Carolina Journal Radio No. 893: Lawsuit highlights concerns about N.C. Medicaid contract

A lawsuit has helped expose controversy surrounding a multimillion-dollar N.C. Medicaid contract. Donald van der Vaart, John Locke Foundation senior fellow, dissects the issue. He says evidence suggests that state regulators manipulated the bidding process to help a favored company. State Auditor Beth Wood recently revealed that the N.C. Transportation Department overspent its budget by $742 million in one year. Wood presented those findings to the General Assembly’s transportation oversight group. You’ll hear highlights from Wood’s comments and lawmakers’ responses. Many N.C. businesses remain closed because of government restrictions tied to COVID-19. State lawmakers have tried to ease restrictions on restaurants and bars. You’ll hear highlights from legislative debate over one proposal involving outdoor dining. Before the coronavirus pandemic began dominating state and national headlines, two N.C. congressmen were trying to attract attention to the victims of government sanctuary city policies. You’ll hear Reps. Ted Budd and Dan Bishop discuss their proposals for helping those victims. Gov. Roy Cooper’s approach to the state budget in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic has been “reckless and irresponsible.” That’s the assessment from John Locke Foundation senior fellow Joseph Coletti, who criticizes the governor’s decision not to scale back state government spending as the pandemic’s negative economic impact became clear.