North Carolina
State Efficiency Bill Involving AI Advances in North Carolina
(TNS) — A N.C. Senate bill that would review state agency performance and staffing levels, relying in part on the use of artificial intelligence, cleared its first committee step Wednesday.
Senate Bill 474, titled “The DAVE Act,” was recommended by the Senate Regulatory Reform committee after nearly 30 minutes of at times contentious debate.
Although the bill is being fast-tracked to gatekeeper Rules and Operations committee, the legislation is expected to be inserted into the 2025-26 state budget bill to fund additional state Auditor office job positions.
Senate leader Phil Berger, R-Rockingham, is in the rare role of being a primary bill sponsor.
According to a news release from Berger’s office, the legislation is designed to “get a complete picture” of how state agencies are utilizing taxpayer funds “and determine if the agency should continue to exist.”
The acronym DAVE stands for Division of Accountability, Value and Efficiency, which would be housed in the State Auditor’s office of Republican Dave Boliek.
Bill sponsors say the key areas for state agency review — so far — includes: amounts spent, including the entities receiving funds and the intended purpose of the amounts spent; effectiveness of any amount spent in achieving the intended purpose of that spending; and duplicative spending.
Each agency is to report all job positions that have been vacant for six months or more. Agency reports would have an Oct. 1 filing deadline.
SB474 was amended to establish a sunset that was not specified, but to occur after the 2028 general election, and allow Boliek to request annual reports.
Berger said SB474 “facilitates the auditor’s ability to move forward on examining how monies that are appropriated by the General Assembly … are actually deployed … effectively deployed and whether or not there’s a failure on the part of an executive agency to utilize the funds as directed by the legislature.”
The bill is likely to join the growing list of Republican-sponsored bills that may serve as the first test of Democratic Gov. Josh Stein’s ability to sustain a veto vote.
Senate Republicans hold a 30-20 supermajority that gives them the votes to override a Stein veto. However, House Republicans are one vote shy of a supermajority at 71-49.
Boliek, in his first term as auditor, said SB474 empowers the state Auditor’s Office “to do that what we already have the authority to do” in terms of auditing for operational, funding and overall program efficiency.”
Boliek said the proposed objectives of SB474 should draw bipartisan support.
“What this bill does is it puts together the legislature, the executive branch and the state Auditor’s Office,” Boliek said.
“It is designed to do better government, a date-centered approach that gets real, impactful results.”
Boliek claimed SB474 is needed in part because previous state auditors provided “bread and butter financial audits that are a 30,000-foot views that does not — quite frankly — give members of this body the type of information you need and you expect … to make competent, judgmental decisions as they run their agencies.
“My commitment is to do this in a nonpartisan way that’s data centric. … not emotion. The proof will be in the pudding.”
Boliek said the expanded use of artificial intelligence is warranted “because we’ve got to start somewhere in the state of North Carolina because it’s coming, and there’s no better place than the state Auditor’s Office to get started with that.”
Several Senate Democratic committee members critical of SB474 claimed Senate GOP leaders want to establish a N.C. version of the controversial federal DOGE initiative led by billionaire Elon Musk.
They expressed concerns that state departments and agencies, already are dealing with staffing vacancies reaching 20% to 25%, could have their workforce experience more cuts based on assessments from artificial intelligence algorithms.
Sen. Caleb Theodros, D-Mecklenburg, said there needs to be firm restraints and transparency on the use of artificial intelligence in evaluating the performance of agencies and their employees.
Berger said legislators will employ artificial intelligence as a tool in determining funding appropriation levels and whether state funds are being wasted or not.
“Your comments point out exactly why we need something like this,” Berger said.
Sen. Lisa Grafstein, D-Wake, said the auditor’s office focuses on accounting functions, and is not meant to be a program evaluator of the work of state employees and “whether they are necessary.”
“I think we are getting really close to the idea that we’re demonizing state employees who are trying to do their jobs, and folks who are trying to make our communities better.”
