Another week, another stunning quote from a Republican member of the General Assembly. This time it was Rep. George Cleveland who told a legislative committee Thursday that no one in North Carolina lives in extreme poverty. That comes as news to most folks in North Carolina, especially the more than 700,000 people in [Continue Reading...]
It’s a telling commentary on the current state of the political debate in North Carolina that advocates for children are hailing the Wednesday decision of a legislative committee on early childhood programs as a victory of sorts. It’s a reasonable interpretation given the circumstances. The Republican leadership of the committee had floated a [Continue Reading...]
Candidate filing closed at noon Wednesday, ending weeks of political gossip and speculation about who was running and who wasn’t. If you had any doubts about the extent of the Republicans masterful job of gerrymandering legislative districts, the final slate of candidates ought to remove them. There is no partisan competition in 19 [Continue Reading...]
House Speaker Thom Tillis has started talking about tax reform in speeches to business groups across the state. Tillis says he’d like to work toward eliminating the income tax altogether while broadening the base of the sales tax to include more services. At least the last point makes some sense. Several studies in [Continue Reading...]
10—percentage of children in North Carolina who lived in high poverty areas in 2010, defined as more than 30 percent of the community living below the federal poverty level (Action for Children North Carolina, KIDS COUNT Data Snapshot from the Annie E. Casey Foundation) 4—percentage of children in North Carolina who lived in [Continue Reading...]
The Orwellian solution for NC PreK You have to give it to the Republicans in the General Assembly. They have a lot of nerve. People in the legislative building you don’t agree with, just kick them out. Can’t get your legislation passed because of the Democrats, wait until a few go home and [Continue Reading...]
Here’s a pretty good indication of the state of the debate about public schools in North Carolina. The Republicans and the right-wing think tanks that craft their talking points are now boasting about their figures that show North Carolina ranks 42nd in the country in per pupil spending and that the Republican budget [Continue Reading...]
It has been just over a year since the Republican majority elected Thom Tillis Speaker of the House, making him the most public face of the first Republican-led General Assembly in North Carolina 140 years. Tillis began the 2011 General Assembly session promising to focus on creating jobs and touting his business consulting [Continue Reading...]
8—number of days before last Thursday’s special session that House Speaker Thom Tillis sent an email to members of the House saying the session would be a skeletal session only and that no votes would be taken (“Skeleton session next week,” Greensboro News & Record Capital Beat, February 8, 2012) 13—number of days [Continue Reading...]
This week’s ridiculous special session of the General Assembly was clearly a waste of $50,000 of taxpayer money, but we did learn a couple of things. First, not many people trust the word of House Speaker Thom Tillis. Tillis said repeatedly in the days leading up to the session that that no votes [Continue Reading...]
If you are looking for a perfect example of what’s wrong in Raleigh these days, the legislative report released this week calling for the privatization of state attractions and the closing of historic sites is a good place to start. The report was commissioned by legislative leaders and prepared by the Program Evaluation [Continue Reading...]
Most of the controversy about the budget passed by the Republican-led General Assembly last summer has focused on the damage it is doing to education, human services, and environmental protections. That’s understandable given that teachers and teacher assistants were fired, vital services were cut to the most vulnerable people in the state, and [Continue Reading...]
6—total number of women currently serving in the 50-member North Carolina Senate (N.C. General Assembly) 3—number of Democratic women serving in the 50-member North Carolina Senate (Ibid) 2—number of Democratic women double-bunked in the new legislative districts drawn by the Republican legislative leadership (“Lewis: Map bias accusations ‘absurd’, WRAL-TV, February 9, 2012) 22—number [Continue Reading...]
Rucho’s situational ethics Republican Senator Bob Rucho had an interesting reaction to the news that Congresswoman Sue Myrick from Charlotte was not going to run for reelection. Rucho, the head of the Senate committee that drew the new district lines for Congress and the General Assembly, was asked if he was interesting in [Continue Reading...]
The next special session of the General Assembly convenes next Thursday at noon. House Speaker Thom Tillis said in an email to members of the House this week that it will be a skeletal session only, that no votes will be taken except the procedural one to approve the House Journal and to [Continue Reading...]
