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Budget, Taxation & Economy
How to minimize the fiscal impact of federal cuts to Medicaid expansion
As the federal government considers reducing the FMAP for Medicaid expansion, policymakers in North Carolina must prepare for substantial fiscal challenges.
Elections & Public Integrity
Federal courts may have put the North Carolina Supreme Court election to rest
With Chief District Judge Richard Myers’ latest ruling, the North Carolina Supreme Court race may finally reach a conclusion. Myers’ ruling rejected the state Court of Appeals ruling as modified…
Agriculture
Legalize raw milk sales: Trust farmers, trust consumers
Right now in North Carolina, raw milk exists in a legal gray zone. While it’s technically illegal to buy and sell raw milk directly, there’s a widely used workaround: cow-share…
Research Brief
Liberty
Arabella Advisors: The godfather of the left’s dark money
The money involved in all aspects of U.S. elections has grown over the years, but no subsector has grown as much as the nonprofit sector. While barred from traditional election…
Research Brief
Energy
Blackouts: The pain in Spain is mainly renewables’ blame
Shortly after Spain announced it had finally achieved 100 percent renewable power on the grid, the world got a reminder of the importance of baseload, dispatchable power. On April 22,…
Elections & Public Integrity
The return of ghost voters?
Legislation passed in 2023 addressed the problem of election officials accepting ballots from nonexistent registrations (due to verification failure). A federal lawsuit settlement threatens to bring that problem back. The…
Elections & Public Integrity
NC media’s focus on the Griffin case misses the bigger impact in State Board of Elections appointment decision
With the actions of the North Carolina Court of Appeals this week, the appointment authority of the state board of elections moves from the governor to the state auditor as…
Research Brief
Budget, Taxation & Economy
The protectionist illusion and America’s nihilist decay
In his 2018 book The Revolt of the Public, Martin Gurri warned that political history may increasingly be driven “by negation rather than contradiction” — not by a contest of…
Education
New figures from NEA highlight same old problems
The annual hand-wringing over teacher salaries in North Carolina resumed once again yesterday with the release of the National Education Association’s annual rankings of the states and estimates report. The…
Budget, Taxation & Economy
Does increasing state taxes on “the rich” lead to greater wealth?
New report attempts to show benefits of taxing "the rich," but data shows the opposite.
Budget, Taxation & Economy
North Carolina Investment Authority: A modern approach to the state retirement system
The Senate’s 2025-27 biennial budget proposal and House Bill 506 recommend creating the North Carolina Investment Authority (Investment Authority) to replace the State Treasurer as the financial manager of the…
Elections & Public Integrity
Bill allows removal of election officials for incompetence or malfeasance
I recently wrote about House Bill 967, a bill advancing in the General Assembly that would regulate voter behavior at polling places and protect political signs outside those locations from…