• John Locke Update

    Time to make spending restraint a permanent policy for North Carolina

    posted April 20, 2021 by Brian Balfour
    Conservative spending restraint was key to preparing North Carolina for last year’s economic slowdown. Similar restraint could have avoided the fiscal crisis we experienced in the Great Recession. A Tax and Expenditure Limit added to the state constitution could make wise conservative fiscal policy permanent.
  • John Locke Update

    Not-quite-the-budget session begins today

    posted September 2, 2020 by Joseph Coletti
    Yesterday, NC legislators described their plan to use more than $1 billion from the Coronavirus Relief Fund. Today, they will provide legislation and vote on it. But some differences between the governor's plan and the legislature's plan are already apparent.
  • 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

    Health Policy at the General Assembly: 2019 in Review

    posted January 15, 2020 by Jordan Roberts
    It was a tumultuous year for lawmakers in the General Assembly. Lasting well into October, this ‘long session’ was unusually long compared to years past. As will be the…
  • 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…
  • John Locke Update

    Budget 2019: Mini Budgets Circumvent State Budget Staring Contest

    posted September 5, 2019 by Joseph Coletti
    Despite his protestations, Gov. Roy Cooper has signed three mini-budget bills passed unanimously by the General Assembly. Republican legislative leaders signaled their move to piecemeal budgeting in mid-August when they…
  • John Locke Update

    State Budget Woes: First Kansas, Now Alaska

    posted August 22, 2019 by Joseph Coletti
    Kansas has been criticized since 2012 for cutting taxes irresponsibly, despite a court-ordered increase in education spending. Tax cuts in the Sunflower State may have been larger than circumstances warranted,…

state budgeting by Author