NC Policy Watch

If there's a most egregious disconnect right now between state and national policy and what reams of scientific evidence and countless common-sense observations tell us about the world around us, it's clearly in the realm of environmental protection and, in particular, climate change. As has been repeatedly and thoroughly documented, our planet currently faces an existential crisis that demands an urgent, all-hands-on-deck response from government at all levels, the private and nonprofit sectors, scientists, and average citizens. Unfortunately, as Newsline learned recently in an extended conversation with North Carolina League of Conservation Voters' clean energy campaigns director, Meech Carter, the perverse reality right now is that many corporate actors, along with the Trump administration, are moving in the opposite direction by loosening or eliminating anti-pollution rules and conservation efforts, expanding the use of expensive fossil fuels and sticking average ratepayers with the bill. In Part One of our recent extended conversation Carter, we explored the troubling fact that new actions by North Carolina-based electricity giant Duke Energy, are poised to both raise prices on average consumers and further inhibit critically important efforts to reduce carbon emissions from fossil fuels that contribute to climate change. In Part Two of our chat we dug deeper into these issues by examining the troubling growth of so-called data centers, recent actions by the Trump administration to end federal regulation of pollutants that cause climate change, the critical need to rebuild western North Carolina better and stronger 18 months after Hurricane Helene, and why its critical that caring and thinking people vote in this year's elections if our state and nation are to return to the pursuit of sane environmental policies. Click here to listen to the full interview with North Carolina League of Conservation Voters' clean energy campaigns director Meech Carter.

Early voting is already well underway in this year's primary election that concludes on March 3, but even as this process plays out, conservative activists and self-described “election integrity experts” are renewing their longstanding campaign to purge registered voters from the rolls in groups and geographic areas that generally tend to vote for Democratic candidates. The latest effort: a recent offer from a group of conservative activists to provide North Carolina's Republican dominated Board of Elections with new computer software that they claim will identify fraudulent voters. As NC Newsline reporter Lynn Bonner explained in a recent story, however, the software in question remains in a developmental stage and is a of a type and origin that pro-democracy advocates say should raise some serious red flags. And recently, we sat down with Bonner to learn more. Click here to listen to the full interview with NC Newsline investigative reporter Lynn Bonner. Click here to read Bonner’s story.

During his 2024 campaign to return to the White House, President Trump promised American voters that he would almost immediately deliver a new era of peace and prosperity. Today, a little over a year since his return to office, it's increasingly clear that most Americans do not believe he has delivered. In addition to a string of losses for Trump allies in a series of special elections, several new opinion surveys indicate that most Americans – including a  significant percentage of Republicans – are unhappy with rising costs of everything from housing to health care to groceries. And yet, despite these trends, Trump retains a core of strong supporters – and this is true in North Carolina – who remain loyal and willing to accept his characterization of the facts, even when they're contradicted by official statistics. And recently to get a better handle on this situation, Newsline sat down for an extended chat with the author of one of the most recent polls, veteran Catawba College political scientist, Prof. Michal Bitzer. In Part One of our recent extended conversation with veteran Catawba College political scientist, Prof. Michael Bitzer, we discussed recent polling numbers that indicate that while President Trump retains a core of strong supporters, his overall approval ratings are waning in light of several controversial global policy actions and an economy that's failing to live up to his campaign promise of lower prices and bigger paychecks. In Part Two of our chat, we continued our discussion of the widespread discontent over the state of the economy, as well as the general bipartisan dissatisfaction with the performance of the U.S. Congress. In addition, we checked in on the continued strong polling numbers for North Carolina Gov. Josh Stein and looked ahead to the upcoming North Carolina U.S. Senate contest in which former Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper is expected to face one of a group of lesser-known Republican candidates. Click here to listen to the full interview with Catawba College political scientist Prof. Michal Bitzer.

