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The People’s Hearing: Funding the Public Schools Every Child Deserves
6:30 pm on Monday, June 1 Join us for a timely briefing from the NC Budget & Tax Center on the current tax policy threats to public K-12 funding – including scheduled state income tax cuts and proposed property tax limits – followed by testimonies from people across the state who are living with the…
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…
Public Comment: Individual Tax Credit for Qualified Contributions to Scholarship Granting Organizations
December 23, 2025 Submitted via www.regulations.gov Internal Revenue Service 1111 Constitution Avenue NW Washington, D.C., 20224 Re: Docket ID IRS-2025-0466, Request for Comments on Individual Tax Credit for Qualified Contributions to Scholarship Granting Organizations (Notice 2025-70) The NC Budget & Tax Center is a non-profit, non-partisan organization that documents and analyzes fiscal and economic conditions in…
North Carolina is at the bottom of the rankings for public school funding. It doesn’t have to be that way.
Each year, the Education Law Center publishes its “Making the Grade” report, ranking the 50 states and Washington, D.C. on their funding for public education. Most of us — across race, place, and background — all want to live in a North Carolina where everyone has access to a great public education, teachers make a livable wage, and we can build the foundation for a more secure future. However, December 2025’s “Making the…
Investing in our colleges is investing in North Carolinians
All people deserve the opportunity to thrive. This means having the chance to develop one’s talents and skills and find meaningful and fulfilling work that pays a living wage. To make this a reality, we need well-funded systems in place that allow everyone, regardless of their gender, race, or class, the opportunity to improve their…
House Bill 87: The Educational Choice for Children Act
Download a PDF of this brief Opts NC into federal program benefitting wealthy HB 87 Summary: The Educational Choice for Children Act opts North Carolina in to the federal tax credit program for contributions to scholarship granting organizations and directs the State Education Assistance Authority to produce a list of eligible entities in North Carolina…
NC legislators are putting private schools over most of North Carolina’s K-12 students
North Carolinians want strong public schools where every child gets the education that they are owed in our state Constitution. Yet state lawmakers are once again choosing to use education policy to benefit the wealthy few instead of the well-being of us all. The first action by the N.C. General Assembly related to the harmful…
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…
Congressional leaders raise costs of post-secondary education
North Carolinians want affordable, accessible higher education and skills training. The harmful Republican megabill signed by President Trump will raise costs in the post-secondary education arena of obtaining degrees, training, and certifications. As students return to campuses across North Carolina this fall, the shifting landscape for affording post-secondary education will make it harder to achieve…
Senate Bill 641: Reenact Child Tax Credit
Download a PDF of this Brief A common-sense tax credit to reduce child poverty with high returns on investment for NC SB 641 Summary: This bill would establish a fully refundable state Child Tax Credit (CTC). NC families would receive a tax credit for each child in the amount of $1,900 for children ages 6…