Legislative and Policy

In 2009, North Carolina Senate Bill 460 (SB 460), sponsored by Senator Don Davis, made its first appearance in the state legislative session.  The so-called “puppy-mill bill” sought to define and regulate commercial breeders within the state.  The bill would have defined a commercial breeder as “any person who owns or maintains 15 or more intact female dogs of breeding age, and 30 or more puppies primarily for the purpose of sale.”  Regulation of the practice would have occurred [...]

Why North Carolina? North Carolina is situated in the middle of a controversial debate about the extraction of natural gas, which can be used as an energy resource.  Hydraulic fracturing, known colloquially as fracking, has been the center of discussion among community leaders, lawmakers, and activists as the North Carolina General Assembly continues to study the effects of this new technology used to extract natural gas from shale rock formations.  The practice could soon come to central [...]