Statement by Alexandra Sirota, Executive Director, NC Budget & Tax Center, on NC General Assembly September Session

North Carolinians needed state legislators to focus on passing a state budget that puts people’s well-being first – funding our health, families, and communities instead of continuing with tax cuts for profitable corporations and the very wealthy and policies that further divide us.

It appears that legislative leaders would rather delay than decide on how they will handle the pressing needs to keep our communities safe and make sure people have the health care and child care they need to live a better life.

Their inaction this week will lead to unnecessary disruption to health care provider networks and missed opportunities to make people’s everyday lives more affordable. What’s worse is that the political agendas and priorities of powerful interests that took center stage aren’t going to lead to the outcomes we need. Instead, it will raise costs and barriers to care that every person in our state deserves.

In the face of the growing costs of not funding people’s priorities and the costs being passed on to states from Congress and the Trump Administration, pausing further tax cuts is common sense – it protects schools, health care, and safety nets that we all need to know are there for us when we need them.

We should be clear that the lack of investment in our communities is a choice, and it will have consequences for the quality of life that we all enjoy.

We must come together to demand that legislative leaders come back to Raleigh and pass a comprehensive budget that pauses income tax cuts so we can fund priorities now and in the future.