Bob Phillips, Executive Director of Common Cause North Carolina (Screengrab from press briefing) The North Carolina General Assembly wrapped up its 2024 “short session” recently and once again, it was a tough session for many basic aspects of democratic government. Whether they were unveiling secretly written proposals to overhaul state campaign fi…

NC Tenants Union executive director Nick MacLeod North Carolina has always been a state in which the law has allotted very few legal rights to residential tenants. Unless the actions of a landlord are truly outrageous – and sometimes even when they are – tenants rarely prevail when they seek to push back against evictions or fight for better rents …

Duke Health OB/GYN Dr. Beverly Gray (Photo: Courtesy of Scholars@Duke) It’s been two years now since the U.S. Supreme Court ended the constitutional right to abortion care and since then, numerous states – including North Carolina – have moved rapidly to end or greatly restrict abortion access. In 2023, Republican state legislators in Raleigh enact…

Alexandra Sirota (Photo: NC Budget & Tax Center) Ever since North Carolina Republicans took control of the state legislature in 2011, they’ve pursued a sustained and aggressive effort to remake the state’s tax and budget systems. Repeatedly, they’ve enacted big cuts to progressive levies like the personal and corporate income taxes that primarily i…

Melissa Price Kromm If there’s been a most controversial bill to wend its way through the North Carolina General Assembly this spring, right now it has to be House Bill 237 – a proposal that would change state laws governing the wearing masks in public, the rights of public protesters and the complex rules that govern contributions to political cam…

Erica Palmer Smith For several years now, researchers at the national Annie E. Casey Foundation have measured and documented how well each U.S. state is doing when it comes to the well-being of its children. The annual KIDS Count report looks at several important indicators in fields like economic well-being, educational achievement and health, ass…

Christina Baal-Owens (Courtesy: Public Wise) It’s been well over three years since Donald Trump’s lie about the 2020 election was thoroughly debunked, but tragically many American politicians – even some who participated in the January 6, 2021 insurrection – continue to hold elected office or to seek it as candidates in 2024. For Christina Baal-Owe…

House Democraic leader Rep. Robert Reives (Photo: NCGA) North Carolina Republican legislative leaders sprang a big surprise on their Democratic colleagues and just about all legislative observers recently when they suddenly unveiled a new, out-of-nowhere and extremely complex proposal to rewrite state campaign finance laws. The legislation, which w…

Virginia Kase Solomón (Photo: Common Cause) If there’s a most troubling issue facing our nation and its elected leaders at the dawn of the summer of 2024, many observers believe it is the state of our democracy. In the aftermath of the failed January 6, 2021 insurrection and subsequent widespread threats of violence and retribution from politicians…

Rep. Marcia Morey (Photo: NCGA) In 2019, North Carolina was the last state in the union to modernize its criminal justice system by ending the practice of automatically treating 16 and 17-year-olds accused of criminal offenses as adults. Now, however, state lawmakers are considering a proposal to backtrack on that progress. Under a bill moving thro…

Gene Nichol (File photo) In recent years, the North Carolina Supreme Court has undergone a radical transformation. Since Republican justices assumed control of the court after the 2022 election, they have moved swiftly – not merely to chart a more conservative path, but to quite literally redefine the court’s role in state government. And as Gene N…

Erin Carey (Courtesy photo) Over the last several decades, North Carolina has been transformed from a largely rural state covered with forests and farms into an ever more urban place plastered with vast swaths of concrete and asphalt. And it’s in light of this reality that Gov. Roy Cooper’s recent decision to veto a transportation bill approved by …

Dr. Rachel Jensen (photo: Clayton Henkel) This month marks the second anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court’s Dobbs ruling that ended the constitutional right to abortion care. It’s also been just over one-year since the Republican-controlled General Assembly in North Carolina’s enacted our state’s 12-week abortion ban. Abortion access will likely …

Raymond C. Pierce (Photo courtesy of the Southern Education Foundation) This year marks the 70th anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court’s unanimous ruling in the case of Brown v. Board of Education that ended the legal segregation of American public schools. Today, however, despite much progress on many fronts, resistance to racial integration in ed…

Elizabeth Barber - Photo: ACLU of NC Just when you thought we were starting to put some of the more contentious debates that emerged during the COVID-19 pandemic to rest, the North Carolina legislature has revived the argument over face masks. Under a bill recently passed the by the state Senate, not only would penalties be increased for protesters…

Paul Fulton shown with a billboard the group Public Ed works has sponsored across the state. (Courtesy photo) For several decades in the late 20th and early 21st Centuries, North Carolina’s public education system was widely celebrated as an up-and-coming national model. And a key to that success was the deep and abiding support of an array of forw…

Acting Secretary of Labor Julie Su Over the past three-plus years there are few if any areas of public policy in which the Biden administration has been more active in advancing rules and practices designed to lift average people and those long left behind by the American economy than in the realm labor relations. Whether it’s promoting better wage…

Lauren Fox, Ph.D.Senior Director, Policy & Research, Public School Forum Earlier this month, one of our state’s leading and most respected champions of public education, the Public School Forum of North Carolina, held its annual Eggs and Issues breakfast in Raleigh. The event drew several prominent elected officials and candidates from both parties…

North Carolina's childcare industry could see a serious reduction in its workforce without additional help. Stabilization grants run out in June. (Photo: Clayton Henkel) Charlotte preschool director Emma Biggs (Courtesy photo) North Carolina childcare providers are facing a potentially disastrous financial cliff in June. During the pandemic, the fe…