If you celebrated Valentine's Day over the weekend, chances are you noted that tariffs are driving up the cost of flowers, chocolates, and many other items associated with the holiday. Many of the products that define Valentine's rely heavily on imports. The United States imports nearly all the cacao used to make chocolate, primarily from West Africa, the Dominican Republic, and Ecuador. About 80 percent of cut flowers sold in the U.S. are also imported. To get a better idea of how across-the-board tariffs are impacting consumers, we checked in recently with two small business owners in Raleigh and in Black Mountain, North Carolina. Sam Ratto is the owner of Videri Chocolate Factory in downtown Raleigh and Abigail Helberg-Moffitt is the owner of Bloom WNC in Black Mountain, North Carolina. Click here to listen to their story. Read their full story here.

For those who had hoped the New Year would return a modicum and calm and normalcy to the nation, the past several weeks have been a profound disappointment. Between the Trump administration's continued war on basic government services, rogue foreign policy threats, destructive and frequently lawless attacks on immigrant communities, and failure to address the affordability crisis afflicting millions of Americans, the first few weeks of 2026 have looked distressingly similar to 2025. Most recently, with the President's brazen proposals to seize oversight of elections from the states, the nation seems headed from more chaos and controversy. Fortunately, a growing and bipartisan chorus of elected leaders is speaking up and pushing back and NC Newsline recently caught up with North Carolina U.S. Representative Deborah Ross to talk about those efforts. Click here for the full interview with Congresswoman Deborah Ross (NC-02)

For close to 90 years, most American universities and their faculty members have operated under a popular, useful and commonly understood definition of academic freedom – that is the notion that a free search for the truth and its exposition (one not beholden to politicians or the whims of public opinion) is at the heart of higher education's mission. Indeed, throughout this period, a national organization known as the American Association of University Professors (AAUP) has made championing such a definition its guiding mission. However, in recent years, conservative partisans have been leading a relentless campaign to undermine academic freedom and, in recent months, that effort has given rise to a new initiative at the UNC System Board of Governors. And recently to learn more, Newsline caught up with an AAUP leader here in North Carolina – UNC Charlotte Associate Professor of Social Work, Anneliese Mennicke. Click here for the full interview with UNC Charlotte Associate Professor Anneliese Mennicke.

The nation's persistent affordability crisis continues to leave large majorities of Americans deeply concerned about the state of the country and dissatisfied with national political leaders and, as Newsline learned in a recent conversation with KFF senior survey polling analyst Dr. Shannon Schumacher, nowhere is this better evidenced than in the field of health care. As Schumacher told us in a recent conversation, new KFF polling finds that the combination of soaring costs and frayed and uncertain insurance coverage has left millions of people worse off than they were just a year ago and deeply concerned about the policies, actions and inactions of the Trump administration and congressional leaders as we look forward to the 2026 elections. Click here to listen to the full interview with KFF senior survey polling analyst Dr. Shannon Schumacher.

One of the most worrisome trends impacting our nation's public health right now is the spread of misinformation about the risks and benefits of vaccines. Tragically, this sobering development is on display right now in our state where multiple outbreaks of measles – a dangerous and sometimes deadly and debilitating illness – have emerged thanks to the failure of parents to secure vaccination for their children. And it's in light of developments like this that an array of experts and average citizens are pushing back with accurate information and advocacy, and recently we caught up with one of the leaders of that effort – veteran Ohio-based pediatrician Dr. Arthur Lavin. Lavin helps lead a national organization called Grandparents for Vaccines and as he told Newsline, he and his colleagues in this effort are determined to remind Americans of some simple truths about communicable disease that many have forgotten. Click here for the full interview with Dr. Arthur Lavin of Grandparents for Vaccines.

