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Latest episodes from NC Policy Watch

Rep. Phil Rubin on the NC House budget and efforts that would politicize the NC Board of Elections

Play Episode Listen Later Jun 2, 2025 19:56


  Each year, the most important piece of legislation approved by the North Carolina General Assembly is the state budget bill – a massive document running to hundreds of pages that details billions of dollars in appropriations and scores of substantive law changes. It's the kind of legislation that ought to feature days – if […]

NPR correspondent Laura Sullivan on the new NPR/PBS documentary: “Hurricane Helene's Deadly Warning”

Play Episode Listen Later Jun 2, 2025 16:18


  It's now been eight months since Hurricane Helene wreaked havoc in western North Carolina and permanently altered numerous communities. And while the recovery work continues, one vitally important area that deserves much greater attention than it's receiving is preparation for the next natural disaster. As veteran journalist Laura Sullivan explains in a new PBS/NPR […]

Counties must address biased and unjust property tax assessments

Play Episode Listen Later Jun 2, 2025 1:04


  It's a universal rule of local government that nobody likes their property tax bill or the way their property is assessed. By any measure, the assessors have a tough and thankless job. That said, it's also true that there are unjust assessments and sometimes they're the byproduct of historical bias and discrimination that affect […]

NC prisons are a mess and lawmakers must act

Play Episode Listen Later May 30, 2025 1:05


    No one ever said our state prisons would or should be cushy places to live and work. But neither should they be decrepit dumps in which an underpaid and understaffed workforce struggles to cope with an inmate population that is at once aging and unhealthy, and increasingly hopeless and prone to violence. Unfortunately, […]

Trump to western North Carolina: Drop dead

Play Episode Listen Later May 29, 2025 1:05


  Sometimes, it's hard to keep track of the wild policy swings that are the signatures of the second Trump administration. From tariffs and trade to Russia and Ukraine, it often takes just hours for supposedly strong policy stances to be contradicted or abandoned by the president or his aides. And now, this chaotic pattern […]

State, federal budget bills will help worsen a destructive national trend 

Play Episode Listen Later May 28, 2025 1:05


    It's a trend that's been advancing at a breakneck clip for years now, but according to a new report from the global nonprofit OxFam, the vast and immoral inequality that dominates the U.S. economy has reached truly stunning levels. As the report notes, over the past year, the richest ten Americans increased their […]

NC lawmakers invite right-wing advocacy group to consult on UNC admissions

Play Episode Listen Later May 27, 2025 1:05


  There are many things that state leaders should do these days to improve the UNC System. Providing adequate funds to hire and retain topflight faculty and reining in out-of-control professional sports programs would be a good start. Unfortunately, at present, the emphasis in Raleigh is on advancing a right-wing political agenda, and so it […]

Former director of the State Board of Elections, Karen Brinson Bell, on her tenure, accomplishments

Play Episode Listen Later May 26, 2025 23:51


  Over the past six years, few public servants in North Carolina have had a bigger or more positive impact under more difficult circumstances than former State Board of Elections executive director Karen Brinson Bell. Despite woefully inadequate appropriations from the state legislature and relentless attacks from uninformed conspiracy theorists, Brinson Bell persevered, strengthened North […]

NC’s Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services on proposed cuts to Medicaid and SNAP

Play Episode Listen Later May 26, 2025 14:42


  One of North Carolina Gov. Josh Stein's first acts upon assuming office earlier this year was to name a new Secretary of the state Department of Health and Human Services, and from the looks of things thus far, the person to whom he turned, Dr. Dev Sangvai, was a winning selection. Since taking office, […]

Memorial Day serves to highlight the Trump administration's shabby treatment of veterans

Play Episode Listen Later May 26, 2025 1:05


    Today is Memorial Day – the day on which we honor the memory of the servicemen and women who made the ultimate sacrifice for our nation. All caring and thinking people should take at least a moment today to lift up these heroes. And today would also be a good one to help […]

