Alexandra Forter Sirota
Posts by Alexandra Forter Sirota
NC Senate bill to limit access to absentee mail-in voting
Senate Bill 747 will sharply limit access to absentee mail-in voting and seeks to pilot costly and discriminatory signature verification for mail-in voting, while creating more channels for the intimidation of voters and election volunteers as well as challenges to ballots cast.
Photo ID requirements for voting will cost North Carolinians and our state
Recent proposal would block access to the voting booth for North Carolinians with low incomes – Black, white, and brown – and shift election administration costs to the county level
Tax triggers are trouble: NC leaders’ latest design for tax cuts won’t improve our lives
The leadership of the General Assembly has spent a lot of time — not just this summer but for more than a decade — planning to get to zero income tax. Meanwhile, they have spent no time planning to get to zero poverty and zero hardship for the people of North Carolina. The latest development around tax triggers is a distraction from the reality that leaders choose time and again to divert our wealth to the richest North Carolinians rather than developing policies that make childcare more affordable for working families, ensure every family has a roof over their heads, or reduce hardship.
Senate tax plan would create a revenue gap in NC
The NC Senate tax plan makes current state spending levels — already at historic lows — unsustainable. If these tax cuts are enacted, future lawmakers will have to pursue deeper budget cuts or increase taxes or fees on most North Carolinians to balance the budget each year.
Anti-immigrant policies in North Carolina hurt us all
Most of us in NC believe that everyone should be able to live a life of dignity and safety. But some politicians in Raleigh are pushing to block immigrants from using identification that would support full participation in communities and seeking to punish local governments that refuse to do the work of federal immigration enforcement….
Tax changes in NC Senate budget plan benefit richest, worsen racial inequities
The NC Senate tax plan will double down on the path to zero income tax — keeping in place the elimination of the corporate income tax and reducing the personal income tax to 2.49 percent after 2029 — to benefit the very wealthy and profitable corporations.
NC Budget & Tax Center Statement on 2023-2025 Senate Budget
The Senate budget released today confirms that NC Senate leaders will stop at nothing to divert the wealth our work creates to the wealthy and big profitable corporations through eventual elimination of the income tax. By once again scheduling income tax cuts into the future for the benefit of the very wealthy, they hope that…
Paying for elections in North Carolina
A budget is a reflection of our priorities as a community. The underfunding of election administration raises serious concerns about the commitment of our budget writers to delivering fair and free elections as the foundation of our democracy. Funding increases, particularly in the area of funding access to the ballot box, will be needed to uphold our democracy and the confidence that every vote will be counted and that every voice will be heard.
On Moral Monday anniversary, we recommit to a moral budget for NC
The state budget is the biggest policy decision made each year. It must reflect the priorities of the people of North Carolina and take a comprehensive view of our needs as a whole state, not only the priorities of the powerful and wealthy few.
New data: Who pays taxes in North Carolina?
The last analysis of who pays in North Carolina produced by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy found that the poorest North Carolinians pay $6 of every $100 of their income in sales taxes, while the richest 1 percent pay just 90 cents for every $100 of their income.
