Congressman Brad Mill (D-Raleigh) appears to have a secret. At least that’s the pattern that is emerging from the recent closed door meetings he’s been having around the state. First, he invites Guilford County Commissioners and Greensboro City Council members to a “private” meeting with a Treasury Undersecretary in the gate city last week. Next, [...]
Legislative Activity Archives
- Sep08
Scripted Democrats Return From Break
Nothing disheartens more than to hear that your elected officials really don’t believe what they’re selling. Rather than go back home, face constituents, get input and let their voters know what’s in their hearts, Congressional Dems chose a different path: As the 5 1/2 -week break began July 31, Democrats handed out seven-inch-long pocket cards [...]
- 1Sep01
Forced Annexation With Gates!
The wonderful folks down at St. James Plantation (the last gated community allowed to incorporate in the state) have decided to expand their city limits. . forcibly. . . without the input of the annexed. They going to grow the town beyond the gates and annex folks that. . well, don’t want to be annexed. [...]
- Aug26
A very long to do list
Drafting Musings, a political blog, reports that today is day 15 of the 30 days given to Governor Purdue to sign bills passed by the General Assembly. She may be halfway to the target date of September 10th but her work is far from over as there remains 108 bills on her desk to be signed. [...]
- Aug25
No Tuition Breaks for UNC Athletes
Joe Neff’s article in this morning’s News & Observer gets it right: the real impact of the UNC tuition break for athletic and academic scholarships has been to increase the percentage of out-of-state students and make it harder for average students to gain admission to places like UNC-Chapel Hill. During the last budget cycle, UNC institutions [...]
- Aug24
Did It Really Seem Like a Good Idea on (Recycled) Paper?
China’s wind power has doubled in each of the past four years. Does that make it a good thing? “China is on its way to becoming the world’s largest producer of renewable energy, yet it remains one of the most polluted countries on earth.” As explained by John Locke Foundation Legal and Regulatory Policy Analyst [...]
- Aug21
Global Warming Alarmists Struggling In Cool Times
Global Warming Climate Change fanatics are struggling a bit as global temperatures have cooled quite a bit since a twenty year high in 1998 (largely attributed to El Niño which has returned). The problem is that such fanatics have stated for years that there is a direct correlation between CO2 emissions and temperatures. So far [...]
- Aug18
Teachers: “If unions treat their members like this..”
With school districts facing an additional $225 million in budget cuts, the State Board of Education (SBE) has granted local school districts more leeway in moving funds between budgets (See: news article). It didn’t take teachers long to see that NCAE’s strategy of protecting both jobs and keeping down class size isn’t economically feasible and doesn’t help [...]
- Aug18
Free Market: 1, Chicken Poop Power: 0
Just as predicted (and ridiculed) it seems North Carolina’s electricity providers will be unable to meet the first deadline set by the General Assembly in Senate Bill 3 mandating the use of swine and poultry waste. An article from today’s N&O has the full details. Progress Energy spokesman Mike Hughes states, “Lawmakers passed the 2007 [...]
- Aug13
Shameless Self Promotion
I will be on State Governmment Radio with Dana Cope from the Service Employees International Union local 2008. We discussed health care, the legislative session and other topics including John Edwards and Elvis Presley. Tune in and listen: WDOX WPTF WSJS 570 AM 680 AM 620 AM People In Politics Friday @ 8 [...]
- Aug13
Why Was This Monster Even On the Streets?
The N&O reports of the disturbing arrest of a Wake County man on charges of raping a child. Unfortunately, this isn’t the first time he’s been accused of this heinous act. He was charged with a similar crime just over a year ago, but was allowed to plea to a lesser charge and receive only [...]
- Aug12
“A Minor Adjustment”
That’s how resident lefty Chris Fitzsimon described the changes to the sentencing grid that I point out in my blog post yesterday. Apparently, he feels that giving future child rapists a 16% reduction in their prison sentences is just “a minor adjustment.” I wonder how the victims of the crimes, that he seems to make [...]
- Aug11
NCGA Gets Soft on Crime
In one of its final acts of the 2009 session, the NC House gave final approval to two Senate bills that together will significantly reduce prison sentences for felons. SB 488 and SB 489 change the way sentences are calculated according to the “sentencing grid” which establishes a range for sentencing based on a convict’s [...]
- Aug10
NC Senate Rewriting Rules for Candidate TV Ads
A seemingly innocuous change to a bill late last week could have far reaching effects if it is approved by the NC House today. Last year, two candidates for office, Bob Crumley for Attorney General and Bill Faison for NC House (and coincidentally, both lawyers), ran television advertising for their respective legal firms in which [...]
- Aug07
High-Flying Hypocrisy
The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reports that only several months after blasting CEOs from bailout banks for using corporate jets, House lawmakers approved $500 million for eight new government V.I.P. jets. The article continues: “Ellis Bachman, a spokesman for the House Appropriations Committee, said the changes were part of “Congress’ normal oversight responsibility” to make sure “the troops have everything [...]
- Aug06
End of Session Switcheroos
One of the most interesting things that happens at the end of the legislative session is the common practice of taking a bill that has passed one body, stripping out all of its language and replacing it with a completely different bill. Take H 752 for example. When it passed the House on May 7, [...]
- Aug06
Not Gridlock – Incompetence!
When control of the different branches of government is divided between the parties, for example Republicans holding the governors office and Democrats controlling the legislature, it is often called gridlock. The parties want different things and have different priorities and it takes time to agree on legislation and budgets. The North Carolina fiscal year officially [...]
- Aug04
Stimulus to Fund Wind Turbines on N.C. Coast
The State Energy Office will be allocating $300,000 of their share of American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) funds to the University of North Carolina in a continuation of their coastal wind study to: “contract with a third party by October 1, 2009, to design, permit, procure, construct, establish, operate, and reclaim as appropriate at [...]
- Aug04
Starfleet Champion is a Visionary, According to Himself
The Greensboro News and Record has a revealing quote from Rep. Earl Jones: “Just because I’m a visionary and have insight that other people may not have, that doesn’t mean I should stifle myself from leading people or trying to lead the legislature into forward-thinking laws that benefit the public.” Maybe Rep. Jones’ push to create [...]
- Aug03
Stay Informed: New Month, New State Laws
While legislators reveal their plans for the state budget, only one month late, here are a few state laws that will go into effect starting today: (SB 828) Bidding Process Changes- This bill will increase the maximum amount at which projects may undergo an informal bidding process. The bill will also clarify the bidding process [...]