NC Policy Watch

  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 […]

  If western North Carolina is going to fully rebuild and recapture the economic vitality it enjoyed prior to Helene, small businesses will be at the heart of the effort. And make no mistake, the challenges are enormous. Surveys show that 96% of small businesses in the region were impacted by the storm, and while […]

  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 to […]

  North Carolina state government continues to operate without a budget for the fiscal year that commenced July 1. Thanks largely to a disagreement between Republican leaders of the House and Senate over whether the state should plow ahead with a series of scheduled tax cuts – even as fiscal analysts warn of big impending […]

  It's an interesting fact that while North Carolina's population continues to steadily increase, enrollment in public schools is trending in the opposite direction. Part of the explanation for this is to be found in demographic shifts, but as Newsline learned in a recent conversation with veteran education policy analyst Kris Nordstrom of the North […]

The 2026 midterm elections are still a long way off, but that isn't keeping debates over voting rights and election laws off the front page. Indeed, both here in North Carolina and around the country, Republican politicians and their appointees are continuing to aggressively pursue policy changes that will – according to an array of […]

  Ever since the world was overtaken by the COVID-19 pandemic, public health policy and vaccine policy have been front and center in the national political debate. And tragically, despite a longstanding and overwhelming consensus among public health experts across the globe about the efficacy of vaccines and their vital importance in protecting human health […]

  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 […]

  One of the most controversial bills to win approval by the North Carolina legislature during the 2025 session was a bill (SB 50) to allow any person 18 or older to carry a loaded concealed weapon without any kind of permit or background check. Gov. Josh Stein vetoed the measure, but the question of […]

  Another Labor Day is upon us and in anticipation of that, Oxfam, the global nonprofit that works to fight inequality and end poverty and injustice, has released the seventh edition of its Best States to Work Index. The index tracks 27 policies across three dimensions—wages, worker protections, and rights to organize—that support low-wage workers […]

  After several months of uncertainty and waiting, the State Health Plan board finally made some decisions recently about how it will deal with the half-billion-dollar shortfall it's been running. And topping the list, as had been expected, will be some new and not insignificant premium hikes for state employees. The increases – especially when […]

  The recent action of the State Health Plan Board to raise employee premiums at a time in which teacher and state employee salaries remain stagnant is causing great concern in many circles – especially among the employees who will see their take-home pay decline even further. Indeed, as became clear in a recent conversation […]

  Duke Energy. Most households in North Carolina pay their electric bill each month to the Charlotte-based energy giant. What many may not realize, however, is that there are two Duke Energies — Duke Energy Carolinas in the west and Duke Energy Progress in the east. And now, thirteen years after they first got together, […]

  It's been six weeks now since President Donald Trump signed the so-called one big, beautiful bill act into law and as you've no doubt heard, the new law will soon bring massive funding cuts and policy changes to core safety net programs like Medicaid and SNAP food benefits. Meanwhile, here in North Carolina, state […]

  Gerrymandering. Most Americans have come to be familiar with this phenomenon in which politicians rig electoral maps and elections for partisan purposes, but unless you're a serious political observer, you may not be up to speed on just how far out of control this destructive practice has gotten of late or, indeed, how unless […]

  Two decades ago, the leaders of Capitol Broadcasting Company had a bold and courageous idea: to devote one minute each night after the simulcast of the WRAL News on Mix 101.5 to a no-holds-barred commentary from veteran journalist and political observer, Chris Fitzsimon. For more than a decade, Fitzsimon held forth on scores of […]

  He may now be 83, but few if any American political leaders do a better job of truth-telling and connecting with young people than Vermont's sagacious Senator Bernie Sanders. Sanders was in Asheville this week as part of a national “Fight the Oligarchy” tour and as NC Newsline's Clayton Henkel reported, the senator pulled […]

  Gerrymandering. Most Americans are familiar with this phenomenon in which politicians rig electoral maps and elections for partisan purposes. But unless you're a serious political observer, you may not be up to speed on just how far out of control this practice has gotten of late or, indeed, how unless something is done soon, […]