North Carolina primary election is just weeks away, and it looks like our state will play host to one of the nation's most expensive and important U.S. Senate races as former Democratic governor Roy Cooper heads toward a fall clash with one of three candidates seeking the Republican nomination. Of course, all of this comes at a time of profound national division and turmoil as President Trump continues to pursue an agenda that polls say most Americans view as reckless and unattuned to their needs. At such a moment, it seemed to us like a good time to check in with one of our state's most experienced political observers, veteran Democratic consultant and columnist Thomas Mills. And as Mills told us in Part One of our extended conversation, this fall's elections are likely to show once again that North Carolina remains one of the nation's most closely divided states. In Part Two of our chat, we examined the fascinating state Senate contest in Rockingham and Guilford counties in which long-time Republican leader and Senate President Pro Tem Phil Berger faces a formidable challenge from popular Rockingham County Sheriff Sam Page. We also discussed whether there is a chance for Democrats to gain any seats in the state legislature and U.S. House delegations in light of aggressive Republican gerrymandering and what Mills sees as some of the key issues that are likely to be foremost in voters' minds as they go to the polls. Click listen to the full interview with veteran political consultant Thomas Mills. You can read more of his observations at Politics NC.

Few organizations have had a larger impact on the honesty, transparency and overall health of North Carolina's government over the few decades than the state chapter of the national nonprofit advocacy organization Common Cause. Recently, the group's longtime executive director Bob Phillips moved on to retirement, turning over the reins to the longtime organizational deputy director Sailor Jones. NC Newsline recently sat down with Jones to discuss why he’s already redoubling the group's efforts to resist assaults on fair elections. And Jones weighs in on recent actions by the NC State Board of Elections to reject campus voting sites and curb Sunday voting in several counties. Click here to listen to the full interview with the new executive director of Common Cause North Carolina, Sailor Jones.

Few organizations have had a larger impact on the honesty, transparency and overall health of North Carolina's government over the few decades than the state chapter of the national nonprofit advocacy organization Common Cause. Recently, the group's longtime executive director Bob Phillips moved on to retirement, turning over the reins to the longtime organizational deputy director Sailor Jones. NC Newsline recently sat down with Jones to discuss why he’s already redoubling the group's efforts to resist assaults on fair elections. And Jones weighs in on recent actions by the NC State Board of Elections to reject campus voting sites and curb Sunday voting in several counties. Click here to listen to the full interview with the new executive director of Common Cause North Carolina, Sailor Jones.

All across the country, ICE and Border Patrol agents have conducted police-state-style raids and other actions that have terrorized communities and raised constitutional issues of profound importance. At the same time, numerous changes to immigration policy – many of them adopted without public knowledge or input – have made an already complex system more opaque and confusing than ever. At such a challenging moment, the nation is blessed to have a small and courageous cadre of nonprofit advocates who work each day to monitor and shine a light on the system and advocate for basic American values like due process. And recently Newsline got a chance to talk with one of the most able and best-informed attorneys working in this arena, American Immigration Council Deputy Legal Director, Raul Pinto. In Part One of our recent extended conversation with American Immigration Council Deputy Legal Director, Raul Pinto, we delved into some of the most worrisome front burner issues related to immigrants and immigration policy currently afflicting the nation – including the deeply disturbing mass raids, arrests and violence launched by the Trump administration in numerous communities across the country. In Part Two of our chat, we dug deeper into some of these and related issues, including the matter of transparency and accountability in the immigration law system and an ongoing effort by Pinto and his colleagues to compel the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services to simply provide immigrants with their own immigration records. Click here for the full interview with Raul Pinto, Deputy Legal Director at the American Immigration Council Editor’s note: Newsline’s interview with Pinto was recorded before a second U.S. citizen was shot and killed by federal immigration officers in Minnesota. 

The headlines are making clear, big and important debates and actions – especially several controversial actions of the Trump administration and its allies — have continued to roil American policy and politics in the New Year. From the health care wars to the widespread immigration crackdowns to a bevy of contentious foreign policy moves, Americans are concerned about the present and future and, in many instances, deeply divided. It’s the kind of moment that keeps political scientists and pollsters busy as they work to assess the state of public opinion and how it's likely to impact voting patterns and upcoming elections, and one especially trustworthy monitor of the situation in North Carolina is Meredith College political science professor and pollster David McLennan. And recently, we caught up with McLennan for an extended interview in which we dug into several of these matters. In Part One of our recent extended conversation with Meredith College political scientist and pollster David McLennan, we examined some of the top issues making political and policy news in the New Year and how they relate to the latest developments we're seeing in American public opinion and voter registration numbers. In Part Two of our chat, we continued this conversation, and looked more closely at some of the most controversial issues – including the Trump administration's national crackdown on immigrants and its controversial foreign policy actions and statements — as well as how these controversies might impact the 2026 elections and, in particular, North Carolina's highly anticipated U.S. Senate race between former Gov. Roy Cooper and Republican challenger Michael Whatley.

