North Carolina’s Debt Affordability Advisory Committee says the state should set aside $100 million a year to help the state pension systems remain solvent.
All by Johnny Kampis
State auditor finds a bevy of unlicensed providers receive Medicaid funds
An audit released by State Auditor Beth Wood’s office Thursday, Feb. 18, found the state Department of Health and Human Services did a poor job of gatekeeping the Medicaid Provider Enrollment process.
Lawmakers look to implement summer school for at-risk students
As state lawmakers try to sort out when students can go back to school full time, members of the House are sponsoring a bill that would offer a voluntary summer school program for North Carolina students.
North Carolina’s members of Congress absent more often than peers
Twelve of 15 members of Congress from North Carolina missed more votes in 2020 than the median absences of their peers. In addition, both Tar Heel state U.S. senators outpaced most other senators for missed votes, a government watchdog reports.
Cooper threatens veto of school-reopening bill, calls for more funding
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.
North Carolina, which saw a tightening of the presidential race in the 2020 election, was among the states that saw an influx of money from Mark Zuckerberg in the months leading up to the voting. Capital Research Center noted that Zuckerberg and his wife, Priscilla Chan, donated $350 million to the Center for Technology and Civic Life, which in turn gave the money to local election officials. CRC argues that the formerly small group “became an activist juggernaut with the means to effectively manage the election in numerous cities and battleground states across the nation.”
CRC said $4.3 million of these “Zuck bucks” went to 34 North Carolina cities and counties, in addition to a $1 million grant to the state board of elections. CRC said Biden gained about 80,000 votes in the counties that received the grants.
State lawmakers look to eliminate hand-held cellphone use by drivers
State lawmakers are trying again to eliminate the use of hand-held cellphones by operators of motor vehicles.
N.C. overpaid more than $69 million in unemployment benefits
NCDES Assistant Secretary Pryor Gibson told the Joint Legislative Oversight Committee on Unemployment Insurance on Tuesday, Jan. 26, that a combination of more money passing through the system and additional programs resulted in the overpayments.
Migration analysis suggests tax climate draws Americans to N.C.
A recent examination by the Tax Foundation shows North Carolina’s high net migration rate may be due to its friendly tax climate. The nonprofit, nonpartisan group annually examines migration trends, using data from United Van Lines, the largest moving company in the country. That company’s National Movers Study found that in 2020, Idaho saw the highest percentage of net migration at 70%, followed by South Carolina (64%), Oregon (63%), South Dakota, and Arizona (both 62%). North Carolina ranked sixth at 60%.
The states with the highest exodus? New Jersey, New York, Illinois, Connecticut, and California.