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The laws of economics, much like gravity, are not subject to a vote. Unfortunately, the sponsors of HB 1046, Constitutional Amendment [to] Up the Minimum Wage, need to be reminded of this.
Published: Tuesday, May 24th, 2016 @ 5:18 am
By: Civitas Insitute
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According to recent reports, the federal government administers 126 separate programs directed at low-income households. Many of these programs are administered in partnership with state governments, while state and local governments provide still more separate programs. Spending on these...
Published: Sunday, August 2nd, 2015 @ 2:53 pm
By: Civitas Insitute
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With the economic collapse of the last decade brought on largely due to the bursting of the housing bubble, does anybody still think it a good idea for government to encourage investments in "underserved" populations
Published: Friday, July 31st, 2015 @ 11:28 pm
By: Civitas Insitute
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North Carolina's historic 2013 tax reform drastically improved our state's tax climate, making the Tar Heel State far more competitive for job and investment growth. The Tax Foundation credited the tax changes for North Carolina's dramatic increase from the 7th worst business tax climate in the...
Published: Tuesday, July 14th, 2015 @ 6:39 pm
By: Civitas Insitute
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Late last week the North Carolina House passed its FY 2015-17 budget proposal. The spending plan would appropriate $22.16 billion in the coming year, an increase of 6.3 percent over the amount of projected actual spending in the current budget year.
Published: Sunday, June 7th, 2015 @ 12:42 pm
By: Civitas Insitute
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This week's Bad Bill of the Week features the resurrection of a Bad Bill feature from two years ago. House Bill 609, The Healthy and High Performing Schools Act, is sponsored by Reps. Pricey Harrison (D-Guilford), Susan Fisher (D-Buncombe) and Becky Carney (D-Mecklenburg). HB 609 is a near...
Published: Saturday, June 6th, 2015 @ 5:27 am
By: Civitas Insitute
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North Carolina requires occupational licensing for more than 700 professions, which generates an absurd amount of bureaucracy and red tape. Occupational licensing forces people to pay a fee, and often go through needless additional training, in order to legally practice their profession in the state
Published: Friday, May 22nd, 2015 @ 8:49 pm
By: Civitas Insitute
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Would it be okay if citizens were forced to vote for a candidate against their will? Of course not.So why do certain NC legislators think it okay to force citizens to financially support candidates against their will?
Published: Wednesday, May 13th, 2015 @ 7:32 am
By: Civitas Insitute
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Two months ago, we featured as a Bad Bill of the Week HB 245, which was a bill that would funnel state taxpayer funds to a local children's museum in the bill sponsor's district.
Published: Monday, May 11th, 2015 @ 10:53 pm
By: Civitas Insitute
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In a free society, employers and employees voluntarily agree to the terms of their relationship. Unfortunately, government has for generations forcibly inserted itself into that relationship with various mandates and restrictions. Minimum wage laws, workplace requirements, and mandatory government u
Published: Saturday, May 2nd, 2015 @ 4:25 pm
By: Civitas Insitute
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Five years ago, in response to a groundswell of parental complaints, Wake County schools finally ended its long-running policy of forced busing. Wake had long been one of a few remaining holdouts still clinging to this failed experiment that disrupted so many lives.
Published: Tuesday, April 21st, 2015 @ 4:47 am
By: Civitas Insitute
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The glitz and glamour of movie and television production in North Carolina apparently is just too tempting for several North Carolina legislators to pass up. Unfortunately, they are willing to use your tax dollars to bribe more Hollywood big shots to come to the Tar Heel State.
Published: Saturday, April 18th, 2015 @ 9:30 am
By: Civitas Insitute
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They say "timing is everything", but it's hard to understand the timing behind this week's "Bad Bill of the Week"; House Bill 239, Restore Early Voting Days. HB 239's primary sponsors Larry Hall (D-Durham), Marvin Lucas (D-Cumberland), Garland Pierce (D-Hoke) and Pricey Harrison (D-Guilford) are...
Published: Wednesday, April 8th, 2015 @ 10:19 pm
By: Civitas Insitute
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This week's Bad Bill has a title only George Orwell would love. Senate Bill 354, sponsored by Angela Bryant (D-Nash) and Ben Clark (D-Cumberland) is titled "North Carolina Healthcare Jobs Initiative."
Published: Wednesday, April 1st, 2015 @ 9:07 pm
By: Civitas Insitute
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There's an old saying that says "you can lead a horse to water, but you can't make it drink." The phrase is used to emphasize the fact that simply making something easy to do does not guarantee anybody will do it.
Published: Wednesday, April 1st, 2015 @ 3:20 am
By: Civitas Insitute
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Wikipedia defines "pork barrel" spending as "the appropriation of government spending for localized projects secured solely or primarily to bring money to a representative's district."