The headlines are making clear, big and important debates and actions – especially several controversial actions of the Trump administration and its allies — have continued to roil American policy and politics in the New Year. From the health care wars to the widespread immigration crackdowns to a bevy of contentious foreign policy moves, Americans are concerned about the present and future and, in many instances, deeply divided. It’s the kind of moment that keeps political scientists and pollsters busy as they work to assess the state of public opinion and how it's likely to impact voting patterns and upcoming elections, and one especially trustworthy monitor of the situation in North Carolina is Meredith College political science professor and pollster David McLennan. And recently, we caught up with McLennan for an extended interview in which we dug into several of these matters. In Part One of our recent extended conversation with Meredith College political scientist and pollster David McLennan, we examined some of the top issues making political and policy news in the New Year and how they relate to the latest developments we're seeing in American public opinion and voter registration numbers. In Part Two of our chat, we continued this conversation, and looked more closely at some of the most controversial issues – including the Trump administration's national crackdown on immigrants and its controversial foreign policy actions and statements — as well as how these controversies might impact the 2026 elections and, in particular, North Carolina's highly anticipated U.S. Senate race between former Gov. Roy Cooper and Republican challenger Michael Whatley.

Commemorative services are planned across the state Monday as the nation pauses for a federal holiday in observance of civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. MLK Day is a national day of service to encourage all Americans to volunteer and improve their communities. Bishop William Barber – president of Repairers of the Breach and architect of the Forward Together Moral Movement – will mark the day with a series of speeches encouraging people of all backgrounds to come together and sound the alarm against unjust policies that have led to healthcare cuts, gerrymandered districts, reduced funding for public schools, and increased aggressive actions by ICE agents. Barber and a coalition of North Carolina religious leaders and advocacy organizations recently announced plans for a memorial march in mid-February to speak out against regressive policies while highlighting what they believe is a better path forward for the nation. NC Newsline sat down with Bishop Barber to discuss the upcoming march and his thoughts as we mark the 2026 MLK Day. Barber shared with us one of the key objectives of the upcoming February march is to lift up a vision of what caring and thinking people are for, more than just the policies that they're against. 

For those who had hoped the New Year might usher in a period of renewed calm in American policy and politics, this first week has been yet another profound disappointment. Topping the list of worrisome developments was President Donald Trump's decision to use U.S. military personnel to arrest the president of Venezuela Niclas Maduro and his wife. Trump's action to decapitate the leadership of a sovereign nation and quote “run” the oil rich country going forward has prompted protests and deep concern across the nation and the world about violations of international law and the U.S. Constitution. And one of the many American elected officials to voice such concerns has been North Carolina Fourth District Congresswoman Valerie Foushee. As Newsline learned in a recent extended interview, Foushee is strongly opposed to putting armed forces personnel in jeopardy in service of another nation-building exercise that she views as unlawful. We examined several other subjects, including the the failure of Foushee's GOP colleagues in Congress to renew federal subsidies for Americans enrolled in the Affordable Care Act, the un-American actions of ICE and border patrol agents, the anniversary of the January 6, 2021 insurrection and President Trump's pardon of numerous perpetrators. Click here to listen to the full interview with North Carolina Congresswoman Valerie Foushee (NC-04) Editor’s note: NC Newsline’s interview with Foushee was conducted prior to the fatal shooting in Minneapolis by an ICE agent that has ignited nationwide protests. 

