Republicans Stash Billions
Federal stimulus fueled a faster than expected economic recovery. As a result, state revenues exceeded expectations by billions of dollars. Instead of spending those funds to address pressing needs in our state, legislators chose to sideline more than $4 billion through a variety of reserves.
Here’s how those reserve funds could be better used to help families:
$435 million from reserves could fund the NC constitutional right to a sound, basic education (the Leandro Plan). The Educational Law Center ranks North Carolina near the bottom (48th) in state spending on education, and yet Republicans say “NO.” Rather than help the NC families, they opt to cut corporate taxes, benefitting out-of-state corporations.”
$835 million from Reserves could fund raises for state employees and teachers that would prevent our teacher and state employees from suffering a decline in wages as a result of inflation.
Republicans say “NO.”
They care more about making life easier for corporations than for their own public employees.
$320 million could fund a modest child tax credit for low and moderate income families, but Republicans say “NO.” Clearly, they prefer money to be spent on more charter schools and vouchers for private education while further weakening public education.
Additional reserve funds could be spent on:
boosting pay for childcare workers
making investments in affordable housing
funding students nearing graduation to train them in the skills they will need for the labor market.
Republicans say “No.”
These reserve funds came mainly from the federal Covid emergency funds we all paid for in our taxes to the IRS. Faced with helping wealthy corporations or spending those reserves to help struggling NC families already paying their fair-share, the Republicans in our state legislature will always choose to make the rich richer.
What we can expect from a NC Republican Legislature and NC Republican dominated Supreme Court:
Further limits on the right of NC women to decide with their doctor whether to terminate a pregnancy
Further delays on Medicaid Expansion
Further attacks on local school boards
Further gerrymandering
Don't expect them to change. The only way for us to get a legislature that works for all of us is to vote them out and elect Democrats who will work for all of us.
Thanks to Katherine Clark, Democratic Representative from Massachusetts and Democratic Party Minority Whip, for the inspiring format she used to nominate Hakeem Jeffries to Speaker of the US House of Representatives.