Published: Wednesday, March 18th, 2015 @ 2:38 am
By: Civitas Insitute
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Proving yet again that corporate welfare is a bipartisan problem, four Republican legislators last week introduced House Bill 117, NC Competes Act. The primary sponsors of the bill are Reps. Susan Martin (R-Wilson), Charles Jeter (R-Mecklenburg), Jeff Collins (R-Nash) and Bob Steinburg...
Published: Tuesday, March 3rd, 2015 @ 7:43 pm
By: Civitas Insitute
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Politicians love to use their power to dole out favors and privileges to politically-connected special interests. They also love to interfere with the economy, attempting to impose their preferences upon investors and consumers through a hodgepodge of taxpayer handouts and targeted tax breaks.
Published: Thursday, February 26th, 2015 @ 5:07 am
By: Civitas Insitute
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Last year's state tax reform lowered income tax rates for all working North Carolinians.
Published: Wednesday, July 16th, 2014 @ 11:44 pm
By: Civitas Insitute
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The online dictionary defines “pork barrel” spending as “a government appropriation, bill, or policy that supplies funds for local improvements designed to ingratiate legislators with their constituents.”
Published: Monday, July 7th, 2014 @ 8:35 pm
By: Civitas Insitute
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In this year’s legislative session Democratic legislators have submitted several bills that attempt to roll back sections of last year’s landmark election reform legislation (the Voter Identification Verification Act – VIVA), and this week’s Bad Bill highlights one of them.
Published: Tuesday, July 1st, 2014 @ 6:10 pm
By: Civitas Insitute
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This week's Bad Bill of the Week involves state legislators trying yet again to interject themselves into the voluntary association between employee and employer.
Published: Saturday, June 28th, 2014 @ 12:14 am
By: Civitas Insitute
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Imagine the important things in your life: your spouse, your home, your favorite football team. What do they all have in common? You were able to choose them, not have them assigned to you by the political class.
Published: Wednesday, June 18th, 2014 @ 12:27 am
By: Civitas Insitute
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Have we already forgotten the behavior of Jim Black? Do we not remember his secret meetings in IHOP bathrooms? We don’t know that such hijinks are involved in this SB 783 – but such legislation naturally lends itself to corruption.
Published: Friday, May 23rd, 2014 @ 9:46 pm
By: Stan Deatherage
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House Bill 803, Healthy and High Performance Schools Act, is a lengthy bill filled with mind-numbing amounts of detail in an attempt to micro-manage the lives of schoolchildren.
Published: Sunday, June 30th, 2013 @ 7:55 pm
By: Civitas Insitute
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This week's Bad Bill of the Week has the intention of removing a barrier to employment opportunities for people with a criminal record, but like previous Bad Bills relating to employment, this one has unintended consequences that must be pointed out.
Published: Saturday, June 22nd, 2013 @ 12:09 am
By: Civitas Insitute
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After reading House Bill 976, the Gun Safety Act, it becomes hard to believe that Joe Biden, Diane Feinstein and Andrew Cuomo are nowhere to be found roaming the halls of the North Carolina General Assembly.
Published: Thursday, June 20th, 2013 @ 11:35 am
By: Civitas Insitute
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The death penalty is always a hot topic in any discussion, but is HB 722 another back-door attempt to do away with the death penalty without addressing the issue itself?
Published: Tuesday, May 21st, 2013 @ 8:28 am
By: Civitas Insitute
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Government doling out taxpayer dollars to politically-connected businesses is bad enough, but this week's Bad Bill of the Week takes that concept to even lower depths.
Published: Sunday, May 12th, 2013 @ 11:19 am
By: Civitas Insitute
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Gamblers on a losing streak often resort to desperately making riskier bets to try to make up for their previous losses - a move that rarely pays off and which usually leaves them even poorer.
Published: Saturday, May 4th, 2013 @ 7:29 am
By: Civitas Insitute
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House Resolution 836, Support Restoration of Glass-Steagall Act, is a fact-free proclamation seeking to perpetuate a harmful myth surrounding the financial collapse of 2008.
Published: Wednesday, May 1st, 2013 @ 4:22 pm
By: Civitas Insitute
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This week's Bad Bill of the Week is HB 603. Sponsored by Representatives Deborah Ross (D-Wake), Deb McManus (D-Chatham), Valerie Foushee (D-Orange), and Paul Tine (D-Beaufort), the The Equal Pay Act is a mess.
Published: Thursday, April 18th, 2013 @ 11:13 pm
By: Civitas Insitute
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This week’s “Bad Bill of the Week” is House Bill 188, Early Voting on Weekends.
Published: Wednesday, March 27th, 2013 @ 9:30 am
By: Civitas Insitute
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This week's Bad Bill of the Week is another repeat offender. SB 99, the North Carolina Benefit Corporation Act, is the same piece of legislation dubbed a "Bad Bill" by Civitas in 2011.
Published: Tuesday, March 12th, 2013 @ 9:24 pm
By: Civitas Insitute
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