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Our take on bills filed this session by NC General Assembly
We’ve been tracking all the bills filed over the 2025 and 2026 biennial budget session and wanted to share with you our take on: Bills that have the potential to fund a better future Bills that make people’s lives easier today Bills that advance an important goal for NC but by design fall short Bills…
Protecting SNAP Access in NC: Why the state should fully cover counties’ SNAP administrative costs
URGENT: County Budgets Cannot Afford New SNAP Admin Costs Without State Support. Starting October 1, 2026, counties will be responsible for 75 percent of SNAP administrative costs, increased from their current 50 percent share. Counties must adopt their budgets by June 30 and need funding now to prepare for these new costs. If counties cannot afford their increased…
A Tale of Unmet Needs and Broken Systems: Helene Recovery After 18 Months
A year and a half ago, Hurricane Helene devastated Western North Carolina, marking the costliest storm that has ever hit NC and the deadliest storm in the contiguous U.S. since Hurricane Katrina. Although the region has now transitioned to the long-term recovery phase, many of the same human needs that went neglected in the early months following Helene remain unmet as a result of bad policy choices and broken disaster recovery…
Statement on NC Governor’s Call to Cancel Medicaid Reimbursement Rate Reductions from Alexandra Sirota, Executive Director of NC Budget & Tax Center
Millions of North Carolinians rely on Medicaid so their children can see a doctor, aging parents can get care in their homes and community, and families are supported to achieve the well-being we all deserve. Funding this care should be automatic — not tax cuts for the wealthy and big corporations. Today’s restoration of Medicaid…
Mapping What’s at Stake: The Impact of SNAP on North Carolina’s Families and Local Economies
Every county in North Carolina benefits from federal food assistance. Each month, SNAP (aka food stamps) dollars flow into every community, helping families put food on the table and keep up with rising costs. They also keep local grocery stores open, support jobs, and strengthen local economies. That critical support is now at risk. Without…
No more tax cuts: Western North Carolinians deserve a budget that prioritizes people
It’s been one year since Hurricane Helene first hit Western North Carolina on Sept. 27, 2024. With so many recovery needs still yet to be addressed and so little help from the federal government, it’s time for the state legislature to pass a budget that prioritizes people and stops cutting taxes. Helene caused an immense…
Public Comment: Work First TANF State Plan
To: Allison W. Smith, Deputy Director Division of Social Services Economic and Family Services NC Department of Health and Human Services 2420 Mail Service Center Raleigh, NC 27699-2420 From: NC Budget & Tax Center PO Box 25374 Durham, North Carolina, 27702 RE: Work First TANF State Plan Public Comments Dear Deputy Director Allison…
Public Comment: DOL Rollback of 2013 FLSA Rule Change
The NC Budget & Tax Center believes that all workers deserve dignity, respect, and to be paid a living wage for their work. Historically, domestic workers were excluded from most legal workplace protections in the Federal Labor Standards Act (FLSA), a federal law first passed in 1938. The FLSA required employers to pay most workers…
National Census data show persistent inequities; NC data to be released Thursday
Sept. 9, 2024 — Today, the U.S. Census Bureau released national-level poverty, income, and health coverage data for 2024 from the Current Population Survey Annual Social and Economic Supplement (CPS ASEC). On Thursday, Sept. 11, the Bureau will release state- and local-level data from the American Community Survey (ACS). NC Budget & Tax Center (BTC)…
North Carolina can improve TANF policy to remove barriers to children’s well-being
Note: Learn more about how North Carolina can improve TANF policy to boost employment outcomes here Reducing child poverty is one of the best investments North Carolina can make: Every $1 spent reducing childhood poverty is estimated to save $7 on the future societal costs of poor health, child maltreatment, and other harms. But North…