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State leaders pass SNAP costs to counties while limiting their ability to pay
The harmful One Big Beautiful Bill, or H.R. 1, made deep funding cuts to SNAP and shifted more of the program’s costs onto states. Instead of stepping up to cover North Carolina’s new costs, state leaders chose to shift them onto local governments in the approved Fiscal Year 2027 state budget. Beginning in October 2027,…
Income tax limits would deepen racial inequity in NC
No matter who we are or where we live, North Carolinians believe that everyone – Black, brown, and white – should have the opportunity to thrive, support their family, and plan for the future. Our tax policy decisions have the power to level the playing field and fund the public services that help us all…
North Carolina’s data center subsidy problem
Big tech is investing billions of dollars into data centers and the infrastructure needed to support the buildout. Meanwhile, instead of regulating this highly extractive industry and making corporations pay what they owe, some North Carolina lawmakers continue to slash away at income tax rates and barrel ahead to eliminate the corporate income tax entirely…
House Bill 1046: NC Economic Progress & Well Being
Report on data that captures economic security and well-being of people Link to HB 1046, filed April 23, 2026 Download a PDF of this brief HB 1046 Summary: This bill would require the NC Department of Commerce to supplement their reporting on traditional measures of economic activity with a report focused on measures of economic…
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…
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…
Connecting Historically Underutilized Businesses with public contracts
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)…
Statement on passage of Congressional budget bill from Heba Atwa, BTC Director of Legislative Advocacy & Campaigns
In the dead of night, behind closed doors, Congress maneuvered the largest cuts to essential social programs in our nation’s history. While their dealmaking was hidden from public view, the devastating consequences will be painfully visible – in empty refrigerators, shuttered clinics, and lost livelihoods across North Carolina and the nation. This legislation threatens the…
It’s time for a millionaires tax in North Carolina
For more than a decade, NC legislative leaders have handed out income tax breaks for the wealthiest few while neglecting the well-being of everyone in our state. Now, the US Congress plans to extend a 2017 federal tax law that would hand even more benefits to the richest few, while hundreds of thousands of…