No direct budget talks are taking place yet in the General Assembly, but there are efforts to pave the way so that when negotiations do begin, there is less “clutter” on the road to a budget. Anticipating the House’s resistance to a plan to redistribute sales tax that was inserted into the Senate version of […]
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And they’re off! That phrase usually means running at breakneck speed but, in the North Carolina General Assembly, it appears to mean that members are taking off to attend meetings out of state instead of hammering out the State’s budget — again. Last week slowed to a crawl after key House members including House Speaker […]
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Work on the budget slowed down in the General Assembly this week after several Republican House members left on Wednesday to attend the American Legislative Exchange Council, ALEC, meeting out of state. House Speaker Tim Moore, like his predecessor Thom Tillis, also attended the conference. But while the House slowed work up, the Senate moved […]
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Bills continued to be pushed through the legislative mill last week, while committees met to begin budget discussions. Leaders in the General Assembly have expressed a desire to finish crafting a compromise budget for consideration before the end of next week. In the meantime, other bills are being moved forward, while hundreds still are stuck […]
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The North Carolina General Assembly has produced a mixed bag of legislation related to open government laws during the current session. The legislators have added a little light to some areas, while closing the shades to keep out the sunshine in others. In April, Governor Pat McCrory turned Senate Bill 14 into law when he […]
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Readers of the June 26, 2015 op-ed in the Raleigh, N.C., News & Observer written by the executive director of the Coastal Conservation Association of North Carolina might have the impression that the organization is all about protecting marine resources. But the CCA’s record over the last 30 years shows a grab for the resource […]
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Legislators left Raleigh on July 2 and aren’t planning on returning to work until July 13, despite not having a budget. Bills moving through the legislative process were tweaked, blasted, and, in some cases, embraced. Senate Bill 299 removes public scrutiny by providing confidentiality to usage contracts between the state’s ports and users. The bill […]
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Proposed legislation about specific issues is popping up in multiple bills in the General Assembly, including House Bill 97, which is the proposed budget, in stand-alone bills, and intertwined with other legislative topics. This will be one of the many challenges faced by the members of each chamber appointed to a conference committee that is […]
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The North Carolina Senate created its own version of the state’s budget this week. House Bill 97, the proposed state budget for the next two fiscal years beginning July 1, 2015 and ending June 30, 2017, passed the House on May 22. When presented to the Senate, the bill included 329 pages and proposed spending […]
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The Dare County Board of Commissioners passed a $102 million budget for the next fiscal year that requires no increase in property taxes at its meeting on Wednesday, June 17. And then the board members turned around and denounced the N.C. Senate’s budget plan, which would take $10 to $12 million in sales tax revenue […]
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