North Carolina's public schools are expected to reopen for the fall but they'll face some changes linked to continuing concerns about COVID- Terry Stoops John Locke Foundation vice president for research and resident scholar analyzes state guidelines for public school operations in the - academic year The pandemic already has created a nearly billion hole in North Carolina's budget Forecasters are not certain whether that hole will grow larger in the months ahead You'll hear recent projections from chief legislative economist Barry Boardman along with reaction from top N C House and Senate budget writers Count Senate leader Phil Berger [... more]

A three-judge panel has upheld the latest version of North Carolina's state House and Senate election maps But the same panel has tossed the congressional election map Now state lawmakers will need to redraw that map quickly for the state to open up candidate filing as scheduled in December Rick Henderson Carolina Journal editor-in-chief discusses the latest developments in North Carolina's redistricting dispute State lawmakers continue to pursue a process that could lead to a complete rewrite of North Carolina's criminal code Rep Dennis Riddell R-Alamance has played a leading role in that process Riddell discusses the latest legislation designed [... more]

North Carolina's largest health insurer wants to raise rates by percent for policies tied to the Affordable Care Act or Obamacare Katherine Restrepo the John Locke Foundation's director of health care policy analyzes factors contributing to the rate increase Restrepo also offers ideas about ways the state and federal government could change policies to help reduce health care costs The threat of natural disasters often prompts calls for government action People often pay less attention to market forces that help communities prepare for disasters and other emergencies But Ben Foster Ph D student in environmental sciences and engineering at UNC-Chapel [... more]

The U S Supreme Court has struck down congressional election maps North Carolina used in and The justices agreed - with a lower court that ruled two of the election districts were unconstitutional cases of racial gerrymandering Rick Henderson Carolina Journal editor-in-chief assesses the impact of the Supreme Court's ruling for the future of North Carolina elections American presidents have dealt with disasters since the nation's earliest days But changes in society including expectations of presidential action and the development of a news cycle have changed the White House's approach to those disasters Presidential historian Tevi Troy documents disaster management [... more]

North Carolina lawmakers approved a compromise measure that puts off for one year new class-size restrictions in the earliest grades of the state's public schools School districts had complained that the new requirements would have forced them to lay off specialty teachers or make other drastic budget changes Terry Stoops the John Locke Foundation's vice president for research analyzes the controversy Many of today's most heated political debates are tied to competing interpretations of the U S Constitution They date back to the earliest days of the American republic That's a key theme of Our Republican Constitution a book from [... more]

Gov Roy Cooper promoted his first State of the State speech as an effort to find common ground with the legislature Meanwhile Senate leader Phil Berger's response to Cooper blamed the governor for sabotaging efforts to reach common ground on the high-profile issue of House Bill Rick Henderson Carolina journal editor-in-chief assesses the significance of Cooper's first primetime address as the state's top chief executive Those who want to shift nonviolent - and -year-old criminal offenders from North Carolina's adult court system to the juvenile system are making another push toward that goal this year The Raise the Age campaign [... more]

The popularity of public charter schools has prompted North Carolina's largest public school system to lower its enrollment projections Terry Stoops the John Locke Foundation's director of research and education studies assesses the significance of these enrollment changes for parents students traditional district schools and taxpayers The American system of constitutional government depends on citizens who hold a basic understanding of the way the system works That's why people like N C Supreme Court Associate Justices Sam Ervin IV and Paul Newby stress the importance of civics education Chief Justice Mark Martin has charged Ervin and Newby with leading a [... more]