Brian Balfour

Thus far, the Civitas quizzes have focused on North Carolina issues. This week, however, we decided to test your knowledge about legislation being passed in states around the ... Keep Reading

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 ... Keep Reading

The 2013 session of the North Carolina General Assembly will be coming to a close soon. How much do you know about the amount of legislative activity this year, as well as general ... Keep Reading

The North Carolina House unveiled its two year spending plan on Sunday night. Total spending for FY 2013-14 would come to $20.6 billion – virtually identical to the Senate’s budget ... Keep Reading

One of the oft-cited criticisms of the NC Senate’s tax reform plan is that it would extend the state sales tax to groceries. Observers may be interested, however, in testing their ... Keep Reading

The Civitas Institute conducts the only monthly, live-caller statewide opinion poll in North Carolina. Our polling is intended to gauge public sentiment on elected officials and ... Keep Reading

One of the ten planks of Karl Marx’s Communist Manifesto is “Centralization of credit in the hands of the State.”  Apparently of like mind is North Carolina state Senator Ellie ... Keep Reading

Last night, the North Carolina state Senate unveiled its two year state budget proposal. Total spending included for FY 2013-14 comes to $20.58 billion, which would be roughly $400 ... Keep Reading

Last week a House committee approved TABOR legislation that would place limits on the annual growth rate of the state budget. Much has been said in favor and opposition of such ... Keep Reading

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. HB 797, ... Keep Reading