As we commence the New Year, few if any subjects raise greater concerns for the wellbeing of Americans than the ongoing global environmental crisis. From climate change to the growing and widespread prevalence of toxic chemicals, to the Trump administration's ongoing war against environmental protection regulations, this past year has been another deeply worrisome one for the health of our planet. And while it will clearly be difficult to effect the public policy turnaround that's so urgently needed anytime very soon, one predicate that will be absolutely necessary is a continuing flow of accurate information and on this front, North Carolina is fortunate to have one of the nation's best and most knowledgeable environmental reporters – Lisa Sorg of Inside Climate News. And this past week, Newsline caught up with Lisa to discuss some of the most important environmental stories of 2025 and what's likely to be making news in 2026. Click here to listen to the full interview with Lisa Sorg of Inside Climate News.

It's common knowledge that the nation's housing market – especially in growing areas like North Carolina – has become prohibitively expensive for millions of people, and a new report from researchers at the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy and the Center for Geospatial Solutions (which is housed at the institute) highlights a major culprit – the rising tide of corporate ownership of the nation's residential housing stock. According to the report – which is entitled “Who Owns America,” nearly 9% of residential parcels in 500 U.S. counties are owned by a corporation and the concentrations exceed 20% in some cities. What's more, the trend is expanding rapidly, and it's further complicating the already deeply challenging housing market for first-time buyers. And in December to learn more about the report and the housing market challenges it helps to highlight, we caught up with the national housing reporter for the news outlet, Stateline, Robbie Sequeira. Click here to listen to the full interview with Robbie Sequeira. Editor’s note: This is a rebroadcast of our interview from Dec. 7, 2025. 

The rising cost of housing continues to be a huge problem for millions of Americans. But, of course, as just about any average person can also confirm, lack of affordability is not just a problem confined to housing – it's spreading across the U.S. economy in dozens of areas. So, what's going on here? During the COVID pandemic, we knew precisely what was going on – a huge drop in supply that was giving rise to rapid inflation, and that problem was rapidly and successfully addressed during the Biden presidency. So why are prices going up again and what should elected leaders be doing about it? Recently Newsline got a chance to discuss these and some related matters in an extended conversation with NC State extension economist and professor emeritus Mike Walden. In Part One of our extended conversation, we discussed the affordability crisis that's plaguing millions of average Americans – and how President Donald Trump's tariffs are contributing to the problem and undermining the bold promises he made to Americans during the 2024 election. In Part Two of our chat, we dug deeper into some of the economic challenges that confront the nation, including the impact of artificial intelligence, the changing nature of work, the ongoing disinvestment in research in higher education and the soaring costs of health care. Click here to listen to the full interview with economist Mike Walden. Editor's note: This is a rebroadcast of our interview from Dec. 7, 2025. 

Few areas of modern American popular culture have undergone greater or more rapid changes in recent years that college sports. Thanks to a series of successful legal challenges, the nation's longstanding practice of treating college athletes as amateurs has been completely upended and, especially at big schools engaged high-profile sports like football and basketball, teams have become professionalized, with many athletes switching schools yearly, and raking in multi-million dollar deals under so-called “name image and likeness.” In a time of such rapid change and upheaval, it comes as little surprise that many people who were used to how things once worked – be they university leaders or average citizens and sports fans — are experiencing a sense of disorientation and discomfort. And this fact was made clear in some opinion surveys conducted last October by the Elon University Poll and the Knight Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics, and at that time, NC Newsline caught up with the Elon poll director, Prof. Jason Husser, to learn more. Now that we are in the midst of the college football bowl season, we thought it would be an ideal time to revisit that interview and the poll findings. Click here to listen to the full interview with Elon University Professor Jason Husser.

In our fast-changing world, few technological developments of recent years have had a bigger impact on young people than the emergence of instant communication and social media. And while it's not difficult to identify the positive impacts of these phenomena, the worrisome impacts are also numerous. And this is a trend that seems certain to intensify in years to come with the rapid rise of artificial intelligence. Thankfully, many advocates have started to speak out in favor of stronger laws to protect vulnerable people – especially young people – from exploitation like predatory algorithms, social media bullying, artificial intelligence and other impacts from the online world that endanger people's mental and even physical health. And a few months' back, NC Newsline caught up with the leader of one such group, the co-founder and executive director of the Young People's Alliance, North Carolinian Sam Hiner. Click here to listen to our full interview with Sam Hiner, the co-founder and executive director of the Young People's Alliance.

