North Carolina Politics in the News

Economic Development

ABC 11: NC's Rural Infrastructure Authority approved 20 grant requests, totaling to over $8M Over 800 new jobs are coming to rural communities across North Carolina. The state's Rural Infrastructure Authority (RIA) is an appointed 17-member board that awards Rural, Community Development Block Grants and Utility grant funds.

Education

WSOC-TV: Lawsuit could set precedent on school districts’ calendars in North Carolina School is out but districts in North Carolina are already looking ahead to the first day in August, but that exact date is different depending on your district. Several districts across our area are defying state law and starting before the mandated Aug. 26 date. A lawsuit on the coast could be a precedent for districts in our area. THE CAROLINA JOURNAL: NC House budget clears voucher waitlist, boosts teacher pay The North Carolina House’s proposed budget revisions would clear the waitlist for the Opportunity Scholarship Program and raise starting teacher pay, in addition to numerous other adjustments to K-12 public education appropriations.

Government

THE NEWS & OBSERVER: As NC House moves its budget forward, Senate releases its own proposal After talks between the state House and Senate GOP appeared to stall, Republicans in both chambers are moving forward with their own proposals to make adjustments to the state’s two-year budget. WRAL: Wide-ranging NC bill takes aim at mail-in voting, local government powers, AI-generated political ads Major changes to North Carolina's elections rules, in 2024 or beyond, were unveiled Thursday in a state Senate committee — including one proposed change that critics say would give the Republican-led legislature the power to change how local city and county governments are elected, in order to weaken Democratic political power in the state's main urban areas and other liberal-leaning parts of the state. AP NEWS: North Carolina governor vetoes masks bill largely because of provision about campaign finance Despite changes made to North Carolina’s masking bill to quell concerns over the removal of a pandemic-era health exemption, Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper said he vetoed the legislation on Friday mostly for a different reason: a campaign finance provision tacked on to the end during legislative negotiations.

Healthcare

NORTH CAROLINA HEALTH NEWS: NC Medicaid is rolling out ‘tailored’ plans for complex beneficiaries. Your questions answered. Medicaid is about to change for tens of thousands of North Carolinians who have complex health care needs. For most of the state’s 2 million-plus Medicaid beneficiaries, nothing will happen.

Politics

WRAL: NC Senate votes, again, to legalize medical marijuana. Why it could still face opposition With the end of the state’s 2024 legislative session looming, Senate Republicans hit the gas Thursday on efforts to legalize medical marijuana in North Carolina. The 33-9 vote Thursday marks the third time in three years that the Senate has voted, by a broad bipartisan margin, to legalize medical marijuana. But GOP leaders in the state House have never allowed it to come up for a vote; House Speaker Tim Moore has said that while he personally supports the idea, most of his fellow Republican lawmakers in the House don’t.