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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…
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…
NC Budget & Tax Center launches new labor market data page ahead of Labor Day
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Aug. 28, 2025 RALEIGH — Every day, North Carolinians contribute their labor to keep our communities functioning and thriving. Yet too many workers still struggle to find fulfilling work, earn a living wage, and meet their basic needs. To shine a light on these challenges, this Labor Day weekend, the NC Budget…
Work Reporting Requirements: Bad at Improving Employment Outcomes, Great at Making People Sick and Hungry
Updated with new information on Friday, June 27. Congress is proposing a massive expansion of so-called work requirements for SNAP and Medicaid benefits through their federal budget bill. These changes are designed to remove millions of people from critical programs in order to pay for tax cuts for millionaires and corporations. The proposals create arbitrary…
Fact Sheet: Federal workers are vital to North Carolina’s economy
Elon Musk and the Trump administration are illegally firing federal employees who serve NC veterans, seniors, farmers, and small businesses, keep our food, water, airlines, national parks, and workplaces safe, and carry out critical medical research, weather forecasting, emergency response, disaster relief, and national security missions. Federal employees and their families are also our neighbors…
Our take on bills filed this session by NC General Assembly
The 2025 legislative session is in full swing. Legislators’ priorities have been sent to the bill drafting division to be written out in legislative language and given bill numbers, and the deadline to file those bills has passed. The real study and negotiation of the session begins. All bills will go through the committee process,…
House Bill 353: Fair Minimum Wage Act
Download a PDF of this Brief Paying North Carolina workers a fair wage HB 353 Summary: This bill would gradually increase the state minimum wage — currently $7.25 per hour — to $18 per hour by 2030 and then adjust it based on inflation. The current minimum wage is a poverty wage North Carolina’s minimum…
House Bill 48: Increase UI Max Benefit / 2025 UI Tax Credit
Download a PDF of this Brief Modest but inadequate increase to unemployment benefits HB 48 Summary (Edition 2): Increases the state’s maximum Unemployment Insurance (UI) benefit from $350 per week to $450 per week, provides a fully refundable tax credit for UI payments made by employers in the last quarter of 2024, and removes the…
House Bill 11: No Tax on Tips, Overtime, Bonus Pay
Download this Brief as a PDF Helps higher earners at the expense of long-standing labor goals HB 11 Summary: Allows a taxpayer to deduct from their adjusted gross income: 1) any amount received as overtime compensation; 2) any bonus pay up to $2,500; and 3) any amount received as tips. Won’t reach the workforce that…
For Labor Day: A state budget worthy of NC workers and their families
This Labor Day, we need to come together to demand our elected leaders put forward a budget for workers and their families.