New Helene documentary provides another wake-up call

Play Episode Listen Later May 23, 2025 1:05


  North Carolina hardly needs any more wake-up calls about the devastating impacts of climate change, but a new, must-see PBS/NPR documentary provides another powerful reminder on the subject of dealing with the extreme weather that climate change is spawning. The documentary is entitled “Hurricane Helene's Deadly Warning,” and in it, NPR's Laura Sullivan exposes […]

North Carolina needs more public employees, not fewer

Play Episode Listen Later May 22, 2025 1:04


  North Carolina House Republicans unveiled their version of a new state budget this week, and while it included some improvements over the Senate version – a somewhat slower approach to cutting taxes, slightly better salaries for new teachers – the plan swings and misses by proposing to slash 3,000 state government jobs. The authors […]

GOP continues its transformation of the Board of Elections into a partisan tool

Play Episode Listen Later May 21, 2025 1:05


  The efforts of North Carolina Republican lawmakers to transform the state Board of Elections into a partisan puppet show continue apace. First, was the absurd move that placed MAGA state auditor Dave Boliek over the board instead of the Governor. Then came Boliek's appointment of a pair of ultra-partisan GOP politicians as board members. […]

Lawmakers should listen to their constituents, rethink proposals to deregulate firearms

Play Episode Listen Later May 20, 2025 1:04


    North Carolina's gun violence crisis continues to grow more dire by the day. According to the most recent data, someone dies in our state from a gunshot wound every five hours. Think about that for a minute: that's more than four lives lost every day. Amazingly, however, state legislative leaders are determined to […]

Common Cause of NC’s Bob Phillips on a victory for voters and the latest from the Board of Elections

Play Episode Listen Later May 19, 2025 11:05


  It seemed like it might never happen, but we now know the winner of last November's election for an associate justice seat on the North Carolina Supreme Court. Following federal Judge Richard Myers' complete rejection of GOP candidate Jefferson Griffin's effort to overturn his narrow defeat by tossing the ballots of thousands of voters, […]

Newsline reporter Galen Bacharier on the budget debate and the hectic happenings of the legislature

Play Episode Listen Later May 19, 2025 15:17


  Lawmakers in Raleigh recently concluded crossover week – a chaotic period in which they considered and voted on scores of bills in dozens of important subject areas in just a few days. And for better or worse, a lot of important and controversial measures won approval and remain eligible for final passage this session. […]

NCIOM President Michelle Ries and NC Child’s Erica Palmer Smith on the 2025 Child Health Report Card

Play Episode Listen Later May 19, 2025 19:03


    For nearly three decades, a pair of nonprofits – the North Carolina Institute of Medicine and NC Child – have released a biennial study known as the Child Health Report Card. The goal, as you might expect, is to provide legislators, public health officials, school administrators, parents and other nonprofit leaders with the […]

NC House budget rules make a mockery of representative government

Play Episode Listen Later May 19, 2025 1:05


  Everyone knows the state legislature must operate under a set of parliamentary rules and procedures. After all, maintaining order in a large group of opinionated and talkative politicians is no easy feat. That said, when the rules become so numerous, complex and restrictive that they make majority rule effectively impossible, they've gone too far […]

Former South Carolina utility regulator offers damning assessment of NC Senate energy proposal

Play Episode Listen Later May 16, 2025 1:04


  Among the most worrisome bills under consideration in Raleigh this year is a Senate proposal that would weaken the state's commitment to reducing greenhouse gas emissions. By removing a 2030 target for a 70 percent reduction in carbon emissions, the bill takes another big step backward in confronting the global climate crisis. But as […]

Democrats can thank Jefferson Griffin for boosting their judicial election chances

Play Episode Listen Later May 15, 2025 1:04


  Few initiatives of modern American conservatives have been more successful than the crusade to take control of the courts. From the U.S. Supreme Court on down, big dollars and a commitment to hardball politics have helped give Republicans large majorities on several courts where the partisan divide should be about even. Notably, however, Republican […]

