Joseph Coletti

Senior Fellow
Joe Coletti is a senior fellow at the John Locke Foundation focused on fiscal policy issues. He previously headed the North Carolina Government Efficiency and Reform initiative within the Office of State Budget and Management, which led to changes automotive fleet management, natural and cultural resources, and state contracting. He has spent his career improving operations and strategies at for-profit, nonprofit, and government entities. He has degrees from Johns Hopkins SAIS and the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.

Posts by Joseph Coletti (page 1)

  • Federal judge rules governor and health secretary acted unconstitutionally

    Not in North Carolina, but a federal judge has declared, “The constitution cannot accept the concept of a ‘new normal’ where the basic liberties of the people can be subordinated to open-ended emergency mitigation measures.” Four counties in Pennsylvania won their federal lawsuit against Gov. Tom Wolf and Secretary of…
    Joseph Coletti, September 14, 2020

  • July revenue report adds to uncertainty

    The full picture for 2019 income taxes is now available, but it does not provide much clarity about the revenue picture for the rest of FY2020-21. The latest General Fund Monthly Report from the Office of the State Controller includes the final income tax payments delayed from April. Personal…
    Joseph Coletti, September 10, 2020
    business or government leaders working on a budget document

  • End of Atlantic Coast Pipeline hurts Eastern North Carolina

    Low-cost energy is an essential ingredient to economic vitality. Rodney Pitts, chairman of Southern Elevator and a John Locke Foundation board member sent the following to the Charlotte Observer as a letter to the editor. The shutting down of the Atlantic Coast Pipeline Project, financed by Dominion Energy and Duke…
    Joseph Coletti, July 24, 2020

  • Cooper’s unemployment office tries to make its own law

    Today is the last day to comment on a proposed rule from the Division of Employment Security that is based loosely on state and federal laws, an expired Executive Order (121), and an Executive Order (118) whose validity is being challenged in court. In submitting comments on the rule, I…
    Joseph Coletti, July 23, 2020

  • Charlotte Arts and Science Council still adjusting to reality

    Charlotte’s Arts & Science Council went to the people of Mecklenburg County last fall to get a quarter-cent sales tax increase. The tax would have raised $50 million each year for the county, with $22.5 million going to the ASC, whose budget is currently $15.5 million. If the tax hike…
    Joseph Coletti, June 19, 2020

  • State spending and taxes for May

    State agencies continued to hold back spending in May. General Fund appropriations for the month of May were down 3% compared to May 2019 to $2.289 billion, according to the latest report from the State Controller. Appropriations are up 0.9% for the eleven months through May to $21.372 billion,…
    Joseph Coletti, June 9, 2020

  • Alberto Alesina, in memory

    Surprisingly, for as much as Alberto Alesina’s work has meant to my own understanding of markets and governments, a Google search indicates I’ve only mentioned him by name once before. Amity Shlaes has a wonderful tribute to Alesina, who passed away this weekend, as a person and an…
    Joseph Coletti, May 26, 2020

  • North Carolina needs flexibility, not more federal money

    North Carolina’s budget bill to begin distributing money from the CARES Act’s Coronavirus Relief Fund. How they went about allocating the money and what they did with it provides plenty of evidence on the value of flexibility, which 29 state think tanks have requested from Congress. The General Assembly…
    Joseph Coletti, May 13, 2020