NC Capitol Wrap

State budget talks — including negotiations over a heavily lobbied gambling expansion — broke down this week between the House and Senate. Senate leadership says the House broke its deal. House leadership says the Senate demands just won't pass. Everyone went to their corners for a while, and now that talks have resumed it's not clear when North Carolina will have a new state budget. P...

WRAL Capitol Bureau Chief Laura Leslie and WRAL Sports Investigative Reporter Brian Murphy talk about the push and pull over casinos and video slot machines in lawmakers' negotiations over the state budget. Will the fight over expanding gambling in North Carolina delay the budget another week? Plus, election changes and drama at the State Board of Education.

House Republicans plan to gather behind closed doors Tuesday for a meeting that may go a long way toward deciding whether North Carolina's General Assembly authorizes four new casinos and legalizes video poker machines. Plus: Accusations of bias at the state's highest court, lots of campaign donations flowing as lawmakers weigh gambling and medical marijuana bills, and lots of jockeying as politic...

It sounds like state lawmakers are hammering out final budget details ahead of a vote during the week of Sept. 11. What does that mean for Medicaid expansion? WRAL reporters Travis Fain and Brian Murphy get into it. Also: More national coverage for Mark Robinson and his conspiracy theories, casino plans roll on, and why Democrats may soon have another candidate in the 2024 governor's race.

The North Carolina General Assembly continues to work in fits and starts, churning through veto overrides and a handful of other bills after weeks of calm. Now it looks we're in another dead period with few answers about the overdue state budget. Meanwhile, a fight looms over the continued push to add casinos and expand legal gambling in the state. WRAL state government reporters Will Doran and Tr...

A clash over concealed weapons training, and why a national group's bid to get on the 2024 ballot in NC could be in trouble. WRAL Capitol Bureau Chief Laura Leslie and WRAL State Government Reporter Will Doran look at the week that was — get you up to speed on the week ahead — in North Carolina politics.

In the course of one legislative session, North Carolina may go from having heavy limits on gambling to allowing sports gambling on cell phones, slot-machine-style machines in restaurants and gas stations and four new casinos. WRAL News reporters Travis Fain and Brian Murphy break down the latest. Plus: state budget news, education policy, a roundup of 2024 political candidates. And are Republican...

With North Carolina lawmakers deadlocked, and vacations looming, it looks like a state budget vote won't come until at least August at the General Assembly. Meanwhile, not much is moving, but we keep hearing about a major push to build new casinos in the state. WRAL Capitol Bureau Chief Laura Leslie and WRAL State Government Reporter Travis Fain break it all down in your weekly look at North Carol...

In terms of drama, North Carolina politics did not disappoint this week. A federal judge said most of North Carolina's new abortion law can go into effect. The legislature passed multiple LGBTQ bills. A powerful state senator pulled a parliamentary manuever to save his medical marijuana bill, the power struggle continues atop the SBI and the U.S. Supreme Court decided two major cases this week out...

Speaker of the House Tim Moore's love life — central to allegations in a new lawsuit against him — sucked a lot of the oxygen out of the room this week at the General Assembly. But the session kept on trucking. Republican lawmakers dropped a surprise abortion bill that looks like it's aimed at derailing a federal lawsuit. Major voting bills moved forward. So did bills limiting care for...

The legislative session is rounding the final turn. Republican lawmakers moved a pair of major election bills forward. Lawmakers, meanwhile, are poised to pass a ban on transgender girls and women playing on female sports teams from middle school through college. The sports gambling bill has been signed (but you won't be able to bet for a while). Plus: Updates on a laundry list...

North Carolina Republicans are holding their state convention this weekend in Greensboro and will hear from three presidential candidates. President Joe Biden visited North Carolina Friday. Budget negotiators are taking the weekend off, but chairs hope to have their work done Tuesday. Plus: Sports gambling, Blue Cross bills await the governor's signature and the General Assembly is about to fight...