Trump budget cuts cause more unnecessary pain in NC

Play Episode Listen Later May 14, 2025 1:05


  The list of Trump administration cuts to vital public services has become so long and destructive that it's easy to get overwhelmed, but as North Carolina anti-poverty advocates continue to remind us, it's important to hold the cuts up to the light, to document their cruel illogic. Take, for instance, the disastrous scheme to […]

Legislature's cruel attacks on transgender rights will endanger lives

Play Episode Listen Later May 13, 2025 1:05


  Why are so many conservative politicians obsessed with denying the existence of transgender people? Several years ago, it was the infamous bathroom bill that sought to micromanage the public restrooms trans people used. Now, the same forces are at it again with bills targeting transgender youth. Under legislation approved by the state House last […]

NC League of Women Voters president Jennifer Rubin on the ruling finalizing NC’s Supreme Court race

Play Episode Listen Later May 12, 2025 10:40


  It's been six long months now, but North Carolina's seemingly never ending state Supreme Court election may soon be over. This past week, federal Judge Richard Myers II – a Republican appointed by President Trump — issued a complete rejection of GOP candidate Jefferson Griffin's effort to overturn his narrow defeat by tossing the […]

Rep. Zack Hawkins on the chaos of crossover week and improving services for those with disabilities

Play Episode Listen Later May 12, 2025 15:02


This past week was crossover week at the North Carolina General Assembly – a chaotic period in which lawmakers considered and voted on scores of bills in just a few days – often with precious little informed discussion. It's a tough time for legislators who take their jobs seriously and try to understand every proposal […]

Hilary Harris Klein of the Southern Coalition for Social Justice on voter list maintenance concerns

Play Episode Listen Later May 12, 2025 10:54


The challenge of keeping state voting rolls current and accurate has always been a big task and today, in a fast-growing state with more than seven and a half million voters – many of them often on the move – it can be tougher than ever. That said, there are sound and accurate ways to […]

New state elections board embarrasses with shameful treatment of executive director

Play Episode Listen Later May 12, 2025 1:05


  Fears about the trouble that lies ahead for North Carolina now that judges have okayed the scheme to give auditor Dave Boliek control over the state Board of Elections, were confirmed last week by the cruel and classless behavior of Boliek's new right-wing appointees. After firing longtime elections board executive director Karen Brinson Bell […]

The conservative war on science continues in Raleigh

Play Episode Listen Later May 9, 2025 1:05


  No modern political leader has done more to undermine science and research – both by slashing funding and directly spreading myths and disinformation — than President Donald Trump. Whether defunding everything from cancer studies to the National Weather Service or placing a troubled conspiracy theorist like Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. in charge of the […]

Judge Griffin's concession in Supreme Court contest doesn't undo the damage he inflicted 

Play Episode Listen Later May 8, 2025 1:05


  The nation's last unsettled election contest has finally been decided. On Wednesday, Republican state Supreme Court candidate Jefferson Griffin conceded to incumbent Democratic Justice Allison Riggs. It was a long overdue act that many observers, including Justice Riggs (who prevailed in two separate recounts), are rightfully celebrating as a victory for democracy. That said, […]

Nobody voted to make Dave Boliek governor 

Play Episode Listen Later May 7, 2025 1:05


  If you're like the vast majority of North Carolina voters, the decision you made last November in the auditor's race was pretty low on your list of priority contests. Ah, but for Republican lawmakers looking for ways to seize more powers from Gov. Josh Stein, newly elected Republican auditor Dave Boliek has turned out […]

Duke Energy helps lead a cowardly corporate retreat

Play Episode Listen Later May 6, 2025 1:04


  While it's no surprise that President Donald Trump is undoing years of hard won national progress in combating discrimination, the decision by many corporations to cowardly follow suit is shameful. Take North Carolina-based Duke Energy. As researchers at the Energy and Policy Institute recently reported, Duke once held itself out as a leader in […]

The NC Conservation Network’s Grady McCallie and Luna Homsi discuss State of the Environment 2025

