Alexandra Forter Sirota
Posts by Alexandra Forter Sirota
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.
NC Budget & Tax Center Statement on 2023-2025 House Budget Proposal
The budget proposal released yesterday shows that House budget writers would limit spending to prove an ideological point rather than fulfill their responsibility to fund the public schools, public health, and public parks that can deliver well-being to everyone in NC and propel our economy and communities forward.
Allowing sports gambling is another flawed economic decision by NC policymakers
This week, the NC General Assembly is hearing a proposal that will generate new costs for North Carolina and use our money to beef up the bottom lines of profitable companies outside our state. HB 347 would pave the way for commercialized sports betting in North Carolina, propping up a predatory industry without delivering any economic benefits.
Governor’s NC budget would stop some of the deep income tax cuts for rich people and corporations
The Governor’s budget would take a modest step toward making sure North Carolina has the revenue we need for things like education, clean air and water, and child care. Even better, the proposal would do it the right way, by requiring rich people and corporations to chip in more for these vital services.
This Pi Day, the pie is shrinking in NC. Here’s what that means for North Carolinians
North Carolina’s income tax provides a critical source of public dollars to invest in opportunity across the state, but legislative leaders have been relentless in cutting the income tax rates for corporations and the wealthiest individuals. The result is that a greater share of NC’s budget funds comes from sales tax, which means those with low- and middle-incomes pay a greater portion of their income when when buying goods and certain services in our state.
NC’s budget details will matter for a healthy state
Budget details will matter for taking the full measure of our state’s progress in making sure people’s health and well-being is protected. A budget to support North Carolina’s health should: Sustain the commitment to people’s health and well-being for the long-term by protecting revenue sources; Recognize that people are healthy when they are safe on…
NC’s revenue forecast could be so much better if corporations and the wealthy paid what they owe
NC now has more public dollars than was projected in the last revenue forecast to spend on priorities like children’s education, worker training, access to child care and affordable housing for their families, and infrastructure to connect more communities to the internet and more people to good quality jobs nearby.
Our union and management ratified a new Collective Bargaining Agreement!
This January, BTC reached an important milestone for our organization: We ratified the first Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) negotiated between our staff union and BTC’s management. As we shared on our blog last year, having a unionized workplace is one of the ways that BTC puts our values into action inside our organization.
A new year, and our one-year anniversary
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.