Democratic Gov Roy Cooper will serve a second term as North Carolina state government's chief executive officer But voters have added three new Republicans to the group of elected executives making up the Council of State Rick Henderson Carolina Journal editor-in-chief discusses Cooper's re-election victory the historic election of Mark Robinson as North Carolina's first African-American lieutenant governor and two other newcomers among the council of statewide elected officials A legislative watchdog group believes North Carolina can help clean up government finances by giving new authority to internal auditors You'll learn details of the proposed reform along with reaction from [... more]

Carolina Journal Radio celebrates its th weekly episode marking more than years of documenting interesting developments in N C politics and public policy Using that milestone as a starting point John Locke Foundation CEO Amy Cooke looks ahead to the future for JLF efforts to spread the message about individual freedom personal responsibility and limited constitutional government Plaintiffs tied to the N C Association of Educators teachers union are challenging Opportunity Scholarship school vouchers in court Opponents contend vouchers violate the state constitution despite the fact that the N C Supreme Court upheld Opportunity Scholarships in Jeanette Doran president and [... more]

A three-judge state Superior Court panel has accepted North Carolina's redrawn congressional election map This completes the state's most redistricting fight and sets the stage for elections Rick Henderson Carolina Journal editor-in-chief analyzes the impact of court fights that forced Republican legislative leaders to redraw legislative and congressional election maps for the last election preceding a new national census The U S Constitution's First Amendment has come into conflict in recent years with state and local anti-discrimination laws Gregory Wallace Campbell University law professor assesses how this conflict has played out in recent legal disputes As the three-judge redistricting panel [... more]

Release of a secret recording has shed some light on national Democrats' plans for winning North Carolina's U S Senate race In the recording Democratic state Sen Jeff Jackson says he was discouraged from running a grass-roots campaign for the U S Senate seat Instead Jackson says Democratic Senate leader Chuck Schumer wanted Jackson to spend all of his campaign time raising money to fund negative ads against Republican incumbent Thom Tillis Rick Henderson Carolina Journal editor-in-chief assesses the impact of the recording for the campaign Britain's chaotic Brexit process now has a new leader Prime Minister Boris Johnson has [... more]

Host Josh Graham with Desmond Johnson Best of Roy Williams lines at recent press conferences State of NC makes it legal for state universities to sell alcohol during sporting events Top Ten Draft Terms Tune into The Drive with Josh Graham Mon-Fri - pm live on Sports Hub Triad [... more]

The newly minted N C State Board of Elections meets next week to discuss an investigation into absentee ballot irregularities in the still unsettled th District congressional election Rick Henderson Carolina Journal editor-in-chief analyzes the latest developments in the electoral battle between Republican Mark Harris and Democrat Dan McCready One of the hottest topics in the world of college sports involves paying athletes for their performance Former N C Supreme Court Justice Bob Orr doesn't want to get caught up in that debate But Orr recently told the state's Legislative Commission on the Fair Treatment of Student-Athletes that he favors [... more]

North Carolina's individual and corporate income tax rates dropped again on Jan The personal income tax rate now stands at percent down more than percent from the top marginal rate of percent that it was in effect in North Carolina's percent corporate tax rate is the lowest rate of any states that assess a tax on corporations' income Becki Gray John Locke Foundation senior vice president assesses the significance of the latest tax rate cuts Negative partisanship plays a significant role in our current political debates That's a problem for Jonah Goldberg American Enterprise Institute scholar and National Review senior [... more]

Legislators recently loosened restrictions on North Carolina's targeted tax incentive program allowing companies to claim as much as for every job created in connection with a Job Development Investment Grant That's a percent increase from the old cap of per job The change passed without much opposition in the General Assembly But Jon Sanders John Locke Foundation director of regulatory studies explains why an increased reliance on targeted tax incentives means bad news for state taxpayers Progressives argue that their policies are designed to help disadvantaged groups including minorities and the poor But Michael Jacobs professor at UNC-Chapel Hill's Kenan-Flagler [... more]

This week on Family Policy Matters NC Family President John L Rustin speaks with Kimberly Curlin the Director of the Wake County Chapter of Safe Families They discuss the mission of Safe Families which is to bring together families in need with churches and host families who [... more]

This week on Family Policy Matters Traci Griggs Director of Communications at NC Family interviews Jo Teague substance abuse counselor for Wake County Human Services-Child Protective Services and founder of Alcohol and Drug Assessment Services in Raleigh North Carolina They discuss the impact of the opioid crisis on the foster care system in North Carolina and how concerned citizens can help [... more]

North Carolina's Medicaid program is on track to remain under budget for the fourth straight year Federal regulators are also giving high marks to the state's plans for shifting Medicaid to managed care Carolina Journal Associate Editor Dan Way offers an update on major N C Medicaid developments The Trump administration has pulled the United States out of the Paris climate agreement and dumped the Obama administration's Clean Power Plan That doesn't mean the world is on its way to overheating Patrick Michaels director of the Center for the Study of Science at the libertarian Cato Institute explains why neither [... more]

After President Trump announced plans to pull the United States out of the Paris climate agreement N C Gov Roy Cooper joined more than public officials across the country in signing an open letter pledging continued support for the agreement Rick Henderson Carolina Journal editor-in-chief analyzes Cooper's action and the response from Republican legislative leaders Henderson also discusses North Carolina's ability to take any actions on its own that would affect global warming North Carolina lawmakers continue to wrestle with the best way to handle taxation of sales made over the internet One idea under discussion would force online vendors [... more]

Education reformers have made great progress in North Carolina in recent years They still have plenty of work to do to improve traditional public schools and to expand opportunities for parental school choice Terry Stoops the John Locke Foundation's director of research and education studies outlines key education recommendations from the latest version of JLF's Agenda document Free trade has taken a beating during the presidential campaign Donald Trump Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton all took aim at agreements designed to remove trade barriers between the United States and foreign countries That's bad news to Scott Linciome international trade attorney [... more]

This week in part two of series that began last week NC Family president John Rustin talks with Representative Paul Skip Stam who represents the southern portion of Wake County in the N C House about his career in the General Assembly [... more]

This week in part one of a two-part series NC Family president John Rustin talks with Representative Paul Skip Stam who represents the southern portion of Wake County in the N C House about his career as a pro-life attorney and his work in the General Assembly [... more]