WUNC Politics

Sen. Dan Blue is the longest serving member of the North Carolina General Assembly. With 36 years of experience in the Legislature, the Wake County Democrat is well-versed in redistricting, budget negotiations, and working with Republicans.

North Carolina legislators completed their court-ordered redistricting this week. Lawmakers were working on a swift turnaround and, for more transparency, the mapping sessions were livestreamed. The process drew criticism and praise. Becki Gray of the John Locke Foundation and Rob Schofield of NC Policy Watch discuss the meaning of "independent" redistricting and whether anything has changed with...

The North Carolina General Assembly is again sending redrawn district maps back to the court for review.

Even for relatively chaotic North Carolina, it was a wild week in state politics.

A major court ruling is forcing state lawmakers to redraw North Carolina General Assembly districts for 2020. And Hurricane Dorian interrupted early voting in two special congressional elections.

A major court ruling came Tuesday when three state judges rules that dozens of North Carolina legislative boundaries are illegal.

This episode of the Politics Podcast is an extended conversation from the Week in State Politics, a weekly conversation featured in All Things Considered.

Several of North Carolina's congressional districts are the focus of this week's politics podcast.

State lawmakers are showing no signs of a budget breakthrough as the fiscal year marks it's 40th day. On this episode of the WUNC Politics Podcast, Travis Fain (@travisfain), statehouse reporter for WRAL, addresses that as well as the latest mass shootings and why policy action is unlikely in Raleigh. Fain also meanders through life as a journalist, SEC football venues, and Big Sky country.

North Carolina House Speaker Tim Moore is a nine-term legislator from Cleveland County.

It’s the fourth week of the fiscal year, however, legislators and the Governor have yet to agree on a new budget for North Carolina.

North Carolina State lawmakers and the governor have still not agreed on a new spending plan for the budget year which began now more than two weeks ago.

There was plenty of budget discussion at the North Carolina General Assembly this week. But for now, still no agreement on a state spending plan. Many Democrats, led by the Governor, are pushing for the expansion of Medicaid as part of any compromise. Some Republicans, led by legislative leaders, continue to balk at that request, and say the minority party is holding the budget hostage.

Medicaid expansion is not the only major healthcare fight going on in state government these days. There is also a squabble over what to do about the state health plan.

Two major opinions were handed down by the U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday.

Many cities across the country are dealing with a housing crisis. The problems are a complex intersection of, among many issues, affordability, capacity, poverty, wage growth and eviction. In a reporting collaborative, NPR member station WFDD (Winston-Salem) recently produced three stories about the challenges facing urban centers.

A test of divided government played out this week at the General Assembly, where Republicans failed to override a veto from Democratic Governor Roy Cooper. It was the first time in North Carolina political history that a veto-override was approved by one chamber, and then voted down by the other chamber. Colin Campbell of the NC Insider joins WUNC Capitol Bureau Chief Jeff Tiberii to talk about th...

There were plenty of political happenings in Raleigh and Washington this week.

Josh Stein became the 50th attorney general of North Carolina in January 2017. The Wake County Democrat has taken a more proactive role than his predecessor, both sparring and collaborating, with the Republican led legislature.

Significant changes are coming to the North Carolina State Board of Elections.

It was a relatively anticlimactic, non-controversial week at the General Assembly where lawmakers completed the biennial self-imposed exercise of crossover.

Thousands of teachers gathered outside the General Assembly this week to call on lawmakers to improve resources, funding, and student support.

This week on the podcast, our focus turns to two special congressional elections underway in the state. North Carolina's Ninth District was marred in an absentee election fraud scandal and November's apparent winner was never certified.

North Carolina House majority leader John Bell IV (R-Wayne) joins this edition of the podcast to discuss recent legislation, the current power dynamic with the Governor, and a special Congressional election. He also looks ahead to another major teacher rally planned for next month, and even offers his all-time hunting foursome.

The latest proposal to close the health care gap was introduced at the legislature this week.