For over fifteen years, the Triangle Transit Authority has pursued a regional rail for North Carolina’s capital region, to no avail. At the same time traffic congestion in the Triangle…
Contrary to the claims of school officials and community leaders in Wake County, students do not necessarily perform better in schools that have fewer mobile units or temporary classrooms, more…
The number of limited English proficient (LEP) students has been increasing for years, but the state’s public schools lack a systematic and proven program to teach English to these children.…
North Carolina makes it very easy for illegal immigrants to obtain driver's licenses. Instead of requiring Social Security Numbers to get a license, the state accepts IRS-issued Individual Taxpayer Identification…
As the debate about immigration continues, all involved need to be aware of the limitations of existing statistics. Hispanics are about 6 percent of the state’s population and growing. Illegal…
Economic growth has given the General Assembly $2.4 billion more to spend. Higher sales and income taxes have contributed to this surplus. The Senate adds $1.4 billion in new spending,…
A careful review of experiences in Raleigh and Charlotte should warn other North Carolina cities that convention and civic center projects are a bad idea.
Budget proposals from Gov. Mike Easley and the Senate put state spending back on the path of rapid growth last seen in the late 1990s. After inflation, the state will…
State government needs pay its employees differently if it wants to keep the best of them. The average state employee earns as much as the average employee nationally, but across-the-board…
Since the late 1980s, housing prices in North Carolina have increased rapidly in some cities while in others prices have grown more slowly. Asheville and Wilmington, for example, are known…
Current law does not protect North Carolinians from eminent domain abuse. The state and local governments can seize private property for economic development reasons. However, the potential for eminent domain…
Gov. Mike Easley’s proposed $18.9 billion budget does not provide enough relief to taxpayers who made it possible. The governor could have returned the $1.1 billion in overcollections to taxpayers…