RALEIGH — Although we’re already a quarter of the way through the 21st century, much of our pop culture bears the unmistakable imprint of the previous century. You can see it in fashion, architecture, and entertainment. Check out the music even young people today are consuming. Most of the songs aren’t new, and indeed a sizable share of streamed content and movie soundtracks draw from the Great American Songbook (jazz standards and show tunes from the 1920s to the 1950s) or rock, soul, and pop songs from the 60s and 70s.
RALEIGH — North Carolina lawmakers returned to Raleigh this week with a House committee scheduled to consider several local election bills affecting municipal voting rules in Pink Hill, Belville, Jacksonville and Rural Hall.
Thousands of educators, advocates and allies converged on Raleigh Friday, demanding higher pay for teachers, more state support per student, more childcare funding, and more funding for special education.
RALEIGH — North Carolina is expected to receive nearly $150 million from a national opioid settlement with Purdue Pharma and the Sackler family, Attorney General Jeff Jackson announced Friday.
RALEIGH — All 50 states offer unemployment-insurance benefits to workers who lose their jobs through no fault of their own. Because states fund these benefits with payroll taxes, however, and must replenish exhausted UI trust funds with interest-bearing loans from the federal government, UI benefits vary according to how state legislatures weigh the resulting tradeoffs.
RALEIGH – Attorney General Jeff Jackson and a bipartisan group of attorneys general are pushing the U.S. Department of Labor to help lower prescription drug costs by requiring more transparency from pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs).
Raleigh, N.C. — Today, the N.C. Senate gave final approval to House Bill 696, which allocates critical funding for the Children of Wartime Veterans Scholarship. This new infusion of funds follows years of departmental mismanagement that led to shortfalls in funding, putting hundreds of students at risk of not receiving their scholarships.
As a former city councilor in Fayetteville, I know keeping communities safe never really ends. There is always work to be done, legislation to improve, and new concerns to address. Over the past several years, one of those threats has been the spread of intoxicating hemp products sold at gas stations and convenience stores in candy-like packaging with no age requirements for purchase.
Raleigh, NC — This afternoon, the North Carolina House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed House Bill 696, a Medicaid funding agreement with the Senate that invests $319 million in the state's rebase, strengthens guardrails and accountability in the program, and supports other critical needs.
Raleigh, N.C. — Today, Senate Leader Phil Berger (R-Rockingham) filed a bill to institute a moratorium to halt all property tax revaluation changes in 2026. This bill freezes any proposed property value adjustments prompted by a county property tax revaluation, but would allow those values to take effect in 2027. This pause provides the General Assembly time to put forward additional proposals for property tax reforms.
