Research & Data
Types
Featured
Topics
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)
Missing the mark for North Carolina: 2022-23 state budget fails to address the many effects of inflation
Read the Executive SummaryDownload a PDF of this report Inflation isn’t just a pocketbook problem, it’s a budget problem as well. Governments feel the pinch of gas prices climbing higher, food becoming more expensive, and increased competition from private sector employers as well as most of the impacts of inflation that affect consumers and…
Executive Summary: North Carolina Budget Report 2022-23
The state budget passed for the 2022-23 fiscal year fails to adequately address the impacts of inflation. Even with federal aid and a robust recovery driving higher than expected revenues, the state budget fell short of meeting the challenges created by inflation running at a 40-year-high in several ways:
Executive Summary: NC Budget Report 2022
Download a PDF of this Executive Summary The 2021-2023 state budget enacted by the North Carolina General Assembly (NCGA) and Governor represents the first biennial state budget enacted since 2017. Yet despite this small accomplishment, North Carolina will be worse off because of the choices reflected in the budget. This report highlights how the…