The affordability crisis plaguing the American economy continues to grow more serious, and if there is a most visible sector of the economy for which soaring prices are causing the most havoc, it has to be housing. Across the country, the skyrocketing cost of housing – both for purchase and rent – is conspiring to swell the ranks of Americans who are inadequately housed, or even completely homeless. What's more and quite maddeningly, this disastrous trend is being abetted by the Trump administration and its congressional allies, who have made it a priority to abandon the federal government's proven “housing first” policy in favor of a mishmash of poorly funded alternatives and coercive tactics that some advocates characterize as an attack on homeless people. And recently to learn more about where things stand and what advocates are doing to push back, Newsline caught up with the executive director of the North Carolina Coalition to End Homelessness, Dr. Latonya L. Agard. Click here for the full interview with Dr. Latonya L. Agard.

When veteran journalist and advocate Bob Phillips took over as executive director of Common Cause of North Carolina a quarter century ago, he was the organization's sole staff member and the work he pursued to fight for fair elections, voting rights and honest government could often be a lonely effort. Today, as he prepares to retire next month, he's no longer quite so lonely – with a staff of 15 Common Cause North Carolina is now the organization's largest state affiliate – but many of the battles he fights remain daunting and uphill affairs. Especially when it comes to elections and combating the gerrymandering that allows politicians to rig their outcomes, Common Cause and its allies continue to face stiff headwinds from President Trump and his allies in Congress, state legislatures and the federal courts. And yet, as Bob reminded Newsline when we talked last week, there remain simple and doable fixes that could return fairness to our elections, and there are many reasons to believe caring and thinking Americans will be able to make them a reality in the not too distant future. Click here to listen to the full interview with Bob Phillips. 

It continues to be one of the great scandals of modern America that in the world's richest nation, millions of people – including an especially high percentage of children – suffer from hunger and malnutrition. Here in North Carolina, around one in seven people — including a quarter of our children — are burdened by food insecurity. And just to make the situation that much more outrageous and inexcusable, recent actions by federal and state elected officials to undermine SNAP food assistance and slash funding for anti-hunger nonprofits have made the situation significantly worse. The result: this year, more people than ever are struggling to feed their families. Amazingly, however, the good people doing anti-hunger work remain resilient and unbowed, and recently we got the chance to learn more about the needs in our community and how average folks can help in an extended conversation with the president and CEO of the Interfaith Food Shuttle, Ron Pringle. In Part One of our recent extended conversation with Interfaith Food Shuttle President and CEO Ron Pringle, we dug into the hunger crisis that currently afflicts North Carolina and how recent actions by federal and state lawmakers to slash funding for food assistance and nonprofits that aid people in need have made an already bad situation significantly worse. In Part Two of our chat, we dug deeper into the details of the current hunger crisis, some of the many innovative and hopeful ways in which groups like the Food Shuttle, even with depleted funding, seek to attack it, and how average North Carolinians can support their effort by donating their time, talents and treasure. Click here to listen to the full interview with Interfaith Food Shuttle President and CEO Ron Pringle. Click here to learn more about the Interfaith Food Shuttle.

It's now been nearly 15 months since the worst storm in modern times to hit western North Carolina – Hurricane-turned-Tropical Storm Helene – inundated numerous mountain communities, killed more than 100 people and inflicted tens of billions of dollars in property damage. Unfortunately, as NC Newsline has reported on numerous occasions, especially when it comes to the federal government, the response has been decidedly and often maddeningly inadequate. Despite repeated pleas from Gov. Josh Stein, funding from Washington has been slow and spotty and, thanks to Trump administration bloodletting, federal agencies that should be helping to spearhead the recovery have been inadequately staffed and often missing in action. As a result, western North Carolina residents remain deeply frustrated and worried about the future and recently we caught up with a storm survivor and local recovery leader who's traveling to the nation's capital along with a group of other disaster survivors from around the country this week to call for a better federal response – Watauga County carpenter and organizer Jon Council. Click here for the full interview with Down Home North Carolina community organizer Jon Council.

