To the editor:

May 1 is gone, but certainly not forgotten. Now is the time for reaction, reflection, and even criticism — by all interested parties. 

RALEIGH — A bipartisan group of state lawmakers Thursday introduced the second of what may be several measures to reform North Carolina’s redistricting process.

The single most important issue during every legislative session is the approval or revision of North Carolina’s state budget. For the 2019-20 session about to get underway, the political implications of the budget debate are going to be nearly as important as the policy implications.

Milton Friedman once observed that “nothing is so permanent as a temporary government program.” To be sure, spending bills or regulations initially sold as limited responses to specific conditions often take on a life of their own. They create constituencies that receive funds or protection from the program and thus have a strong interest in converting the temporary into the permanent.