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 [...]
Waste Archives
- Aug13
Saving jobs that haven’t been lost
Interesting how we’re now learning that the $300 million in federal money North Carolina is receiving to save teacher jobs might not be used to save teacher jobs. Why? The massive layoffs many school districts feared haven’t materialized. Officials from the governor’s office spent yesterday trying to figure out how the money could be spent. [...]
- Aug11
The real cost of federal bailouts
Congress is moving ahead with a $26 billion bailout bill that pays for extra Medicaid expenses and protects teacher jobs. According to the Department of Public Instruction, North Carolina would receive about $300 million in grants and protect about 4,800 teaching positions. Of course the money has state law makers and educators salivating. So much so that [...]
- Aug06
Government finally cuts the fat!
Our friends down at Wilmington Rants have broken a major story about politicians cutting fat…unfortunately we are not talking about government spending, we are talking about real fat. The Wilmington Mayor and New Hanover County Commission Chair have a weight lost contest that is being publicized using tax dollars. So no cost cutting – actually more spending. Read [...]
- 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 [...]
- Aug05
Bailouts R’ Us
The latest $26 billion federal bailout package passed yesterday claims it will protect another 4,500 teaching jobs in North Carolina. If you remember, earlier this year Gov. Perdue transferred over $100 million in lottery revenue to protect another 1,700 teacher and other staff positions. So we’re protecting 6,200 school positions that normally would have been [...]
- 1Aug05
Larry Leake must go!
This story about Larry Leake is just the latest in a long growing list of reasons why he should resign immediately. He has been on the board for far too long and it is time to go. By inserting himself into an ongoing investigation he has disqualified himself from sitting as a member of the board [...]
- Jul30
“Extreme Makeover” Series Draws More Workforce than Construction of Jennette’s Pier
The $25 million, state-funded, job-creating Jennette’s Pier project in Nags Head has sustained a Nor ‘easter and a broken wind turbine. That said, recently hired Pier Manager Mike Remige says the project’s timeline is on schedule to open May 21, 2011. The pier’s operating budget alone, Remige mentioned, will cost $578,000 a year, and he [...]
- 2Jul28
Perdue’s Statist Agenda
Previously, I’ve blogged about Governor Perdue’s statist desire to secure ownership of four dams in the Uwharrie region of North Carolina currently owned by Alcoa. The General Assembly has capitulated and passed legislation, providing Perdue with a means to acquire ownership of the dams. The legislation, HB972, creates the Uwharrie Regional Resources Commission which has all [...]
- Jul28
State Government workers’ union fighting privitization of IT jobs
Governor Perdue is pursuing the idea of asking private companies to run some of the information technology infrastructure to save money. But the State Employees Association of North Carolina (an affiliate of Service Employees Union International) is fighting the idea. This is from a recent post of the association’s web site: SEANC is perplexed that [...]
- Jul27
Asheville Investigative Journalism Training
Do you often have a hunch that something in your state or local government just isn’t right but you don’t quite know how or where to start investigating? Do you feel strongly about exposing government waste and abuse and believe that citizens deserve greater transparency from government agencies? If you answered yes to these questions, please consider joining us this Friday in Asheville [...]
- Jul21
If It’s Good Enough for Britian’s PM…
Then why can’t Governor Perdue fly commercial every once in a while? British Prime Minister David Cameron trekked across the pond on a commercial British Airways flight and saved his country $300,000 in travel costs according to The Sun. Yet, NC Governor Bev Perdue continues to hopscotch around the state and nation in a Department [...]
- Jul06
NC education spending: behind the census data
North Carolina student spending below average. That’s the message you heard last week if you read any of the articles about the just-released U.S. Census Report on Public Education Finances. Those advocating for more funding for public education point to findings that say North Carolina spent $7,996 per student during the 2007-08 school year (latest figures available), seventh lowest [...]
- Jul01
Civitas Legislative Report – 7/1
Civitas Institute Budget and Tax analyst Brian Balfour discusses new state budget http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iayzbs-rwfw
- 1Jun30
Budgeting 101
In all the moaning and groaning over the just completed budget deal, Senate Majority Leader Martin Nesbitt (D-Buncombe) candidly quipped, “There’s not enough money for anyone down here to be proud of”. See article. There you have it, the unvarnished political philosophy of your Senate leadership: bring home the bacon. So much for doing the right [...]
- Jun23
Home computers for all students? Not so fast.
For the last fifteen years education activists have been urging policymakers to eliminate the “digital divide“. Only when ALL children have access to computers and to the Internet will they be able to compete fairly in school and be on a level playing field later in life. So, the argument goes. Findings from a new study by Duke University Professors [...]
- Jun21
Before you write that fat check for tuition. . .
If in the next few months you find yourself fretting over those fall college visits with your high school son or daughter – mostly because you don’t really know which questions to ask those overly earnest campus representatives — the National Association of Scholars (NAS) is here to help. The Princeton, New Jersey-based organization committed to reforming higher education, publishes an annual list [...]
- 1Jun18
Tax Refunds for NASCAR
Call it the “NASCAR tax credit.” SB1215, “Economic Incentives Alignment & Changes,” is another piece of wish list economic incentives legislation that, among other things, refunds sales and use taxes to NASCAR teams while the citizens of North Carolina work to cover the budget deficit created by our spendthrift elected officials. Primarily sponsored by Rep. Clark [...]
- Jun18
Is ECU’s “sustainable tourism” sustainable?
East Carolina University will be offering the nation’s first master’s degree in sustainable toursim. In an article in this morning’s News and Observer, Patrick Long, director of ECU’s Center in Sustainable Tourism said, There is a close link and relationship between good science and good business. . . We need to train and educate our future leaders [...]