Be sure to watch this week’s NC SPIN. Our balanced debate begins with Governor Cooper’s appointment of a Chief Justice of the Supreme Court to replace Mark Martin, who is resigning at the month. We speculate as to who the Governor might appoint to fill the vacancy of the high court. Next we debate the […]
Archive for December, 2017
2018: The year of judicial reform?
by Tom Campbell, Producer and Moderator, NC SPIN, December 28, 2017. Our legislators are due to return to Raleigh on January 10th, another continuation of the 2017 session they just can’t seem to conclude. The January date was set to spend a day or so passing judicial reforms, a prospect that doesn’t seem likely. As […]
Top 5 stories that shaped public education in 2017
by Billy Ball, NC Policy Watch, December 27, 2017. #1 – Class-size chaos Local school districts prepare for “enormous disruptions” as Senate refuses to ease class size requirements School districts prepare for another year of class size controversy North Carolina public schools—long roiled by sharp funding cuts, a blossoming school choice movement and an often […]
Fighting in 2017: A wrap up
by Becki Gray, John Locke Foundation and NC SPIN panelist, The Locker Room, December 29, 2017. 2017 – a year of fights. Because some things are worth fighting for and sometimes it’s just politics. General Assembly v. Governor Cooper: even before he was elected, the Democrat Governor picked fights with the Republican legislature. He made […]
Does Cooper favor a big tax hike?
by John Hood, Syndicated columnist and NC SPIN panelist, December 26, 2017. Does Gov. Roy Cooper believe that North Carolina’s tax burden should be $3 billion higher? It’s a fair question to ask given what Charlie Perusse, the governor’s budget director, said at a recent press briefing. While explaining that the Cooper administration will likely […]
Highs, lows of NC Politics in 2017
by Laura Leslie, Travis Fain, WRAL, December 28, 2017. It was a year that saw change at the top of state government, the inside of countless courtrooms and when GenX came to mean something other than people born from the late 1960s to the early 1980s. The bitter partisanship that has marked North Carolina politics […]
Does the state plan to stop pollution?
Editorial by Fayetteville Observer, December 26, 2017. What’s in our water? Around here, we already know some worrisome answers to that question. Depending on where you live, it could be potentially cancer-causing chemicals like C8 or GenX — compounds used in the past or in the present in the manufacture of Teflon and related coatings. […]
Trump’s impact on women and white evangelicals
by Thomas Mills, Politics NC, December 26, 2017. We’ve not had a year like 2017 in a long time. Donald Trump has done what he promised—upended the political system. Governing by tweets with little regard for the truth, Trump is constantly on the attack against enemies real and imagined. His base loves it, his opponents […]
The never ending story of redistricting in North Carolina
by Susan Myrick, Civitas Institute, December 22, 2017. In June, Civitas reported on “North Carolina’s Continuing Redistricting Saga,” now, six months later, while the saga continues, it may be better characterized as a debacle. Last week Phillip Strach, the attorney for the defendants in North Carolina’s redistricting case before the U.S. District Court for the […]
5 Top stories to remember in 2017
by Joe Killian, NC Policy Watch, December 29, 2017. #1 – Opioid crisis hits Wilmington area hard; lack of public resources hinders response This summer the N.C. General Assembly passed a state budget that included about half of what was called for in the bipartisan Strengthen Opioid Misuse Prevention (STOP) Act. Shortly thereafter, I got […]
State must report on prison tragedies
by Burlington Times-News, December 27, 2017. In April, Sgt. Meggan Callahan was beaten to death by an inmate at the Bertie Correctional Institution. Just six months later, four prison employees died in a failed escape attempt at the Pasquotank Correctional Institution. The investigation and official review of the first murder has been completed. A similar […]
