Kansas' decision to move forward with Medicaid expansion has placed more pressure on North Carolina to follow suit Jordan Roberts John Locke Foundation health care policy analyst assesses the potential impact of Kansas on the Medicaid expansion debate in this state Republican legislators especially in the N C Senate have remained cool to all expansion proposals Conflicts between the United States and China appear to be growing Walter Lohman director of the Heritage Foundation's Asian Studies Center recently discussed The China Challenge in Raleigh in a speech sponsored by the Jesse Helms Center Lohman highlighted challenges linked to long-term American [... more]

The University of North Carolina system recently studied the way its campuses train teachers for the state's public schools The resulting report titled Leading On Literacy draws poor reviews from Terry Stoops John Locke Foundation vice president for research Stoops shares his concerns about UNC teacher training He also offers suggestions for improvement Time is running out for North Carolina's gas tax to play the leading role in funding state transportation projects Adrian Moore vice president for policy at the libertarian Reason Foundation delivered that message recently to state lawmakers Moore explains why he believes now is a good time [... more]

A -acre waterfront property in Southport set aside for a state-run megaport remains vacant and the N C State Ports Authority has no plans to develop or sell it The property's most recent tax appraisal also shows the land is worth half its original purchase price Rick Henderson Carolina Journal editor-in-chief details the latest news surrounding this government project that has gone nowhere since the Ports Authority purchase the property in News media outlets have enjoyed longstanding exemptions from federal and state campaign finance restrictions It makes sense to extend those exemptions to nonprofit social and civic groups that also [... more]

North Carolinians will see some familiar faces leading both chambers of the General Assembly over the next two years Republican Phil Berger starts his fourth two-year term as Senate leader while Republican Tim Moore begins his second term as N C House speaker Rick Henderson Carolina Journal editor-in-chief discusses Berger's and Moore's priorities He also assesses the role of the leaders of the Democratic opposition in both chambers As a state law forces North Carolina to sift through thousands of government rules reviewers have designated roughly percent of those rules to disappear Another percent will face a more thorough re-examination [... more]