• John Locke Update

    Cooper’s reckless budget, Part 2: A closer look at appropriations

    posted April 13, 2021 by Joseph Coletti
    The largest increase in Cooper's proposed state appropriations would be for employee salaries and benefits. Cooper's proposal does not provide price tags for Leandro or Medicaid expansion. Cooper would also eliminate successful and popular Opportunity Scholarships.
  • John Locke Update

    Cooper’s reckless budget, Part 1: Overview

    posted April 12, 2021 by Joseph Coletti
    Cooper’s 2021-23 biennium budget is more a political statement than a realistic proposal. It would leave state government fiscally fragile and at greater risk of layoffs and tax increases in a future recession.
  • John Locke Update

    Now is not the time for new programs or debt

    posted January 27, 2021 by Joseph Coletti
    An uncertain economic time is not good for borrowing. If the state takes out debt and the post-COVID economy turns out to be smaller, then debt capacity will shrink and the debt will end up taking more from other priorities. If the economy recovers quickly, then the state would have more money available for capital anyway.
  • John Locke Update

    State revenue picture continues to improve

    posted November 23, 2020 by Joseph Coletti
    North Carolina state government continued to have strong finances seven months after the economy first began to slow in March. Budget writers should nevertheless be cautious about adding spending commitments, however.
  • John Locke Update

    Cooper’s state budget gambit is reckless

    posted June 15, 2020 by Joseph Coletti
    Gov. Cooper’s risky bet to keep spending like it’s 2019, despite a $1.6 billion loss of revenue between March and the end of June, is reckless and irresponsible with…
  • John Locke Update

    North Carolina’s COVID-19 Response: State Budget

    posted March 16, 2020 by Joseph Coletti
    Our budget stalemate may have an unexpected and unintended benefit. Because the General Assembly and Gov. Roy Cooper could not agree on a new budget, state government has been operating…
  • John Locke Update

    Spending, Tax Reform, and the North Carolina Economy

    posted November 25, 2019 by Joseph Coletti
    As the 2020 election season gathers momentum, North Carolina’s tax reforms and demands for higher spending on any number of government programs will be front and center. One example is a…
  • John Locke Update

    Budget 2019: Extra Innings

    posted November 13, 2019 by Joseph Coletti
    The state budget battle has entered extra innings. Gov. Cooper signed and vetoed another batch of mini budgets, the ninth round of budget-related legislation since his first budget veto on…

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