Jeff Tiberii

Governor Roy Cooper is taking a leadership role in North Carolina - and in the country – in addressing the opioid crisis. He was one of six members of President Donald Trump’s Commission on Combating Drug Addiction and the Opioid Crisis.

Significant court rulings, the latest round of campaign finance reports and policies that might help combat the opioid epidemic were among the political topics that received attention this week.

Rob Schofield, of NC Policy Watch, and Becki Gray, of the John Locke Foundation, join WUNC Capitol Bureau Chief Jeff Tiberii about these and other topics in the week's political news.

Elected officials from both parties and at all levels of government are working on curbing the opioid crisis.

In 2017, President Donald Trump seated a commission to make recommendations on the issue, state lawmakers passed a measure changing prescribing guidelines, and municipalities mobilized more first responders to carry an opiate reversal agent.

Judicial musings and off-shore drilling were among the array of North Carolina political topics that received attention this week.

Mitch Kokai, of the John Locke Foundation, and Rob Schofield, of NC Policy Watch, review that recent news, and also weigh-in on a piece by the Wall Street Journal exploring an economic divide in the state. Not discussed on this week’s forum – but mentioned – is a piece from the New York Times, noting the wariness of southern lawmakers to pursue divisive social policy, at least for now.

It appears that judicial redistricting is again stalled in the North Carolina General Assembly. That comes after a recent show of confidence from leading state Republicans that the issue might pick up momentum.

Thanks to winter weather, it was a slow work week for many in North Carolina. However, the political world trudged along with more redistricting and judicial developments.

A committee of U.S. Senators has again approved a controversial pick for the Federal Bench. Thomas Farr is up for a life-time position in the Eastern District of North Carolina. He has been criticized for his work as an attorney defending recent voting laws passed by the Republican-led General Assembly – and also for his work on a Jesse Helms campaign in 1990.

On this week's review of North Carolina politics, lawmakers again discussed what to do about GenX, the contaminant that has been discharged in the Cape Fear River. Also, lawmakers return to Raleigh next week, though their agenda remains unclear. And, 2018 is an election year that is expected to see a President Trump trickle down effect.

Rob Schofield, of NC Policy Watch, and Mitch Kokai, of the John Locke Foundation, discuss those stories during this conversation.

Fans of the Carolina Panthers will watch their team in the Wildcard round of the NFL playoffs this Sunday in New Orleans. Soon those fans will wait to see what happens with the franchise.

Former North Carolina State Representative Daniel McComas (R-New Hanover) has resigned from the state Board of Transportation, one week after a former lobbyist accused him of harassment.

On this week's review of North Carolina politics, a review of the year in North Carolina politics. There were bitter partisan squabbles between the legislature and Governor Roy Cooper; economic developments; and a conclusion (sort of) to House Bill 2.

On the latest episode of the WUNCPolitics Podcast, Gary Robertson sits down to discuss a tumultuous year in North Carolina politics.

The Associated Press statehouse reporter shares details from recent conversations with Governor Roy Cooper and Senate Leader Phil Berger, weighs in on "the story of the year," and shares his favorite Christmas song.

This week on the WUNCPolitics Podcast, a conversation with Gerry Cohen, who first ventured into the North Carolina General Assembly more than 45 years ago while working on his graduate thesis.

WUNC and the NC Insider published two stories this week about the culture of harassment at the North Carolina General Assembly.

North Carolina's largest managed care health organization came under further fire this week when it was taken over by a state agency.

This week in North Carolina politics, a conversation about judicial redistricting and Anita Earls’ race for state Supreme Court; the special master's legislative maps; and objections from North Carolina Senators Tillis and Burr against Donald Trump’s EPA nominee.

Democrats received a boost this week, as a wave of candidates celebrated victory in the first round of elections during the Trump Presidency.

Historically the party not in the White House fares well at the ballot box in the first couple years of a new administration. Brent Woodcox, special council to Republicans at the legislature, joins the podcast to talk election results, his concerns over Donald Trump, and local craft beer.

Democrats had their best night in a while on Tuesday, as an anti-Trump message helped the party pick-up two governorship, and end super-majorities in Virginia and Georgia.

Democrat David Price has seen plenty during his 30 years in the U.S. House, from the impeachment of President Bill Clinton to the chaos of a Trump Administration.

This week in state politics, another development in the redistricting saga, and a congressional hearing on social media.

This week in North Carolina politics, a discussion on the latest state redistricting developments, a state lawmaker who is officially changing parties from Republican to Democrat, and a look at whether any leaders can bring people back to the middle.

Jonathan Kappler got hooked on North Carolina politics during high school when he served in the House as a page. Today he's the Executive Director of the NC Free Enterprise Foundation.

This week in North Carolina politics, state lawmakers voted to override another executive veto. Hours later, they introduced a proposal to amend the North Carolina Constitution. And changes to the judiciary are key to both plans that garnered attention at the General Assembly this week.

As lawmakers reached across the aisle in an effort to move forward on changes to the Affordable Care Act, Washington erupted in another controversy this week.

State lawmakers on Tuesday proposed a constitutional amendment to reduce all judicial terms to two years.

On this week's episode of the WUNCPolitics Podcast, a conversation with former WUNC reporter and producer Jorge Valencia. Jorge now reports from Mexico City for KJZZ, the public radio station in Phoenix.

This week in North Carolina politics, while lawmakers are back in their districts, there were plenty of political developments in North Carolina this week.

In North Carolina, women make up more than 51 percent of the population, yet they hold less than a quarter of the seats at the state legislature.

This week in North Carolina politics, Gov. Roy Cooper vetoes a river cleanup bill, saying it was insufficient; and Thomas Farr sits through a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on his nomination to be a District Judge on the United States District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina.

In recent weeks two major hurricanes have struck the United States, President Trump has continued to criticize journalists, and on Friday morning London suffered another attack when a homemade bomb went off on a commuter train. The news cycle has been uncharacteristically busy for the end of summer.