Families and businesses in North Carolina continued to see promising gains from the 2018 state legislative session as lawmakers remained committed to higher salaries for educators and state employees, increased investments in public schools and a successful pro-growth jobs agenda. The accomplishments mark another year of promises kept by the Republican-led General Assembly to deliver […]
The ability of voting groups to form a recognized political party in North Carolina just got a whole lot easier. Senate Bill 656, the Electoral Freedom Act of 2017, lowers the threshold for establishing a recognized political party in a number of ways. The bill also makes it easier for unaffiliated candidates to participate in […]
Support to ‘raise the age’ crosses ideological, partisan lines At press conference, Chief Justice Martin says Tar Heel State would save tax dollars and reduce repeat offenses if older teens were handled by juvenile justice system North Carolina is now the nation’s only state charging 16- and 17-year-old delinquents as adults and needs to catch […]
Yesterday, legislation was introduced in the House that seeks to reform the way that juvenile offenders are treated under the state’s criminal justice system. House Bill 280, The Juvenile Justice Reinvestment Act (colloquially known as the “Raise the Age Bill”) raises the age of juvenile court jurisdiction from 16 to 18 years for children who are convicted of […]
Late last week, the General Assembly passed Senate Bill 4, “Bi-Partisan Ethics, Elections & Court Reform” in a special session. The legislation was passed largely on a party-line vote (Democrat William Brisson voted with the Republican majority) and was signed into law by Governor Pat McCrory on Friday. SB4 contains several reforms, including 1) creating a new state agency […]
The following post is reformatted from a September 13 press release from the Office of Speaker Pro Tem Representative Paul Stam. You may download the original version from Representative Stam’s website here. The Breathtaking Hypocrisy of the NCAA Citing a commitment to “fairness and inclusion,” the NCAA announced September 12 that it will move seven championship […]
Guest post by Barry Smith The 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals handed the states of North Carolina and Tennessee a victory on Wednesday when it struck down a Federal Communications Commission rule that pre-empted the states’ regulation of municipal broadband service within their borders. The three-judge panel said that the FCC overstepped its authority. The […]
Senate Leader Phil Berger (R-Rockingham) and House Speaker Tim Moore (R-Cleveland) issued the following joint statement Friday in response to the Fourth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ruling on voter ID: “Since today’s decision by three partisan Democrats ignores legal precedent, ignores the fact that other federal courts have used North Carolina’s law as a […]
Senate Leader Phil Berger (R-Rockingham) and House Speaker Tim Moore (R-Cleveland) announced Monday they have filed a lawsuit in the federal Eastern District of North Carolina, asking the court to declare that North Carolina’s commonsense law to maintain sex-specific restrooms complies with federal law. Last week, the Obama administration threatened to withhold federal funding for […]
House Delivers Contingent Congressional Map Complies with Federal Trial Court’s Ruling Today the North Carolina House of Representatives passed a bill that establishes a new Congressional map for 2016. Redistricting bills do not require the Governor’s signature; therefore, SB-2: 2016 Contingent Congressional Plan becomes law, subject to action by the U.S. Supreme Court. The measure passed 65-43. While […]