Due to GOP tax policy over the past decade, in other words, North Carolina’s state sales-tax burden went down, not up, by hundreds of millions of dollars a year. Alas, some of this effect was offset by increases in county sales taxes. Who is responsible for those hikes? Democrats, overwhelmingly. Democratic politicians authorized those sales-tax referenda and Democratic voters were most likely to favor them.
State economists project North Carolina will have 17.6 percent more revenue this year than projected last year, an amount that can help rebuild the state as its economy emerges from the COVID-19 pandemic.
Gov. Roy Cooper signed a more than $2 billion COVID relief bill on Wednesday, Feb. 10, despite his call for more spending.
Today, Governor Roy Cooper announced that Machelle Sanders, current Secretary of the NC Department of Administration, will now serve as Secretary of the Department of Commerce. Sanders will replace Tony Copeland who stepped down at the end of January.
Gov. Roy Cooper’s call for more money for schools while also indicating he would veto a bill that could send students back to school has many in the state scratching their heads.
Gilead Sciences, Inc. (Nasdaq; GILD), a leading biopharmaceutical company developing innovative medicines, has selected North Carolina’s Research Triangle region as the location for a major business services and information technology hub, creating 275 jobs, Governor Roy Cooper announced today. The company will invest up to $5 million in Wake County.
Education workers will leap to the head of the line for COVID-19 vaccines on Feb. 24. More than a million seniors are still waiting for their first dose.
State Human Resources Director Barbara Gibson has been appointed to an at-large position on the Executive Committee of the National Association of State Personnel Executives (NASPE). Established in 1977, NASPE provides educational resources for state human resources (HR) executives and a forum to share best practices.
"This pandemic continues to strain communities across our state, and this investment of federal funds in critical areas will help us defeat COVID-19 and build back a stronger and more resilient North Carolina."
North Carolina public school teachers are encouraged to apply for awards to get additional training and experience. Governor Roy Cooper and the North Carolina Business Committee for Education are pleased to announce that educators can apply for the Governor’s Educator Discovery Award which provides a stipend of up to $1,000 for public school teachers to pursue professional development.
The N.C. General Assembly passed a bill Thursday, Feb. 4, that provides more than $2 billion in COVID aid across the state, most of it to public schools. The bill now heads to Gov. Roy Cooper, who held a press conference Thursday calling for hundreds of millions in more spending.
Both political parties are throwing their weight behind school reopening in North Carolina. Gov. Roy Cooper, a Democrat, urged schools to allow students to return to the classroom. Republican lawmakers also Tuesday, Feb. 2 moved to mandate in-person learning as an option for all K-12 students.
