colorful waving flag of north carolina state on a american dollar money background. finance concept
colorful waving flag of north carolina state on a american dollar money background. finance concept
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New poll: North Carolinians want lawmakers to focus on working people, strongly reject tax cuts for corporations

North Carolinians expect lawmakers to focus on matters that improve their daily lives, like helping working families thrive, making health care more affordable, and funding affordable housing, instead of cutting taxes for corporations and the wealthy, according to new poll results released Wednesday.

The poll was conducted by Targetsmart on behalf of the State Innovation Exchange (SiX), with collaboration from the North Carolina Budget & Tax Center.

North Carolinians overwhelmingly rejected state lawmakers’ previous decision to eliminate corporate income taxes, with 69% of respondents reporting opposition to the cuts and only 9% strongly supporting lawmakers’ choice.

“Lawmakers chose to give billions of dollars to wealthy corporations and their shareholders by eliminating the corporate income tax,” said Alexandra Sirota, Executive Director of the North Carolina Budget & Tax Center. “It’s clear this decision was out of touch with the needs of everyday North Carolinians, who broadly oppose corporate tax cuts and would prefer their legislator use public dollars to provide health care, education, and child-care services that help working families thrive.”

When asked how North Carolinians would like lawmakers to help families make ends meet, investing in child care, health care, and housing affordability, emerged as common themes:

  • 81% Support expanding tax credits for low-income people
  • 90% Support ensuring North Carolinians have access to paid sick leave
  • 90% Support workers in essential services like child care being paid a living wage
  • 84% Support investing state dollars in child-care assistance to ensure eligible families access affordable, high-quality child care
  • 77% Support expanding Medicaid coverage to more North Carolinians who need it
  • 83% Support affordable housing

“Lawmakers need to re-examine their short-sighted decision to slash revenue while an overwhelming majority of North Carolinians need leaders to increase funding for public infrastructure,” said Hudson McCormick, SiX North Carolina State Director. “You can’t flip a switch to build more housing or expand child-care services. North Carolinians need lawmakers to make multi-year commitments to fund our growing needs, but we can’t make those commitments if corporations aren’t paying what they owe.

Results can be found here and here.