicable step was not taken. For example, Rep. George [...]
- 5Jul12
U.S. Rep. Walter Jones (NC-3) Votes for Wall Street’s Bad Bill
The Truth or Dare blog points out that U.S. Rep. Walter Jones (NC-3) was one of only three Republicans who voted for the “Wall Street Reform” legislation last week, a bill that even 18 Democrats chose not to support. The bill, listing just a few aspects of what it contains, dictates hiring quotas for financial [...]
- 1Jul10
You can still “pay to play”
State legislators left town early Saturday morning after passing an ethics package but it was missing a key provision. Campaign finance reform advocates wanted a new rule limiting contributions from contractors who deal with state agencies. It would also curtail donations from managers of financial funds to a candidate for State Treasurer. A source told [...]
- Jul09
Daycare Goes Kosher – Nanny Bill Passes Senate
“Of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It would be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron’s cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own [...]
- Jul09
“Technical” Corrections Bill Guts Illegal Immigrant DUI Reporting Requirement
It always happens. Every year the General Assembly attempts to make substantive policy changes through the end of session “technical” corrections bill that is designed to only make necessary error-fixing and clarifying changes. This year, the bill SB 1242, would gut an existing provision that requires local law enforcement agencies to report the number of [...]
- Jul07
Sweepstakes parlors banned by the legislature
The state House concurred with a Senate bill to ban Internet sweepstakes parlors by a vote of 86-27. The ban takes effect in December. Members of the House Black Caucus argued against the ban. They want to regulate and tax the games. Democratic Representative Marvin Lucas said it was an attempt to legislate morality. He [...]
- Jul07
Putting the nanny back into nanny state
Rep. Verla Insko (D-Orange) has her eyes set on a new target: candy bars sold as fundraisers in North Carolina’s public schools. Citing the fat and calories found in the tasty treats, in committee today Rep. Insko stated that the goal of House Bill 900 was to “limit choices…as any good parent should.” Knowing that [...]
- Jul07
DNA Sample Bill Passes Despite 4th Amendment Concerns
The United States Constitution was discussed on the floor of the House of Representatives yesterday with regards to HB1403, which passed 92-23. Previously, I posted a debate between another intern and myself about the bill on the Civitas website. HB1403, entitled “Collect DNA Sample on Arrest,” was objected to on Fourth Amendment grounds as numerous [...]