Gov. Pat McCrory

The General Assembly has provided real spending discipline since 2011, in marked contrast to the previous two decades. In the graphs below, we look first at the General Fund, then at total spending, then at the General Fund’s share of total spending. Within each set, we look first at inflation-adjust…

The Highway Fund and Highway Trust Fund pay the transportation needs of North Carolina. For most of their existence, these funds also transferred money to the General Fund and paid for operations of the State Highway Patrol. Bipartisan efforts since 2005 have ended these payments, meaning state government has $470…

It was a rare gathering of five former North Carolina governors of both political parties, as Will Rierson reports for Carolina Journal. All five attended Monday’s news conference to express opposition to two constitutional amendments the General Assembly has passed and that are scheduled to appear on the November…

State Auditor Beth Wood and her staff work in a building that has been smoke-free for years. It has been illegal to smoke in state-government buildings since 2010. In recent testimony to the Program Evaluation Oversight Committee, however, Wood noted that janitorial contracts require ash trays to be emptied every…

Rainy-day reserves. Highway cost-effectiveness. education cost-effectiveness. Tax competitiveness. Economic growth. Labor market improvement. John Hood looks at the six reasons North Carolina conservatives celebrate our state’s progress.   Bottom line: pro-growth policies are fueling North Carolina’s rise.

Former Gov. Pat McCrory is staying on top of questions over the discretionary fund that is attached to North Carolina’s approval of the Atlantic Coast Pipeline deal. And he’s turning to Carolina Journal’s Rick Henderson for the latest. LISTEN (interview starts at 19:25 on the show clock). Read…

Carolina Journal Editor-in-Chief Rick Henderson joined former Gov. Pat McCrory on McCrory’s WBT radio show Monday to talk about the $58 million ‘discretionary’ fund outside of General Assembly authority that’s part of the Cooper administration’s deal to allow construction of Atlantic Coast Pipeline through eastern North Carolina. Listen…

In 2013, the N.C. General Assembly passed legislation that required teachers to teach cursive handwriting to elementary school students.  Since then, other states have followed suit. But cursive writing is not part of the Common Core State Standards, which North Carolina adopted in 2010 and revised this year.  Thanks…