RALEIGH — The minimum wage in North Carolina is $7.25 an hour — no different than the federal minimum. Other jurisdictions have set higher wage floors, by legislation or referendum. In the District of Columbia, nearly all employers must pay at least $17.50 an hour.
North Carolina House Speaker Destin Hall earned at least two rounds of bipartisan applause at the start of this year’s legislative session. One was for assuming his new leadership post. The other was for releasing a House calendar for the next six months, complete with specific deadlines and a pledge to “give you some certainty in your schedule.”
RALEIGH — President Donald Trump’s executive orders on education have some North Carolinians crying foul.
RALEIGH — Last month, North Carolina House Speaker Destin Hall tapped Rep. John Torbett (R-Gaston) and Rep. Keith Kidwell (R-Beaufort) to lead a new select committee on government efficiency.
RALEIGH — Reacting a few days ago to President Donald Trump’s brief attempt to suspend payment on a broad swath of federal grants, U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer warned that “virtually any organization, school, state, police office, county, town or community depends on federal grant money to run its day-to-day operations, and they’re all now in danger.”
RALEIGH — As a proud native of the Charlotte area who has happily lived most of my life in the Raleigh area, I am overjoyed to report that North Carolina’s recent growth extends far beyond our two most-populous communities.
RALEIGH — Are we on the brink of World War III? Not necessarily, argue the coauthors of a new book, so long as we do what is necessary to deter revanchists threatening peace and freedom around the world. But America and its allies have already entered a new Cold War with the CRINK Axis — China, Russia, Iran, North Korea, and their client states in Eurasia and Latin America — and policymakers inside and outside Washington need to understand fully its implications.
RALEIGH — In places where the regulatory climate makes it easier to build new homes, it’s easier for people to find housing at affordable prices.
RALEIGH — Being a naturally hopeful person with much to be thankful for, I try to talk to a wide variety of people before speculating about public opinion.
RALEIGH — North Carolina has one of the freest economies on the continent — a fact that augers well for the future of our state and its (now) 11 million residents.
Even the most curmudgeonly of Scrooges can’t help but tap their toes when they hear the first few notes of the modern masterpiece “Mary’s Little Boy Child.” For that, we can all thank the North Carolinian who so memorably paired calypso and Christmas — though that was not his original intention.
Of course Congress and the White House are going to reduce federal funding for Medicaid expansion. Of course North Carolina and other states will be forced either to reduce Medicaid coverage or to shoulder billions of dollars in additional medical expenses. That was always the inevitable endgame for Medicaid expansion.