Sen. Sophia Chitlik, D-Durham, said moving forward with SB474 is harmful when state government is struggling to fill about 14,000 job vacancies, in part because of the pay scale compared with the private sector.
“Behind every one of these jobs there is a reason for them, a community need,” Chitlik said.
“It strikes me as actually very inefficient to potentially leave it up to AI to eliminate them because we can’t fill them.”
Chitlik said the DOGE initiative is putting about 35,000 federal jobs in N.C. at risk of elimination.
She cited as an example the elimination of a UNC Health laboratory workforce dedicated to studying youth vaping “because their NIH (National Institutes of Health) grant had the word equity in it.”
“We do not need to look any further than our state for examples of what happens when you let an algorithm take control of our workplace,” she said.
Berger responded by saying Boliek “has no authority to discharge anyone. He has the authority to identify problems in any discharge.”
“Any elimination of positions would be left up to the General Assembly.”
Sen. Woodson Bradley, D-Mecklenburg, said it is critical that whatever authority that DAVE is given by the legislature has bipartisan support.
“We can’t let this infect the entire (state) budget, not let it hurt people with zero accountability,” she said.
Meanwhile, public speakers called out Senate Republican leadership for what they termed hypocrisy.
They said the call for more stringent evaluations of how government agencies operate runs counter to legislators sticking into the 2023 state budget bill language that allows legislators to determine whether documents are public records, shield them from public release and destroy them if they choose.
© 2025 the News & Record (Greensboro, N.C.). Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
At least two people are dead and “several” others are injured after a “planned fight” at a North Carolina park escalated into a mass shooting, authorities said.
Police have identified several victims and suspects after Monday’s shooting at Leinbach Park near Jefferson Middle School, according to the Winston-Salem Police Department.
Authorities confirmed there were multiple victims in the shooting, but did not provide an exact number. The suspects were still at large over two hours later.
Officers were called to the park just before 10 a.m. after reports of a fight, which then escalated into multiple people shooting each other.
Area schools are not in lockdown, and classes are operating as normal, police said.
“Due to the number of people involved, efforts are ongoing to account for everyone. At this time, some of those involved in the incident are juveniles,” police said.
According to local news station WFMY, at least three people were taken to the hospital. Officials have not shared their conditions.
Police said the shooting was an isolated incident and remains under investigation.
This is a developing story
The NC Lottery offers several draw games for those aiming to win big.
Here’s a look at Sunday, April 19, 2026 results for each game:
Winning Pick 3 numbers from April 19 drawing
Day: 6-2-0, Fireball: 6
Evening: 4-1-7, Fireball: 5
Check Pick 3 payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Pick 4 numbers from April 19 drawing
Day: 7-6-9-4, Fireball: 4
Evening: 8-1-5-6, Fireball: 6
Check Pick 4 payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Cash 5 numbers from April 19 drawing
02-21-32-35-37
Check Cash 5 payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Double Play numbers from April 19 drawing
18-26-27-31-42
Winning Millionaire for Life numbers from April 19 drawing
32-42-52-53-55, Bonus: 05
Check Millionaire for Life payouts and previous drawings here.
Feeling lucky? Explore the latest lottery news & results
Are you a winner? Here’s how to claim your lottery prize
All North Carolina Lottery retailers will redeem prizes up to $599.
For prizes over $599, winners can submit winning tickets through the mail or in person at North Carolina Lottery Offices. By mail, send a prize claim form, your signed lottery ticket, copies of a government-issued photo ID and social security card to: North Carolina Education Lottery, P.O. Box 41606, Raleigh, NC 27629. Prize claims less than $600 do not require copies of photo ID or a social security card.
To submit in person, sign the back of your ticket, fill out a prize claim form and deliver the form, along with your signed lottery ticket and government-issued photo ID and social security card to any of these locations:
- Asheville Regional Office & Claim Center: 16-G Regent Park Blvd., Asheville, NC 28806, 877-625-6886 press #1. Hours: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. This office can cash prizes up to $99,999.
