Whatever the outcome of the N.C. General Assembly’s 2011 redistricting, the process has already attracted both national and state-level scrutiny. An across-the-aisle coalition has formed North Carolinians for Redistricting Reform, a nonprofit that aims to take redistricting away from state legislators in favor of an independent body to ensure an open, public-driven process. As Executive […]
Author: Nelda Holder
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Looking past the state budget: Sunshine and livermush
While the all-important, $19.7 billion state budget labored its way to final passage in the House and Senate last week, the N.C. General Assembly still pushed a number of bills along the corridors of the Statehouse toward the June 9 crossover deadline. Some lost their earlier patina; others made light of the serious business at hand.
Now you see it — now you don’t: Legislation could dissolve municipal ETJs *UPDATED*
Asheville and other N.C. cities surrounded by countywide zoning would see their extraterritorial jurisdiction eliminated by legislation being considered on Thursday, June 2, in the Statehouse. And in counties without such zoning, ETJ residents could vote in some municipal elections — or run for office. In other business, the proposed Sunshine Amendment will also receive an unexpected second vote in committee. *UPDATED*
Drawing lessons: State redistricting under full scrutiny
Whatever the tenor or outcome of the N.C. General Assembly’s 2011 redistricting plan — originally due to be released June 1 for a final round of public scrutiny — its process has attracted both national attention and reform-minded state scrutiny.
Western N.C. reps seldom, if ever, act in unison
WNC representatives saw movement on a number of House bills carrying their names last week, but partisanship remains the general rule of sponsorship.
NCMatters: Under the radar
As the N.C. General Assembly’s redistricting hearings conclude and the Senate takes up the budget passed by the House last week, a number of individual bills with wide-ranging effects are slated for committee hearings this week, flying under much of the news radar. At play will be the potential dismantling of the state’s current nonpartisan […]
Reading, writing and ‘rithmetic: Will N.C. go to the back of the class?
It’s 279 pages long; it appropriates $19.3 billion for the 2011-2012 N.C. general fund; and among other program and policy changes, its cuts to public education just may send North Carolina to the back of the class.
Under the radar: Significant state changes obscured by redistricting and budget battles
A number of individual bills with wide-ranging effects are slated for committee hearings this week, flying under much of the news radar.
Tallyho! Riding herd on the legislative record
While budget and redistricting plans for the state are boiling in the Legislature, the back burners are currently full of legislation that has been neither enacted nor discarded this session. As a result, the rules were changed last week to stretch the crossover deadline.
Playing the numbers
With the 2010 census numbers now in hand, the state Legislature has begun redrawing the lines for N.C. House and Senate, as well as congressional districts. May 15 is the target date for producing new district maps; public hearings are now being held around the state, with a visit to Western North Carolina slated for […]
Backtracking on rails: a legislative reversal
Long planned-for investments in public transit for the state that eventually could have facilitated passenger-train service to Asheville are hitting major obstacles in the Legislature.
Multiple choice
The Joint Committee on Regulatory Reform, established by North Carolina legislators this year, is on the road. Its mission: Scrutinize “burdensome state rules and regulations on behalf of the private sector.” The 18-member team wants to hear from business and farm owners around the state concerning “outdated rules and regulations that should be eliminated.” The […]
Playing the numbers — the state redistricting game
There are 9.5 million people, 13 U.S. Congress members, 50 state senators, and 120 state representatives to account for as the N.C. Legislature begins to carve new lines on the face of the state.
WNC speaks out at regulatory reform hearing
A large turnout and robust mix of speakers gave the state’s Joint Regulatory Reform Committee plenty to write home about at the WNC public hearing on Friday, April 15.
Multiple choice: I never met a state regulation I did/didn’t like
State regulations got you down? Speak up at the only WNC public hearing of the Joint Committee on Regulatory Reform — this Friday, April 15, in Flat Rock.
The bill-laden month of April
April is a busy time in Raleigh. State legislators have introduced more than 1,000 bills this session, only 18 of which had been ratified at this writing. Meanwhile, the General Assembly is checking off bill-filing deadlines and jamming committee schedules with hearings on this session’s crop of proposed legislation. Here are a few pending bills […]
Proposed medical practitioner legislation generates “quite the discussion”
An online report that the N.C. Legislature was about to criminalize homeopaths, herbalists and other alternative practitioners has been refuted by debate in the House today and by comments from Buncombe County’s Susan Fisher and Tim Moffitt.
Takin’ care of (legislative) business: 1,000 bills and more to come
Government lumbers along in Raleigh, as the N.C. General Assembly checks off bill-filing deadlines and begins to jam committee schedules with hearings on this session’s crop of proposed legislation.
Governor names two new judges to Buncombe County District Court
Asheville attorneys Ward Scott and Ed Clontz were appointed by Gov. Bev Perdue on Friday to the two vacant 28th Judicial District Court judgeships in Buncombe County.
NCMatters
A bill introduced March 24 by Rep. Tim Moffitt would expand the Buncombe County Board of Commissioners from five to seven members while mandating district representation in place of the current at-large elections. The bill, HB 47, would establish three commissioner districts, with the same boundaries as the county's three Statehouse districts. Each district would […]
Keever pushes energy efficiency incentives and safe slope-construction study
First-term Democrat Patsy Keever, representing Buncombe County’s 115th District in the N.C. General Assembly, became the primary sponsor last week of a new initiative to address safe slope construction in Western North Carolina.