Plus: A new elections bill dropped this week, tinkering with state voting laws, and Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina got a big bipartisan vote on its reorganization bill.

On this week's edition of the Wrap, WRAL Capitol Bureau Chief Laura Leslie and WRAL State Government Reporter Will Doran talk about a shake-up in the state House GOP leadership, the fight over the future of the state’s largest insurer, and Gov. Roy Cooper’s pivot to the bully pulpit.

Republicans in the North Carolina legislature made quick work of Gov. Roy Cooper's abortion bill override. And new restrictions are scheduled to go into effect July 1. Plus, there’s bipartisan support in the state Senate for a budget proposing lower raises for teachers and state employees than the House backed last month. And will that budget threaten every big city hospital in the state wit...

The North Carolina General Assembly largely took this week off. The news did not. Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper tried to ramp up public pressure on a handful of key Republicans ahead of Saturday's abortion veto, and the state got three new State Board of Elections members. Also: North Carolina's first Black lieutenant governor has criticisms of the civil rights movement.

Emotional debate and personal stories filled the General Assembly this week as a long-anticipated abortion bill moved through the chambers. In the end, the bill passed along party lines, and it took less than 48 hours. Now we wait for Gov. Roy Cooper's veto and a Republican push to override and make these new restrictions law. Also: Partisan gerrymandering is legal again in North Carolina, and a m...

The North Carolina General Assembly remains on its rocket sled, churning through legislation, including the series of culture war bills dominating recent headlines. Plus: The Community College System named a new president, beating a push for the General Assembly to take more control of that process. And big money, big business bills to watch (including some likely to move next week). The new farm...

Every week is a banger in North Carolina politics, but this one outdid itself. State Rep. Tricia Cotham dropped the biggest bombshell in legislative politics in 20 years. The House passed its budget. Half a dozen LGBTQ bills hit. Plus: Bills moved to limit voting by mail, to add a new tax on Uber and Lyft rides and to help the family of a police officer killed in a mass shooting. WRAL Capitol Bure...

The week in North Carolina politics started off in bipartisan bliss with a bill signing ceremony on Medicaid expansion. Then Republicans shut off debate and used a handful of key Democratic absences to override Gov. Roy Cooper's veto on a gun bill. Now it's budget time, and GOP lawmakers hold the cards, empowering them to to drop their policies into a crucial budget plan. It's an offer Democrats c...

Another chock-a-block week in North Carolina politics. Medicaid expansion passed, and on the 13th anniversary of Obamacare, no less. State Auditor Beth Wood pleaded guilty to her hit-and-run charge, and she admitted to having a bit to drink before the crash. Gov. Roy Cooper closed the week by vetoing gun legislation, a veto Republicans will surely try to overturn. And next week brings the House bu...

WRAL state government reporters Travis Fain and Will Doran break down the week that was in North Carolina politics. Medicaid expansion passed the state Senate. The governor proposed a new budget. Republican lawmakers immediately said it won't pass. Plus: Bills on critical race theory, guns, opioids and gambling.

WRAL Capitol Bureau Chief Laura Leslie and WRAL State Government Reporter Travis Fain break down the week in North Carolina politics. This week brought Gov. Roy Cooper's last State of the State speech. Plus, Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson reined himself in, but for how long? They discuss progress on the state budget, what to expect when it comes to teacher and state employee raises, and negotiations over...

WRAL State Government Reporter Travis Fain lays out the basics on a long-sought deal to bring billions in federal funding to North Carolina and provide Medicaid health insurance to the state’s working poor. He also gets into budget updates, the timetable for abortion legislation, mounting pressure from evangelicals for a heartbeat bill, medical marijuana and a sobering milestone for child gun deat...

WRAL state government reporters Will Doran and Travis Fain talk about the rammed SUV carrying House Speaker Tim Moore, culture-war bills that moved this week, and potentially important agency bills that were filed. They also discuss the upcoming state budget and tax news.