The rising cost of housing continues to be a huge problem for millions of Americans. But, of course, as just about any average person can also confirm, lack of affordability is not just a problem confined to housing – it's spreading across the U.S. economy in dozens of areas. So, what's going on here? During the COVID pandemic, we knew precisely what was going on – a huge drop in supply that was giving rise to rapid inflation, and that problem was rapidly and successfully addressed during the Biden presidency. So why are prices going up again and what should elected leaders be doing about it? Recently Newsline got a chance to discuss these and some related matters in an extended conversation with NC State extension economist and professor emeritus Mike Walden. In Part One of our extended conversation, we discussed the affordability crisis that's plaguing millions of average Americans – and how President Donald Trump's tariffs are contributing to the problem and undermining the bold promises he made to Americans during the 2024 election. In Part Two of our chat, we dug deeper into some of the economic challenges that confront the nation, including the impact of artificial intelligence, the changing nature of work, the ongoing disinvestment in research in higher education and the soaring costs of health care. Click here to listen to the full interview with economist Mike Walden.

It's common knowledge that the nation's housing market – especially in growing areas like North Carolina – has become prohibitively expensive for millions of people, and a new report from researchers at the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy and the Center for Geospatial Solutions (which is housed at the institute) highlights a major culprit – the rising tide of corporate ownership of the nation's residential housing stock. According to the report – which is entitled “Who Owns America,” nearly 9% of residential parcels in 500 U.S. counties are owned by a corporation and the concentrations exceed 20% in some cities. What's more, the trend is expanding rapidly, and it's further complicating the already deeply challenging housing market for first-time buyers. And recently to learn more about the report and the housing market challenges it helps to highlight, we caught up with the national housing reporter for the news outlet, Stateline, Robbie Sequeira. Click here to listen to the full interview with Robbie Sequeira.

  This story was produced by WHRO Public Media. Sign up for their newsletter here. In recent months, news of Outer Banks homes falling into the ocean seemed nonstop.Five fell in Buxton within just one hour in late September. Three more came down in the following days. Another five shortly before Halloween.Since 2020, 27 homes […]

  The record federal government shutdown may be over, but the dysfunction to which it gave rise and helped spur continues to plague North Carolina. Here in our state alone, millions of average people who have long relied upon government structures and services to help make basics like health care and access to food more […]

  One of the top news items at the start of the holiday season here in North Carolina has been the Trump administration's latest anti-immigrant crackdown. The mass border patrol enforcement action has spurred chaos in several communities with tens of thousands of students skipping school, workers afraid to report to their jobs, and business […]

  The Trump administration's immigration crackdown is causing heartache and consternation for thousands upon thousands of North Carolinians. What's more it's not just people lacking proper documentation who are being negatively impacted. As NC Newsline journalist Brandon Kingdollar recently reported, in many instances, it's American citizens and lawful residents who are being wrongfully targeted and […]

Affordable housing remains one of the most vexing problems in North Carolina and around the country. What's more, as we were reminded in a conversation this past week with NC Newsline poverty and housing reporter Greg Chidress, it's a challenge that's only been made worse by real and threatened federal funding cuts and the uncertainty […]

  One of the most visible and prolific voices for progressive policy change in 21st Century North Carolina is UNC Professor of Law Gene Nichol. Since taking up residence here three decades ago, Prof. Nichol has taught, written and advocated with remarkable energy and clarity for public policies that promote economic, social and political justice. […]

  Few national policy changes of the past year have drawn more attention or caused more controversy that President Trump's on-again off-again economic tariffs. But when it comes to lasting global impacts, it's all but certain that tariffs will pale in comparison to another controversial policy shift – the Trump administration decision to abandon our […]

  One of the most visible and controversial economic policy shifts to be implemented during the first year of the second Trump administration has been the return of big economic tariffs (that is, federal taxes) on foreign imports. The President claims that tariffs will boost domestic businesses, but results thus far – especially given the […]

