A new year, and our one-year anniversary

It was one year ago that our organization started work as an independent non-profit organization.

We are excited to continue to build an organization grounded in values that will support the transformational change we want to see in our state — a North Carolina where every person can thrive, no matter who they are or where they are born.

We are proud to be a union shop that recently ratified our first Collective Bargaining Agreement.

We are grateful for the partnerships that have supported and informed our development and refined our approach to the pressing issues we face as a state.

As we celebrate our one-year anniversary as an independent organization throughout 2023, we are also reflecting on the work that the NC Budget & Tax Center has done in different incarnations over the past 30 years in North Carolina to document fiscal and economic conditions and connect the policy process with realities people face across our state.

We continue to see a critical role in that work.

We will crunch the numbers and work in partnership with community organizations and leaders to understand what is driving the outcomes we are seeing and for the solutions needed to end poverty.  And we will continue to adapt and learn how we can support deeper connections between people and the policy process and their policymakers, so that we are part of the movement toward realizing our multi-racial democracy.

Over the past year, we have seen the powerful role of public policy in our state. The federal expansion of the Child Tax Credit significantly reduced child poverty in NC.  Funding investments in the state’s early childhood system and workforce made it possible for working families to be a part of the labor force and supported the healthy development of NC’s children. We continue to see the policy choices our leaders make as critical to advancing the well-being of people and communities and creating the foundation for a better future.

As we prepare for 2023 and beyond, we look forward to our work together — our work to push against more tax cuts for the wealthy and big corporations so that we can invest in the education, health, and housing of families across the state — our work to ensure our process of policymaking includes more people and grapples with the systemic challenges and opportunities for NC.  We can’t wait to show what is possible when we come together to focus on what people need to thrive in North Carolina.

Onward.