Click here to view and here to listen to Dr. Terry Stoops discussing this Spotlight report. RALEIGH — Enrollment in North Carolina community college remedial courses grew at a faster rate than the state’s public school graduation rate in a recent two-year period. The John Locke Foundation’s top education expert argues in a new Spotlight...
RALEIGH — Buncombe County commissioners and the local community college president are trying to “hoodwink” voters into endorsing a sales-tax hike with an offer that’s too good to be true. The John Locke Foundation’s top local government expert reaches that conclusion in a new Regional Brief. “Voters are told that an extra $7 million per...
RALEIGH — As North Carolina’s unemployment rate climbs above 10 percent for the first time in 10 months, officials and pundits should be careful about misusing the numbers to score political points. That’s the assessment from John Locke Foundation President John Hood. “Even before the N.C. Employment Security Commission released numbers showing 10.1 percent unemployment...
Click here to view and here to listen to Dr. Terry Stoops discussing this Spotlight report. RALEIGH — North Carolina should dump certification and licensing rules that place artificial limits on the number and kinds of teachers who can work in state-managed virtual schools. The John Locke Foundation’s top education expert recommends that change in...
RALEIGH — North Carolina’s General Assembly should repeal its unconstitutional taxpayer-financed campaign system in the wake of a new ruling from the U.S. Supreme Court. The John Locke Foundation’s top legal expert reaches that conclusion after reviewing the high court’s decision. In an Arizona case, the Supreme Court ruled 5-4 that a provision of that...
Click here to view and here to listen to Daren Bakst discussing this Policy Report. RALEIGH — When North Carolina lawmakers return to budget work next year, they should consider compensation for more than 2,900 living victims of the state’s forced sterilization program. The John Locke Foundation’s top legal expert makes the case for compensation...
RALEIGH — The General Assembly’s no-tax-hike budget sets North Carolina state government on a more sustainable course than the one Gov. Beverly Perdue and her allies supported. The John Locke Foundation’s top budget expert reaches that conclusion in a new Spotlight report. “Given the governor’s veto, this is likely the best possible budget that could...
Click here to view and here to listen to Dr. Michael Sanera discussing the City and County Issue Guide. RALEIGH — Local governments will serve their communities best by focusing on core government functions, limiting spending and taxation, and protecting private property from unnecessary government intrusion. Those are key principles driving recommendations in the John...
Click here to view and here to listen to Daren Bakst discussing this Spotlight report. RALEIGH — Negotiations over North Carolina’s next state budget have raised awareness about two key reforms of the state’s regulatory process. The John Locke Foundation’s top regulation expert touts those two “necessary changes” in a new Spotlight report. “State agencies...
Click here to view and here to listen to Joseph Coletti discussing this Policy Report. RALEIGH — Medicaid spending has increased by nearly 300 percent in North Carolina in just the past two decades. Only reform will prevent Medicaid costs from eating even larger chunks of the state budget in the years ahead. A new...
This press release has been revised based on updated data. RALEIGH — Expiration of North Carolina’s temporary 1-cent sales tax and income tax surcharges, a cut in the corporate tax rate, and other tax changes linked to the N.C. House budget and anticipated tax-reform package would lead to a net gain of 8,000 jobs in...
RALEIGH — After saddling county taxpayers with a mountain of debt, Cabarrus County commissioners want those same taxpayers to bail county government out of its problems. That’s how a new John Locke Foundation Regional Brief describes a May 17 referendum on raising the Cabarrus sales tax. “Cabarrus County commissioners didn’t bother to ask voters for...