  The federal government shutdown continued to have an array of devastating impacts in reent days and, by any fair estimate, one of the most harmful has been the shutoff in SNAP food assistance. While a pair of federal court rulings appear to have forced the Trump administration to restart benefits for the millions of […]

  The government shutdown and its devastating impact on millions of federal workers and average citizens is not the only dysfunction emanating from Washington these days. Thanks to the refusal of Congress and the Trump administration to extend health insurance tax credits enacted during the Biden years, millions of Americans are facing astronomical price spikes […]

  Amid the federal government shutdown and the pause in SNAP benefits, a growing number of groups and individuals are coming together and collaborating to promote the success and well-being of students and their families. One such group in our state is the North Carolina Community Schools Coalition – a nonprofit that's working hard to […]

  Over the last couple of decades, few if any American economists have played a more prominent role in the national debate over the economy or in actually crafting economic policy than Jared Bernstein. Bernstein served as chair of the national Council of Economic Advisers under President Biden and is currently a senior fellow at […]

  It's almost impossible to turn on one's computer, phone or TV these days without hearing about or, indeed, experiencing the impact of AI – artificial intelligence. The rapid rise of this remarkable technology is reshaping our world in many important ways – some that provide grounds for great hope and others that give rise […]

  North Carolina faces a dire shortage of affordable housing. One need merely talk to friends and family members – even those with middle class incomes – to understand just how difficult it is to find affordable rental housing, much less homeownership opportunities. That said, the numbers are bleak. The National Low Income Housing Coalition […]

  In 34 central and eastern North Carolina counties, one-in-five people – that's well over half-a-million men, women and children – suffers from food insecurity. And sadly, things aren't going to get better any time soon. Indeed, thanks to recent acts of Congress and the state legislature, SNAP food assistance and other parts of our […]

  Few areas of modern American popular culture have undergone greater or more rapid changes in recent years that college sports. Thanks to a series of successful legal challenges, the nation's longstanding practice of treating college athletes as amateurs has been completely upended and, especially at big schools engaged high-profile sports like football and basketball, […]

  Over the last several decades, much of the world has made significant progress in how it views and responds to the affliction we've come to refer to as substance use disorder. Whereas people who once struggled with the misuse of and addiction to drugs and alcohol were once dismissed as weak and flawed, we've […]

  If there's a single factor that's playing the largest role in spurring the dysfunction and divisiveness that plague modern American politics, gerrymandering – the intentional rigging of electoral districts for partisan purposes – is it. With the assistance of digital technology and recent judicial rulings that have given them complete carte blanche, state legislatures […]

  Despite the fact that they have yet to adopt a budget for the state fiscal year that commenced July 1, and are scheduled to return to Raleigh a couple more times this year, it appears that state lawmakers have wrapped up most of their action for the 2025 legislative session. And if that is in […]

  State lawmakers returned to Raleigh in late September for a brief stay, and in the aftermath of a horrific killing that had occurred just weeks before on a Charlotte commuter train, legislative leaders made criminal justice and their stated intention of “getting tough on crime” the central focus. Among the law changes sent to […]

  The North Carolina General Assembly was back in Raleigh in late September to enact legislation that leaders say will quote “get tough on crime” by limiting access to bail and pre-trial release for more criminal defendants and jump-starting the state's long un-used death penalty. Shortly after lawmakers departed the capital, Newsline caught up with […]

  North Carolina is now into the second year of Hurricane Helene recovery and as we discussed in a special edition of News & Views last week, while there have been many encouraging and inspiring aspects to this story, the hard truth is that we have a very long way to go. And as Newsline […]

  This past week marked the one-year anniversary of Helene – a deadly hurricane-turned tropical-storm that wreaked unprecedented havoc in western North Carolina. Helene caused widespread and massive flooding that killed scores of people and caused more than $60 billion dollars in damage to North Carolina's mountain west. In the year since, clean-up and recovery […]

  As with virtually all natural disasters, public funds and programs are at the heart of the ongoing recovery effort from Hurricane Helene. That said, federal relief from the Trump administration has been maddeningly minimal and slow, and that hard reality has helped force local private actors to display unusual resiliency and creativity in helping […]