Kudos to the News & Observer for its recent series on profligate state spending, The Generous Assembly.
You can quibble with some programs the individual stories highlight, but this was serious investigative work. And not an easy task to report, if you consider this sidebar as an example:
The News & Observer tried to find out exactly how much the
Department of Correction is paying for inmates’ medical care, but the
department refused to hand over the records.It has been law and policy in North Carolina that expenditures of
public funds are public records. On April 1, The N&O requested
invoices detailing all claims paid to hospitals such as WakeMed, UNC
Hospitals or Catawba Valley Medical Center.
The department initially promised to provide the records but then
declined. The department cited statutes saying that competitive health
care information is confidential. The N&O objected; the department
requested Attorney General Roy Cooper’s opinion. Cooper’s office has
not released an opinion. State Sen. Tony Rand, who pushed for the
statute that makes competitive health care information secret, said the
law applies to contracts, not to invoices paid by tax dollars.
So much for transparency.
Also, the installment on perks offered to state workers included a direct comparison between state employment and the benefits offered by SAS, a private employer with a reputation for giving generous packages to workers. Great job, because it shows that state employees get a better deal than even the platinum-plated benefits provided by SAS.
