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Executive Summary: North Carolinians deserve the credit
Read the full report Download a PDF of this executive summary Despite strong state performance on traditional measures of economic success, financial hardship is widespread in North Carolina and child poverty rates are high. Data show that households with children particularly struggle to pay their regular expenses, while structural barriers that block North Carolinians of…
North Carolinians deserve the credit
Read the Executive Summary How a bold Child Tax Credit can slash child poverty, boost well-being, and help our state economy thrive No matter where we come from or what we look like, we all want to be able to provide the basics for our children: healthy food to eat, a safe place to sleep,…
2023-2025 NC Budget Report: Locking in more tax cuts for the wealthy at the expense of everyday North Carolinians
[Note: Here are links where you can access the budget bill and the conference report. You can also see how members of the NC Senate and NC House of Representatives voted for this conference budget.] Download a PDF of this report Budget and tax decisions are how we come together as North Carolinians – Black, brown, and white, in every county across…
North Carolina’s poverty rate is a policy choice
The latest poverty data from the U.S. Census Bureau released last month shows that more than 1.3 million North Carolinians — including more than 380,000 NC children — were living below the federal poverty line in 2022. For a family of four, this is the equivalent of $27,750 in household income in a year — resources so low that families are forced to make impossible choices among buying groceries, paying rent, and meeting basic health care needs.
NC leaders’ tax cuts for wealthy mean we will lose more than $13 billion for NC needs
Combined with the personal and corporate income tax cuts that had already been scheduled, new cuts in the recent North Carolina budget are estimated to lead to a loss of over $13.5 billion in revenue per year when fully implemented. (This is a low estimate; the higher estimate is $15.2 billion.)
Photo ID requirements for voting will cost North Carolinians and our state
Recent proposal would block access to the voting booth for North Carolinians with low incomes – Black, white, and brown – and shift election administration costs to the county level
Tax triggers are trouble: NC leaders’ latest design for tax cuts won’t improve our lives
The leadership of the General Assembly has spent a lot of time — not just this summer but for more than a decade — planning to get to zero income tax. Meanwhile, they have spent no time planning to get to zero poverty and zero hardship for the people of North Carolina. The latest development around tax triggers is a distraction from the reality that leaders choose time and again to divert our wealth to the richest North Carolinians rather than developing policies that make childcare more affordable for working families, ensure every family has a roof over their heads, or reduce hardship.
Paying for elections in North Carolina
A budget is a reflection of our priorities as a community. The underfunding of election administration raises serious concerns about the commitment of our budget writers to delivering fair and free elections as the foundation of our democracy. Funding increases, particularly in the area of funding access to the ballot box, will be needed to uphold our democracy and the confidence that every vote will be counted and that every voice will be heard.
House budget plan is a dangerous starting point for the North Carolina budget debate
Today the North Carolina House of Representatives passed its proposed two-year plan for the state budget following the plan’s release last week. This follows the Governor’s budget recommendations released in March and the updated revenue forecast, compiled by the state’s economists, released in February.
Not only is this budget “not perfect,” as one House budget writer puts it, it actively commits harm both through its additions and omissions and fails to seize the opportunity our leaders have to use public resources to advance the public good.
Dollars & Democracy: A primer on how NC can build thriving communities
Updated March 23, 2023 Download a PDF of this publication Originally produced by and now reproduced and updated with the permission of the North Carolina Justice Center (Dollars & Democracy, 2019)