francis de luca

December 17, 2013 - The Civitas Institute, a conservative think tank founded and bankrolled by N.C. budget director Art Pope, sought funding to portray the Medicaid program as "failed" and to urge funding cuts, according to leaked documents obtained by The Guardian. The effort comes as the McCrory administration wants to privatize management of the public health insurance program for the poor and disabled.

September 11, 2013 - Plaintiffs suing over North Carolina's controversial new elections law have notified the Civitas Institute -- a conservative think tank founded and largely funded by Republican mega-donor Art Pope, now state budget director -- to preserve documents and other records related to the legislation.

June 28, 2013 - A website publicizing details about people arrested in nonviolent protests at the N.C. legislature expanded this week to include salaries of arrestees who are public workers -- and suffered a setback when local officials said they'd no longer take arrestees' mugshots. Meanwhile, private data-gathering efforts in another state are generating controversy over their use for political retaliation.

October 5, 2012 - Conservative N.C. Supreme Court justice Paul Newby has taken $240,100 in public campaign funding to help run his re-election campaign. He's also getting support from a right-wing political group that calls public funding "immoral" and "welfare for politicians."