  As has so often been the case with a legislature that refuses to work and negotiate in good faith, North Carolina Gov. Josh Stein had little choice last week but to sign the so-called mini-budget that state lawmakers approved a few days earlier. With the new fiscal year already well-underway and numerous vital public […]

It's been 16 years since the federal government raised the national minimum wage – a fact that continues to worsen the nation's soaring income inequality. Interestingly, in recent months, rather than proposing to make the minimum wage a living wage, some politicians – including President Trump – have championed the idea of ending taxes on […]

It's hard to believe, but we're fast-approaching the one-year anniversary of Hurricane Helene and the devastation it wreaked in western North Carolina, and it seems appropriate to check in on the state of the recovery. Last week, we learned from a legislative oversight hearing on hurricane response and recovery that the process has been moving […]

  It's an article of faith on the political far right that the Trump administration's mass immigrant deportation policies will be a boon to U.S. born workers. A new report from economists at the Economic Policy Institute, however, finds the opposite to be true and that the net impact of mass deportation on employment – […]

  The next time someone tries tell you that the North Carolinians with Medicaid health insurance are lazy slackers who participate in a wasteful program that warrants the massive bloodletting President Trump just approved, tell them talk to an actual frightened person who depends on the program. Someone like Maddie Wertenberg. She's a Wake County […]

  Early childhood education. Across much of the rest of the world, free, public early childhood education is a basic right. At a time in which it's necessary for almost all parents to work in order to make ends meet, these nations have long recognized that there's no good reason to hold off on providing […]

  Tax policy can be maddeningly complex and confusing. Indeed, keeping it that way is one tool the super-rich use to avoid paying their fair share. As Alexandra Sirota of the nonpartisan North Carolina Budget and Tax Center recently observed, however, it doesn't have to be that way. As she notes, there's a simple and […]

  There are many things that have changed for the better in North Carolina prisons over the last century. That said, it's also true that North Carolina summers have always been miserably hot and that commercial air conditioning was first introduced nearly a century ago — facts that render the lack of air conditioning in […]

You don't have to be policy wonk with an affinity for crunching numbers to understand that 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 that the picture is bleak when it comes to finding affordable […]

  Among the most disastrous public health development to afflict the United States in recent years has been the rise of the so-called anti-vax movement. Thanks to the unfortunate rise of misinformation, disinformation and misguided parental anxiety, millions of people – especially children – are being placed at serious and unnecessary risk of grave illness […]

  Ever since North Carolina legislators established the so-called “Opportunity Scholarships” school voucher program, sponsors and proponents have pitched it as a means of helping low-income students escape struggling public schools. Unfortunately, but not surprisingly, a new report from the Department of Public Instruction shows that this was all baloney. The DPI researchers found that […]

  It's no surprise that State Rep. Carla Cunningham – a Democrat from Mecklenburg County — declined to speak with reporters this week after helping to override Gov. Stein's veto of a mean-spirited and ill-conceived anti-immigrant bill. That's what often happens when a politician puts their foot in their mouth. House Bill 318 will force […]

  New research from the national news organization Stateline highlights some of the big flaws in the Trump administration's immigration enforcement policies. While the administration has made much of its supposed commitment to cracking down on violent criminals and blaming Democrats for failing to do so, the research actually reveals a significant decline in this […]

  The rapid development of artificial intelligence has the potential to spur amazing advances in human society that are definitely worth pursuing. That said, AI also has the potential to do dreadful harm that we must guard against. As one of the nation's tech leaders, OpenAI's Sam Hartman, explained recently, for all of AI's amazing […]

  Twenty years ago, investigative reporter Barry Levine started covering a wealthy socialite named Jeffrey Epstein. Five years ago, after he was convicted of sex crimes and died in jail, Levine published an acclaimed book on Epstein. And last week, as the controversy surrounding mountains of FBI data and evidence about Epstein slowly consumed the […]