The new General Assembly will face a budget hole officially listed as $3.7 billion when it returns to work in January. Joseph Coletti, John Locke Foundation Director of Health and Fiscal Policy Studies, discussed state government’s budget woes during an appearance this week with Chad Adams on the WLTT Radio morning show. The Richmond County Daily Journal quoted Coletti in an editorial about a state government hiring freeze. Daren Bakst, Director of Legal and Regulatory Studies, offered analysis to the Durham News (and Chapel Hill News) about the negative consequences of the proposed federal DREAM Act. NC Rumors also publicized the transcript of a recent Carolina Journal interview with Bakst about the relative costs of nuclear and solar power. The Mooresville Tribune recently published a column from Terry Stoops, Director of Education Studies, about proposals to add the ACT to North Carolina’s public school testing program. The Live News Trend website posted a video clip of Stoops discussing the Wake County public school system’s old student assignment policy. The NCCO2 Debate website promoted a video clip of Roy Cordato, Vice President for Research and Resident Scholar, discussing the negative impact of North Carolina’s renewable energy mandates in Senate Bill 3. The Waynesville Mountaineer recently quoted Cordato in an editorial about the state budget. (In a 2010 report written by Roy Cordato, vice president for research for the John Locke Foundation, the top priority for state lawmakers is to abandon spend-and-tax budgeting. “They create new programs when the economy is flush, then raise taxes to pay for those programs when the economy slows,” he wrote.) Michael Sanera, Director of Research and Local Government Studies, discussed sustainable energy during the latest meeting of the Wake County Sustainability Task Force.