Cannabis advocate and consultant Chris Suttle (Courtesy photo) Medical marijuana is now legal and accessible for the vast majority of Americans, but one state that remains a stubborn holdout is North Carolina. A state Senate bill known as the Compassionate Care Act would change that by allowing patients suffering from a list of illnesses to gain ac…

Sen. Michael Garrett (Photo: NCGA) Republican legislative leaders are moving swiftly to dramatically expand the state’s controversial private school voucher program. A bill quickly advancing will appropriate nearly $500 million new dollars to thousands of middle- and upper-income families to help cover the cost of private school tuition. Not surpri…

Illiana Santillan (Photo courtesy El Pueblo) For several years now, North Carolina Republican legislators have been attempting to enact a law that would impose a one-size-fits-all approach on county sheriffs when it comes to dealing with the immigrant communities they serve. The proposal would mandate that sheriffs act as, in effect, adjuncts of fe…

Photo: ncsu.edu It’s now been 70 years since the United States Supreme Court ordered an end to racial segregation in public schools in the famous case of Brown v. Board of Education. And while resistance to desegregation never went away, there was a window of time in the late 20th and early 21st Century in which many states and localities – includi…

Political scientist and pollster David McLennan With North Carolina being one of the most important and hotly contested states in the upcoming November election, national and state-based pollsters are carefully and regularly monitoring voter attitudes and public opinion trends. And as News & Views listeners are well-aware, one of the best and most …

NC Justice Center Workers’ Rights Project Co-Director Clermont Ripley (Photo: Phyllis Nunn) Last week a pair of federal agencies announced some important new rules to protect workers. A new Federal Trade Commission rule bans non-compete clauses that have hindered the rights of workers to take better jobs. Meanwhile, a new Department of Labor rule w…

The post Voter fraud claims suddenly evaporate with GOP victories appeared first on NC Policy Watch.By Rob Schofield

The post Bob Phillips, executive director of Common Cause North Carolina, on the state of North Carolina’s troubled redistricting process appeared first on NC Policy Watch.By Clayton Henkel

Pierce is a social studies teacher at Red Oak Middle School in Battleboro, North Carolina and was social studies teacher of the year in 2019. The post NC Social Studies teacher Rodney Pierce on the need to teach a broad, full history of America appeared first on NC Policy Watch.By Clayton Henkel

The post A sobering anniversary for North Carolina public schools appeared first on NC Policy Watch.By Rob Schofield

The post National experts give NC leaders another ‘F’ on school funding appeared first on NC Policy Watch.By Rob Schofield

The post Conservative mythology about the market economy and race appeared first on NC Policy Watch.By Rob Schofield

The post Shamelessly gerrymandered maps confirm worst fears about NC redistricting appeared first on NC Policy Watch.By Rob Schofield

The post Time for Democrats to come together on Biden plan appeared first on NC Policy Watch.By Rob Schofield

Originally broadcast August 1, 2021 The post NC Attorney General Josh Stein discusses a historic $26 Billion opioid settlement, racial equity in the justice system, and the latest COVID-related scams appeared first on NC Policy Watch.By Clayton Henkel

Originally broadcast August 1, 2021 The post Urban Institute senior researcher Anuj Gangopadhyaya: Do Black and White Patients Experience Similar Rates of Adverse Safety Events at the Same Hospital? appeared first on NC Policy Watch.By Clayton Henkel

The post A modest step forward on the climate crisis, but many open questions remain appeared first on NC Policy Watch.By Rob Schofield

The post GOP lawmakers do a disservice by ignoring demands for criminal justice reform appeared first on NC Policy Watch.By Rob Schofield

The post K-12 student homelessness demands action from state leaders appeared first on NC Policy Watch.By Rob Schofield

The post Report finds clear link between systemic racism and minority incarceration rates appeared first on NC Policy Watch.By Rob Schofield

The post Report highlights the failed economics of American childcare appeared first on NC Policy Watch.By Rob Schofield

The post NC Policy Watch investigative reporter Joe Killian on the controversy surrounding Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson and the ongoing political efforts of the Christian right in anticipation of the 2022 elections appeared first on NC Policy Watch.By Clayton Henkel

The post Consumer advocate Rochelle Sparko of the Center for Responsible Lending on the state of the national student loan debt crisis and some relief that the Biden administration has made available appeared first on NC Policy Watch.By Clayton Henkel

The post Author, scholar, and former U.S. Navy Commander Theodore Johnson about his new book, “When the Stars Begin to Fall: Overcoming Racism and Renewing the Promise of America” appeared first on NC Policy Watch.By Clayton Henkel

The post UNC should part ways with meddlesome funder appeared first on NC Policy Watch.By Rob Schofield

The post Child tax credit is proving to be a transformative anti-poverty program appeared first on NC Policy Watch.By Rob Schofield

The post Mark Robinson’s hateful comments endanger children, slander families he’s sworn to serve appeared first on NC Policy Watch.By Rob Schofield

The post Gov. Cooper should pardon Dontae Sharpe now appeared first on NC Policy Watch.By Rob Schofield

The post The fight for Medicaid expansion continues appeared first on NC Policy Watch.By Rob Schofield

Wake County Commissioners Chair Matt Calabria discusses a new comprehensive anti-discrimination ordinance, ongoing efforts to stop the spread of COVID, and the vexing shortage of affordable housing The post Wake County Commissioners Chair Matt Calabria appeared first on NC Policy Watch.By Clayton Henkel

Public education advocates Letha Muhammad and Sarah Montgomery discuss the growing grassroots effort to convince the state legislature to comply with a state court order to provide every child in North Carolina with the opportunity to receive a sound basic education. The post Public education advocates Letha Muhammad and Sarah Montgomery with the l…