Play Episode Listen Later May 5, 2025 21:06


  Few issues on the public policy agenda in 2025 are more urgently important than the health of the environment. Whether it's global challenges like climate change and the rise in weather disasters or hyperlocal matters like land use planning and access to clean drinking water, elected leaders undoubtedly have their work cut out for […]

Equality NC’s Eliazar Posada on recent anti-LGBTQ bills, and how caring people are pushing back

Play Episode Listen Later May 5, 2025 16:14


Donald Trump's return to the White House has helped give rise to many disturbing trends in merican politics and policy in recent months, and one of the most troubling has been the crusade to marginalize and revive discrimination against LGBTQ+ Americans. Both in Washington and Raleigh, conservative politicians and their appointees have been working hard […]

Chaotic week at the legislature highlights NC's flawed lawmaking process

Play Episode Listen Later May 5, 2025 1:05


  Like many seemingly inexplicable practices that just sort of happened over time, designers of our state government could probably never have imagined something like “crossover week” at the North Carolina legislature. “Crossover” is an artificial semi-annual deadline by which bills must be approved by at least one body – the Senate or the House […]

Illogical cruelty: Lawmakers seek to criminalize homelessness

Play Episode Listen Later May 2, 2025 1:05


  As anyone who steps outside of a gated community these days is aware, the number of impoverished and homeless people living on the street is, thanks to our unjust and top heavy economy, way up. What's more, providing useful assistance to these people – many of whom struggle with disabilities, mental and physical health […]

NC women lawmakers plead for fair insurance treatment

Play Episode Listen Later May 1, 2025 1:05


  It's a pretty remarkable situation when elected leaders feel compelled to share their own intimate personal health stories in hopes of passing legislation that would save the lives of others. And it's even more remarkable (and troubling) when the leaders doing the sharing are all women and the officials blocking action are all men. […]

State leaders should heed experts in combating substance use disorder

Play Episode Listen Later Apr 30, 2025 1:05


  There are many factors that go into the overdose epidemic of opioids and other drugs that kill thousands of North Carolinians each year. As a pair of law and medicine experts explained, however, in a recent NC Newsline op-ed, there are some increasingly successful strategies that deserve public support. And topping the list is […]

A simple step to prevent gun violence that all sides should be able to support

Play Episode Listen Later Apr 29, 2025 1:05


    North Carolinians are generally of two very different minds on the gun violence that plagues our society. While polls consistently show that most favor stronger laws to regulate firearms, a loud and determined minority opposes virtually any regulation. Here, however, is at least one simple prevention step that all sides should be able […]

Sen. Graig Meyer on the Senate’s budget and his concerns that it ignores a raft of important needs

Play Episode Listen Later Apr 28, 2025 16:18


  Members of the North Carolina General Assembly took a post-Easter break last week as they prepared for what promises to be the busiest period of the 2025 session in May and June, but prior to that, Republican leaders in the state Senate unveiled and quickly approved their version of a new two-year state budget. […]

Common Cause of NC’s Ann Webb on the latest in unsettled Riggs/Griffin Supreme Court election

Play Episode Listen Later Apr 28, 2025 12:01


  It's hard to believe, but it's now been nearly six months since the November 2024 election and one race remains officially undecided – the contest for an associate justice seat on the North Carolina Supreme Court. Two recounts have confirmed that incumbent Justice Allison Riggs was the narrow victor, but remarkably, challenger Jefferson Griffin […]

Meredith College pollster David McLennan on Trump administration policies and voter dissatisfaction

Play Episode Listen Later Apr 28, 2025 15:11


We're now more than three months into the second Trump administration and to say that it's been a tumultuous period would be a vast understatement. From the precipitous economic decline, to the mass firings of federal workers, to the rise of an immigrant deportation program that has cast aside traditional norms of due process, the […]

Another Republican judge stands up for the constitution 

Play Episode Listen Later Apr 28, 2025 1:05


  For the second time in recent weeks, a North Carolina Republican judge has courageously put the constitution ahead of their political party. First, it was Supreme Court Justice Richard Dietz who rightfully dissented when his four Republican colleagues okayed a GOP effort to change election rules after the election in last fall's disputed Supreme […]

