We Told You So
We are thrilled that Mark Avles’ plan was received as well as it was by the Wake County School board this afternoon. Yes, there are many, many details that would have to be worked out, and yes, it doesn’t solve every problem we have. Controlled choice is, however, a proven, stable, and workable solution for …
So Much More Than a Fingerprint
During the debates on the DNA collection bill that was recently signed into law, the refrain we heard over and over again from the proponents of the legislation was that DNA collection was merely “a 21st century fingerprint”. While we and others argued that DNA certainly contains far more information than a few swirls on …
What Trust Looks Like to Margiotta
Anyone who was downtown at the march today will tell you it was hot, and it was also hot outside the Wake Count School Board meeting a few hours later. But, as usual, things were much hotter inside the meeting room, where the Board held their only meeting in July. Not that we can tell …
N&O, WS Journal, others come out against DNA collection
In the aftermath of the what seemed like the shortest short-session General Assembly on record, people finally have some time to digest what happened, what didn’t happen, and what it all means. In other words, we can assess the damage. In particular, many are beginning to question the wisdom of the DNA collections bill, signed …
Save the Date for Diversity March
Just in case you’ve been living under a rock, we wanted to make sure you are aware of the huge community march taking place next week, July 20th, at 10am in downtown Raleigh. NCSJP, Great Schools in Wake County, NAACP, and dozens of other groups will be there, protesting the dismantling of the Wake County …
Lowest Spending Levels in 14 years? Yep. No Kidding.
In the wake of all of craziness at the General Assembly last week, you might have missed a little press release by the tax center at the NC Justice Center that said State spending has fallen to its lowest level in 14 years. Yea, that’s what we thought – that can’t be correct. But as …
Senate Approves DNA bill
Last night, the Senate passed their version of HB 1403, the DNA collection bill we have been working against all session. Despite our best efforts, both sides of the Assembly have now approved the bill, though the Senate bill still requires another vote before it moves to conference committee. Various concessions have made the bill …
DNA, Ethics, and Homes-Oh my!
We were down at the General Assembly all day yesterday, and we had some mixed results. The two bills that we are actively working on, the Homeowner and Homebuyer Protection Act and the DNA collections bill, both had some time on the House floor yesterday. Debate on both was colorful, and sometimes heated. In addition, …
State Budget Highlights
We hope everyone had a safe and happy July 4th! We spent our holiday enjoying the beautiful sunshine and reading through the House and Senate versions of the budget – hope your holiday was more enjoyable than ours. So, what did we find? Plenty of pain to go around, with a heavy dose of compromise …
Busy Week
As we head into the long Independence Day weekend, we thought you’d like to know what has been going on at the legislature all week (aside from the budget, which passed yesterday. We’re still digesting that.) Here’s a quick summary of bills we have been either active with or been keeping our eye on: Both …