- Greensboro Regional Office & Claim Center: 20A Oak Branch Drive, Greensboro, NC 27407, 877-625-6886 press #2. Hours: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. This office can cash prizes up to $99,999.
- Charlotte Regional Office & Claim Center: 5029-A West W. T. Harris Blvd., Charlotte, NC 28269-1861, 877-625-6886 press #3. Hours: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. This office can cash prizes up to $99,999.
- NC Lottery Headquarters: Raleigh Claim Center & Regional Office, 2728 Capital Blvd., Suite 144, Raleigh, NC 27604, 877-625-6886 press #4. Hours: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. This office can cash prizes of any amount.
- Greenville Regional Office & Claim Center: 2790 Dickinson Avenue, Suite A, Greenville, NC 27834, 877-625-6886 press #5. Hours: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. This office can cash prizes up to $99,999.
- Wilmington Regional Office & Claim Center: 123 North Cardinal Drive Extension, Suite 140, Wilmington, NC 28405, 877-625-6886 press #6. Hours: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. This office can cash prizes up to $99,999.
Check previous winning numbers and payouts at https://nclottery.com/.
When are the North Carolina Lottery drawings held?
- Powerball: 10:59 p.m. Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday.
- Mega Millions: 11 p.m. Tuesday and Friday.
- Lucky for Life: 10:38 p.m. daily.
- Pick 3, 4: 3:00 p.m. and 11:22 p.m. daily.
- Cash 5: 11:22 p.m. daily.
- Millionaire for Life: 11:15 p.m. daily.
This results page was generated automatically using information from TinBu and a template written and reviewed by a Carolina Connect editor. You can send feedback using this form.
The North Carolina Tar Heels will be a young program across the board next season, with well over two dozen freshmen and numerous additions from the transfer portal this offseason. Expectations for the 2026 season are lowered dramatically after a disastrous first season for head coach Bill Belichick, though those expectations could help the Tar Heels fly under the radar.
As the Tar Heels approach the end of spring ball, it is time to look at the veterans of the team—the ones who have the experience to lead, especially on the defensive side of the ball. Let’s look at three underrated seniors for the 2026 football season.
Ade Willie, Cornerback
Willie joins the Tar Heels program after four years with Michigan State, as the former 4-star player in the 2022 recruiting class gets an opportunity to not only provide depth to the secondary, but potentially start Week 0 against TCU.
Willie played in over 30 games with the Spartans and brings experience in the secondary at cornerback and safety, along with quality length and closing speed to the football. For a defense that needs players to step up, the redshirt senior from IMG Academy will be asked to do so.
Isaiah Johnson, Defensive Lineman
The defensive line is beginning to look like one of the Tar Heels’ strengths for the 2026 season. Johnson, a former transfer from Arizona, enters his redshirt senior year looking to add another year of production after 40 tackles and two sacks this past season.
North Carolina has an impressive group of starters with Malkart Abou-Jaoude, Leroy Jackson, and incoming transfer Jaylen Harvey. Johnson adds value to the group as a run defender with the ability to penetrate the pocket. While not discussed as a key player, Johnson’s name will be used plenty during the regular season as a potential standout for the program’s defensive front.
Coleman Bryson, Safety
Bryson was a reserve player for the Tar Heels’ secondary last season as a big nickel defender in the rotation. Heading into his redshirt senior year, the former Minnesota Gopher is looking to become a full-time starter in the secondary.
It wasn’t long ago when Bryson was making plays as the 2022 Pinstripe Bowl Defensive MVP. His special teams abilities were valuable for North Carolina last season, and he flashed at times in coverage against tight ends, including a pass breakup in the season-opener against TCU. The Waynesville, North Carolina, native could be a key defender on the back-seven in 2026.
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