Drought management, health care, and budget issues all kept JLF Fiscal Policy Analyst Joseph Coletti busy this week. As state lawmakers considered new legislation to increase state government’s power to manage water resources, Coletti shared his concerns in a presentation to the N.C. House Environment Committee. The Burlington Times-News relayed Coletti’s arguments. He also made a presentation to lawmakers questioning plans to create a new “Access to Health Care Policy Council.” As state lawmakers continued to haggle over a final state budget plan, Coletti’s work on budget issues attracted attention. Triangle Business Journal recently sought his opinion about budget provisions linked to Attorney General Roy Cooper’s lawsuit against the Tennessee Valley Authority. The National Taxpayers Union sent an open letter to legislators citing Coletti’s findings while asking for fiscal restraint in the final state budget deal; NTU also cited Coletti in a blog on the topic. The Heartland Institute’s Budget & Tax News also highlighted Coletti’s earlier assessment of proposed tax hikes from Gov. Mike Easley’s original budget proposal. (Speaking of Heartland’s Budget & Tax News, it also published a story this week from Carolina Journal contributing editor Hal Young about the questionable use of tax funds to support referendums on local tax increases.)