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Your weekly North Carolina political news report.
2018 North Carolina Budget Adjustments
NEWS & OBSERVER: Roy Cooper wants to give teachers and state workers a big raise. Will lawmakers agree?
If Gov. Roy Cooper has his way, the average teacher will get an 8 percent raise next year, other state employees will get their biggest raise in a decade, and schools will get millions of dollars to upgrade security, buy supplies and hire new resource officers, nurses, counselors, social workers and psychologists.
THE FAYETTEVILLE OBSERVER: NC lawmakers expect $357M surplus
State lawmakers have an additional financial cushion as they adjust the two-year state budget because state government has a slight surplus this year and several hundred million dollars more at their disposal.
Education
THE CHARLOTTE OBSERVER: ‘CMS vs. suburbs’: Town charter school movement spreads north of Charlotte
The push for town charter schools spread to Huntersville on Monday, when the town board voted 6-0 to ask for new taxpayer-funded alternatives to Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools.
Energy & Environment
THE DURHAM HERALD-SUN: North Carolina court upholds group’s solar power violation
The North Carolina Supreme Court on Friday quickly rejected a challenge to regulators who decided a clean-energy advocacy group broke electric-service rules by selling solar power to a church.
WILMINGTON STAR-NEWS: Beach nourishment could receive 1-time funding this year
Coastal North Carolina legislators aren’t optimistic about the creation of a recurring mechanism for the state to pay for beach nourishment projects created in the short session. But they hope there could be a one-time allocation.
WILMINGTON STAR-NEWS: Chemours says it will spend $100 million on Fayetteville plant
Chemours expects to spend more than $100 million to decrease GenX emissions at its Fayetteville Works plant by 99.99 percent, an assertion made in the company’s response to the N.C. Department of Environmental Quality’s (DEQ) April 6 notice of intent to modify the facility’s air permit.
Health
NC HEALTH NEWS: NC Chamber: Health Information Systems Could Improve Outcomes, Control Costs
The North Carolina Chamber of Commerce is pushing to establish comprehensive databases of health care cost information to move the state toward a more efficient health care system.
Transportation
NEWS & OBSERVER: NC DMV wants to improve its customer service. It really needs some goals, auditor says.
The N.C. Division of Motor Vehicles set out to improve customer service a few years ago, but the state auditor’s office said this week that the agency doesn’t do a good job of measuring how well it is doing.
THE CHARLOTTE OBSERVER: A controversial I-77 project is moving forward. Here’s a compromise on toll lanes.
The Interstate 77 toll lane advisory group made a near-unanimous recommendation Thursday, saying the state should convert one of the planned toll lanes to a free lane.
NEWS RELEASE: N.C. Selected for FAA Drone Integration Pilot Program
U.S. Transportation Secretary Elaine L. Chao announced that the N.C. Department of Transportation has been selected as one of only 10 participants in the Federal Aviation Administration’s Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS, or ‘drones’) Integration Pilot Program, an initiative that will shape the future of drones in America.