North Carolina’s film incentives program is scheduled to sunset, but special interests are pushing for the program’s extension. As debate over the issue continues, Greensboro News & Record readers encountered in Sunday’s newspaper key arguments against film incentives. John Locke Foundation Director of Regulatory Studies Jon Sanders wrote a column outlining major reasons why North Carolina taxpayers should stop writing checks to Hollywood film companies.
The Wilmington Star-News quoted from Sanders’ column, and the News & Observer‘s “Under the Dome” blog reported that Sanders’ work prompted an angry response from a Wilmington-based Democratic state legislator. In addition to film incentives, the Mooresville Tribune published Sanders’ recent column on automobile emissions inspections.
Another ongoing debate in North Carolina state government involves the future of the state’s Medicaid program. The John Locke Foundation and Foundation for Government Accountability released a new report panning the current role in Medicaid of the nonprofit group Community Care of North Carolina. JLF Health and Human Services Policy Analyst Katherine Restrepo discussed elements of the report on News 14 Carolina’s statewide “Capital Tonight” program. The report’s primary author, Jonathan Ingram of FGA, discussed the research with Lockwood Phillips on WTKF Radio. NCPoliticalNews.com promoted the Medicaid report, along with Restrepo’s latest research newsletter on Obamacare. N.C. Senate Republicans highlighted Restrepo’s Obamacare column in their daily press email.
A Forbes article on a stealth federal carbon tax quoted Vice President for Research and Resident Scholar Roy Cordato as “the nation’s leading critic of social cost economics.” The Daily Tar Heel interviewed Cordato about the impact of the partial federal government shutdown.
The N.C. Spin website promoted Director of Research and Education Studies Terry Stoops‘ “Locker Room” blog entry on performance pay for public school teachers. The Beaufort County Now website highlighted Stoops’ work to identify key questions and answers about Common Core public school standards.
Director of Fiscal Policy Studies Sarah Curry headed to Stokes County this week to speak to a local Tea Party group about the recent partial federal government shutdown and the North Carolina state budget. The Elizabeth City Daily Advance quoted from Curry’s recent “Locker Room” blog entry on election facts.
A Charlotte Observer column on raising the age of juvenile justice jurisdiction referenced the John Locke Foundation’s research on the issue.
