[link removed]
Hi there,

Last Wednesday, North Carolina lawmakers filed a bill ([link removed]) to claw back half a billion dollars in state taxpayer funds from NCInnovation (NCI), a private nonprofit founded to help commercialize more applied university research in the state. The organization’s goals are laudable, if it were a fully independent organization dealing with private dollars, but not with taxpayer funds.

State House Oversight Committee co-chairs Reps. Harry Warren and Jake Johnson are among the primary sponsors of House Bill 164 ([link removed]) , which aims to reclaim the $500 million given by the state to NCI in 2023 to allow those funds to be redirected to more pressing budgetary needs (like disaster relief for western North Carolina).

Under the proposed bill, any interest or investment earnings on the $500 million endowment would remain with NCI, and they can continue to award grants and accept applications.

This is excellent news, and a step in the right direction!

Venture capital is not a legitimate use of taxpayer dollars. NCI’s lack of transparency, cronyism, conflicts of interest, and accounting woes more than justify state lawmakers reclaiming taxpayer funds.

As I said in my public statement ([link removed]) :

“The 2023 allocation of $500 million in taxpayer funds to NCInnovation, which has fought public oversight at every turn, has raised serious concerns about transparency and fiscal responsibility. House Bill 154 seeks to address these concerns by ensuring that state funds are properly accounted for and returned to the General Fund. At the John Locke Foundation, we believe taxpayers deserve clear and accountable stewardship of public resources, for constitutional core government services – venture capital is not among them. With North Carolina facing pressing needs—including recovery efforts from Hurricane Helene—reclaiming these funds is a prudent step toward responsible governance and ensuring taxpayer dollars are directed where they are needed most.”
North Carolina has more pressing needs to address than funneling taxpayer money to a corporate welfare scheme that only benefits the most well-connected, and this is a good first step in the right direction from the state legislature.

You can read more about the issues with NCInnovation here ([link removed]) , here ([link removed]) and here ([link removed]) .

Esse quam videri,

Donald Bryson

RSVP Today!
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March Carolina Journal Poll Dinner and Presentation
Thursday, March 13 @ 5:30PM in Raleigh
Join Carolina Journal’s David Larson and John Locke Foundation’s Mitch Kokai at the Bridge Club in Raleigh, NC for an evening of dinner, data, and discussion. We’ll break down the latest Carolina Journal Poll results and give you an inside look at what North Carolinians are thinking about key political issues.

There’s still time to RSVP, but spots are filling up fast! Secure your spot now. RSVP here! ([link removed])
More from Locke
1) 🗳️🗳️🗳️ Strengthening election integrity through procedural audits ([link removed])
* Audits are vital for maintaining public confidence in elections, particularly procedural audits
* But what exactly are procedural audits?
+ Also known as, “forensic,” “compliance,” or “performance” audits, procedural audits determine whether election laws and procedures are followed, including ballot chain-of-custody
o Procedural audits differ from election audits, because they focus on verifying overall adherence to legal procedures, rather than verifying the accuracy of the vote counts
* To illustrate their importance, Utah’s use of procedural audit helped uncover major issues with their election procedures
+ A 2024 “performance audit” report identified three significant issues over the past two years:
o Failure of election officials to properly execute post-election audits
o Minimal state oversight of local election officials
o Inadequate control and tracking of ballots
+ Two Utah counties were found to have violated state election law, compromising election security
+ The report made 20 recommendations, including procedural changes for county and state election officials, and legislative action to improve election integrity and streamline administration
* North Carolina should adopt similar audit practices, including:
+ Auditing over multiple election cycles to uncover systemic issues
+ Ensuring audits are conducted by independent bodies, like the State Auditor’s office
+ Including responses from the state’s chief elections officer, to improve transparency and accountability

You can read more here ([link removed]) .

2) 💵💵💵 North Carolina’s budget surplus and fiscal challenges ([link removed])
* North Carolina’s Office of State Budget and Management projects a $544 million surplus for the current fiscal year
+ This boosts the total General Fund revenues to $34.71 billion—1.6% above estimates—due to strong economic growth and higher-than-expected tax revenues
* Some lawmakers fear that cutting taxes would drain North Carolina’s budget, directing resources away from community needs
+ The state’s individual income tax is scheduled to drop from 4.25% to 3.49% by 2027, and the corporate tax from 2.5% to 2% by 2026
+ While growth remains strong, inflation remains a concern, complicating long-term budget planning
+ Governor Josh Stein needlessly warned of an impending “fiscal cliff,” citing challenges in funding infrastructure, public schools, and disaster recovery
* But the handwringing about revenue shortfalls comes down to the differences in static and dynamic models of revenue forecasting
+ Static revenue forecasting projects future tax revenue based on current trends
o While simple, it may miscalculate revenue changes by assuming people and businesses won't change their financial behavior in response to tax policy changes
+ Dynamic revenue forecasting predicts future tax revenue by factoring in how people and businesses might react to tax changes, using economic models
+ Because if we think that people don’t respond to tax changes, then we are kidding ourselves
* As budget discussions get underway in the new legislative session, lawmakers will have to balance planned tax cuts with budget needs, such as Hurricane Helene relief efforts

Read the full article here ([link removed]) .

3) ✏️✏️✏️ New York’s soaring education costs, stagnant results ([link removed])
* The New York Post recently ran a story on how New York spends a staggering $36,200 per student, the highest in the nation
+ That amounts to $89 billion annually on education
* With all that money spent on education, are New York’s students among the best in the nation? NO!
+ New York students rank mediocre to below average on the National Assessment of Education Progress
+ Their test scores are declining faster than the national average
+ And enrollment is dropping while spending continues to rise
* Despite ever-growing budgets, there is little oversight on how funds are used
+ Teacher salaries have climbed to an average of $92,696, the second highest in the country, with generous retirement and health benefits as well
+ Yet, there’s no clear strategy to improve student success or hold underperforming districts accountable
* It is well past time for the state to improve student outcomes and ensure that schools’ vast resources meet the needs of students by improving oversight
+ Interventions must be made to ensure districts are effective and innovative
+ And when school districts do not deliver results, they must be held accountable
+ Otherwise, New York taxpayers will continue footing the bill for an education system that isn’t delivering results
+ The next time policymakers are being asked to fund expensive new initiatives, all of which promise to improve education, they should ask our New York friends first how that worked out for them

You can read the full report here ([link removed]) .
Donate ([link removed])

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