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$30 billion NC budget giving Republicans new powers nears final legislative approval
Republicans in the North Carolina General Assembly used the state budget to give themselves more power while at the same time shielding legislators’ records from the public. Provisions in the budget exempt legislators from the state public records law, letting them withhold their documents from public view. Senate Republicans claimed that the budget codifies current practice. […]
Legislators will vote on a state budget with Medicaid expansion and without casinos
The Republicans’ Frankenstein experiment that sutured promised Medicaid expansion in North Carolina to expanded legal gambling has failed. Republican legislative leaders announced Tuesday night that they are ending their attempts to authorize more casinos in the state — at least for this year — and that the $30 billion budget will move forward with Medicaid […]
NC House okays GOP bills to alter election board appointments, open voting records
The state House voted along party lines Tuesday on a Republican plan to give legislators more control over elections. The governor would be stripped of the power to appoint members of the state Board of Elections. Legislators would select all members of state and local elections boards, with Republican and Democratic leaders appointing equal numbers. […]
NC Democrats condemn GOP plan to link Medicaid expansion to casino approval
North Carolina Democrats are slamming a maneuver by Republicans in the legislature to tie Medicaid expansion to the approval of new casinos. Legislative approval of a state budget has been held up by a proposal to roll authorization for four new casinos into the budget bill. The Republican-led legislature voted for Medicaid expansion in March, […]
NC Legislative Black Caucus defends Supreme Court justice’s right to talk about bias in the courts
The NC Legislative Black Caucus defended NC Supreme Court Justice Anita Earls on Wednesday, with members saying the investigation into her comments about bias in the judicial system violates her First Amendment rights. Earls, the only Black woman on the state’s high court and one of two Democrats, sued the state Judicial Standards Commission in […]
Elections changes giving NC legislators more power move back to the forefront
Republicans’ multi-tiered reconstruction of elections in North Carolina moved ahead Wednesday with House committee approval of a bill remaking state and local elections administration that opponents see as a path toward reduced early voting and gridlock. The bill takes away the governor’s power to appoint members to the State Board of Elections and gives it […]
With COVID hospitalizations rising, Duke experts urge people who are eligible to get the next COVID booster
The rise in hospitalizations and the report that First Lady Jill Biden tested positive for COVID-19 is a reminder that the virus is still with us, though not wreaking the kind of havoc it did in the first two years of the pandemic. A daily average of 501 patients with COVID were hospitalized in North […]
NC Gov. Cooper to veto expansive GOP elections bill
Gov. Roy Cooper will veto a sweeping elections bill that would limit ballot-counting and allow partisan election observers to walk freely within polling places. “This legislation has nothing to do with election security and everything to do with Republicans keeping and gaining power,” said Cooper. “It requires valid votes to be tossed out unnecessarily, schemes […]
Researchers, state Treasurer highlight plight of NC residents with medical debt
Each month, Donna Lindabury pays $35 on a hospital bill for her husband, Gary’s, 2009 quadruple bypass surgery. The Lindaburys knew Gary was gravely ill when he was airlifted from a hospital in Boone to Charlotte 14 years ago. They also knew they could not afford a big medical bill. Gary wasn’t working and Donna […]
Massive bill tightening NC voting laws moves toward adoption
A bill that tightens rules for voting while guaranteeing partisan observers more access to polling places and voting records is closer to legislative approval. Senate Bill 747 is a bundle of proposed restrictions that legislative Republicans have promoted this year. The bill passed the House Committee on Election Law and Campaign Finance Reform on Tuesday. […]
Most people in NC who lost Medicaid health coverage in the last two months were cut for “procedural” reasons
North Carolina and other states are stripping government health insurance coverage from thousands of people who stayed on Medicaid rolls during the COVID-19 pandemic but may no longer qualify. More than 68,000 people lost Medicaid coverage in North Carolina in June and July. Of those, about 87% lost their coverage for “procedural reasons,” because they […]
More people with disabilities in NC wait for services while a court fight continues
It’s the dilemma at the center of the frustration and worry for people with disabilities and their families in North Carolina. People with intellectual or developmental disabilities wait years for services that help them live in communities rather than institutions. The wait list has grown to 17,000 people. There’s not enough money for all of […]