John Locke Foundation experts had another chance this week to make a direct case to N.C. legislators about a valuable state government reform. Vice President for Outreach Becki Gray and Director of Regulatory Studies Jon Sanders promoted the REINS Act, a proposal that would require a vote from the General Assembly before North Carolina government could enact any new rule with a major economic impact.
The presentation attracted attention from the “N.C. Insider” online government news service. (Lawmakers heard a push Tuesday for a state version of a bill currently before the U.S. Senate to stem rules and regulations seen as hindering business. The Regulations From the Executive in Need of Scrutiny Act, or REINS Act, generally would keep federal agencies from imposing “major” new rules or regulations without congressional approval. Conservative think tank the John Locke Foundation told the Joint Legislative Administrative Procedure Oversight Committee that a state-level version could ease the private market’s ability to grow here and slow the stream of rules that agencies can write without language approval from the legislature.)
The Greensboro News and Record published Director of Research and Education Studies Terry Stoops‘ column on factors influencing public school teacher turnover. The N.C. Spin website also promoted that column. The Asheville Citizen-Times interviewed Stoops for an article about teacher pay. The Heritage Foundation’s “Insider Online” promoted a 2014 report from Stoops and JLF Chairman John Hood highlighting research on the benefits of school choice.
The Charlotte Observer promoted Health and Human Services Policy Analyst Katherine Restrepo‘s speech to the Charlotte Association of Health Underwriters. Restrepo’s latest Forbes columns have covered Medicaid expansion and direct primary care. NCPoliticalNews.com cited Restrepo’s research newsletter on fiscal costs associated with Medicaid expansion, along with Carolina Journal Associate Editor Dan Way‘s report on a Democratic state legislator’s concerns that failing public schools represent “death traps” for minority students. NCPoliticalNews.com also cited JLF Senior Political Analyst Mitch Kokai‘s column on media outlets and public relations practitioners who bury important public policy information.
Gray analyzes today’s top political news during an appearance this evening on Time Warner Cable News’ statewide “Capital Tonight” program. She continues her twice-weekly politics and public policy updates for WTSB Radio. Vice President for Marketing and Communications Donna Martinez discussed results of the Iowa caucuses during her latest appearance on the WPTF Radio morning program. Martinez and CJ Managing Editor Rick Henderson dissect the week’s top political news for Curtis Media Group’s syndicated “People In Politics” program.
N.C. Senate Republicans promoted in their daily press emails Gray’s column on a misleading poll linked to Medicaid expansion, Hood’s columns on college subsidies and Iowa caucus results, CJ Executive Editor Don Carrington‘s article on the N.C. Department of Transportation’s review of a controversial CSX transportation hub proposed in Johnston County, Associate Editor Barry Smith‘s article on state transportation funding needs, Way’s article on legislators’ lingering Common Core concerns, contributor Kristen Blair‘s column on the new SAT, and the transcript of a Carolina Journal Radio interview with Wingate University economist Peter Frank about his “Free Enterprise Now” curriculum.