Federal appeals court should put an end to Judge Griffin's election challenge

Play Episode Listen Later Apr 25, 2025 1:05


  Enough! That's what a large, growing and bipartisan chorus of legal experts, government watchdogs and average North Carolinians are saying right now in response to Judge Jefferson Griffin's farfetched effort to overturn his Supreme Court election loss last fall to incumbent Justice Allison Riggs. It's been almost six months now since Griffin was narrowly […]

Flood insurance failures in western NC highlight the need for reforms

Play Episode Listen Later Apr 24, 2025 1:04


  Flood insurance. It's something that most people have heard of and that many probably have a notion they should look into as the climate warms and severe storms grow more frequent. To their credit, some have done more than think about it. As NC Newsline's Galen Bacharier reported this week, about 10 percent of […]

Repeated funding cuts give rise to a vicious cycle for important public services

Play Episode Listen Later Apr 23, 2025 1:05


  There's a vicious downward cycle that's been at work in North Carolina state government in recent years. And here's how it worked: First, conservative politicians blast quote “government bureaucracy” and enact big tax and spending cuts in response. Next, core services like schools, mental health, transportation, and public safety – plagued by funding cuts […]

Study should spur new approaches to landlord-tenant law

Play Episode Listen Later Apr 22, 2025 1:03


  At first blush, the idea that eviction is the solution for landlords when residential tenants fall behind on their rent or otherwise violate terms of a lease seems obvious. And, indeed, in many situations, it is the only realistic path. As new research from landlord-tenant law experts at the national Legal Services Corporation shows […]

Sen. Lisa Grafstein on the Senate budget, DEI, and the latest on the unresolved Supreme Court race

Play Episode Listen Later Apr 21, 2025 19:28


  After several weeks of conducting business at a steady, manageable pace, the North Carolina General Assembly suddenly shifted into high gear. This past week, legislative committees rapidly considered and okayed scores of brand new, never before-heard bills on an array of topics, while at the same time Senate Republicans were unveiling and advancing their […]

Former NC state Senator and U.S. representative Wiley Nickel discusses Trump, tariffs, and Tillis

Play Episode Listen Later Apr 21, 2025 15:28


  We're now three months into the second Trump administration and, as so many experts had feared and warned, the chaos – in the global economy, in the federal government, in our courts, and on the ground in scores of communities across the nation – is palpable. Between the seemingly random economic tariffs, massive and […]

The NC Senate's head-in-the-sand budget proposal 

Play Episode Listen Later Apr 21, 2025 1:05


    There are many shortcomings in the new proposed state budget approved by the North Carolina Senate last week – the inadequate pay raises for teachers and state employees, the failure to invest in numerous core public services that have been reeling from staffing shortages, the giveaways to unaccountable special interests. But if there's […]

Bill to establish school censorship boards is a terrible idea

Play Episode Listen Later Apr 18, 2025 1:05


  Sometimes, you have to wonder what century it is that some of our state lawmakers inhabit. For a classic example of how detached from reality some have become, check out a new proposal advancing in the legislature to establish censorship boards in every school district charged with banning books that quote “include descriptions of […]

NC leaders from both parties must demand an end to wrongful deportations

Play Episode Listen Later Apr 17, 2025 1:04


  Americans have many big and important differences these days, but if we can't come together to agree on a handful of fundamental ideals and human rights that have been baked into our Constitution and way of life for over two centuries, we're in big trouble. And one of those fundamentals is the simple idea […]

Supreme Court's Riggs-Griffin ruling is an assault on democracy

Play Episode Listen Later Apr 16, 2025 1:04


  It's been almost six months since state Supreme Court candidate Jefferson Griffin narrowly lost last year's election to incumbent Justice Allison Riggs. Two recounts confirmed the result. Unfortunately, Griffin's effort to overturn the election based on the farfetched theory that thousands of registered voters should have their ballots thrown out continues. And last week, […]

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