99 Reasons to FLIP NC

(published in 2018)

NC Republicans have passed so much extreme legislation since taking control of the NC General Assembly in 2010 that it can be hard to keep track of all of the damage they’ve done to our state. But hope is on the horizon! If Democrats can break the Republican majorities in the NCGA and re-elect Roy Cooper, a new progressive era can begin in North Carolina.

Here are 99 reasons we’re fighting for democracy and a progressive future for North Carolina.

99. Because NC shouldn’t have the worst unemployment benefits in the U.S.

In 2013, the NC GOP used their supermajorities in the state legislature to enact a “radical reduction in the generosity” of North Carolina’s unemployment insurance program, making it the least generous in the entire country. NC’s average weekly benefit ranks dead last, and the duration of benefits ranks 49th. Remarkably, in 2019, fewer than 10% of jobless people in North Carolina received unemployment benefits. The extreme stinginess of the state’s unemployment program has made life extremely difficult for those displaced from work during the pandemic, many of whom are set to stop receiving benefits by the end of the July.

98. For a science-based Response to the Covid pandemic

Since the outset, Gov. Cooper has charted North Carolina’s path through the pandemic better than any of our neighboring states by dialing up or down measures that slow the spread of the virus based on a scientific understanding of the disease and the best available information on testing and trends. Meanwhile, following Florida’s and Texas’s lead, Republican elected officials in North Carolina have pushed a dangerous course to re-open everything from bars to gyms and bowling alleys. We need a state government that will use the best available science to guide us through these difficult times and not recklessly put lives in danger for political gain.

97. BECAUSE THE NC GOP PASSED THE MOST RESTRICTIVE VOTING LAW SINCE JIM CROW

In 2013, the GOP-controlled legislature passed the “monster voter law,” which cut early voting by a week, eliminated out-of-precinct voting, and required voters to show specific types of photo ID – restrictions that election board data showed would disproportionately affect African Americans and other minorities. In declaring the law unconstitutional, the Federal Appeals Court called it “the most restrictive voting law North Carolina has seen since the era of Jim Crow” and charged that Republican lawmakers had targeted “African Americans with almost surgical precision.” Files released after the death of the chief architect of the NC GOP’s racist law, Thomas Hofeller, revealed that he had carefully studied data on racial differences in the use of various forms of ID to make the law as discriminatory against Black voters as possible. 

96. For a budget compromise and a functioning government

The NC GOP finally lost their unconstitutional legislative supermajorities in 2018, but not their hutzpah. Rather than reach a bipartisan deal on a new budget with Gov. Cooper, Republicans used their majorities in the NCGA to ram through another far-right budget, blocking Medicaid expansion (#17) and new bond issues for schools and infrastructure while cutting corporate taxes yet again and including only a tiny increase in teacher salaries. Following Gov. Cooper’s veto, Republicans have refused to compromise.

Instead, on the morning of September 11th, 2019, after announcing that there would be no votes that day and with a number of Democratic representatives at memorial services, the GOP called a surprise vote in the NC House to override Gov. Cooper’s veto. While Democrats in the NC Senate have been able to block GOP efforts to override the governor’s veto in that chamber, we still don’t have a 2019-20 state budget. It’s time to end a decade of GOP obstinance and restore the basics of a functioning of democracy in our state.

95. To protect our right to peacefully protest

The right to peacefully protest is a bedrock of our democracy and shouldn’t be hindered by undue restrictions and limitations. Since taking control of the state legislature in 2010, Republican lawmakers have placed severe restrictions on protests at the NCGA, leading to well over 1,000 arrests. While GOP elected officials, including gubernatorial candidate Dan Forest, cheered as heavily armed protestors called for NC to fully reopen in the midst of a raging pandemic, Republicans across the state have moved to restrict, and even outlaw, peaceful protests for racial justice and against police brutality, calling protestors “thugs” and “vermin” who should be shot if they resist the police.

94. TO END THE POLITICIZATION OF OUR PUBLIC UNIVERSITY SYSTEM

Over the past decade, the GOP-controlled legislature made changes that sharply politicized the UNC Board of Governors, which now includes not a single self-identified Democrat among its 24 members. Over the past several years, the Board has used its power to cripple the system’s support for civil rights, closing the Center on Poverty, Work and Opportunity; barring the Center for Civil Rights from engaging in litigation; and creating a new campus “free-speech” policy with strong penalties for student protestors. In 2019, the Board announced a shocking plan to give a white supremacist group $2.5 million along with the recently toppled Silent Sam statue. In June 2020, the NC Senate appointed the godfather of the GOP’s regressive politics of the past decade, Art Pope, to the Board, adding to its extreme politicization.

93. TO LOWER HEALTH CARE COSTS

Remarkably, North Carolinians pay more for health care than the residents of any other state. That’s because the Republican-controlled state legislature has basically done everything in its power over the past decade to destroy our state’s health insurance markets. In particular, by failing to expand Medicaid under the ACA (#17), the NC GOP forced many people with expensive chronic conditions onto our health care exchange, while simultaneously allowing relatively healthy folks to remain on non-ACA-compliant plans. Subsequent losses by insurance companies caused many to exit the exchange, leaving only one provider, and therefore no competition, in 95% of North Carolina’s counties. Health insurance could be much cheaper and more accessible for millions of residents if the NC GOP stopped actively working to undermine our insurance markets.

92. TO RAISE TEACHER SALARIES

Teacher salaries in North Carolina have ranked among the worst in the country since the GOP took control of the NCGA in 2010 – anywhere from 39th-47th depending on the year. After accounting for inflation, salaries today remain about $5,000 less than in 2008, and in the current budget standoff, the NC GOP continues to block meaningful increases for NC’s teachers. Higher teacher salaries attract better teachers and improve student performance, and North Carolina routinely loses teachers to nearby states that pay their teachers more.

91. TO STOP STATE-MANDATED COOPERATION WITH ICE

In 2019, Republicans in the NCGA passed legislation that would require sheriffs to cooperate with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement or face possible removal from office. Thankfully, Gov. Cooper vetoed the bill and Democrats in the NCGA were able to sustain his veto.

90. Because it’s Republicans who engage in election fraud

While Republicans have long used a false narrative about election fraud to push their voter suppression tactics, the only serious case of election fraud in recent NC history was carried out by the GOP in 2018 in Congressional District 9, where operatives working on behalf of Republican Mark Harris illegally filled out or disposed of absentee ballots collected from residents in Democratic-leaning parts of Bladen County. This is just the latest and most brazen attempt by Republicans to obstruct free and fair elections in North Carolina.

89. TO RESTORE THE EARNED-INCOME TAX CREDIT

The Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) provides a tax credit for lower-income working families and was adopted on a bipartisan basis across the country as an alternative to welfare. In 2013, while simultaneously cutting taxes for corporations and the rich, the GOP-controlled legislature repealed NC’s EITC, making North Carolina the first state to do so in over 30 years. The NC Republican Party’s values and priorities could not be clearer.

88. BECAUSE CORPORATIONS SHOULDN’T HAVE THE RIGHT TO SEIZE PRIVATE PROPERTY

In 2018, the GOP-controlled legislature overrode Gov. Cooper’s veto to pass Senate Bill 16, giving private pipelines that originate outside of North Carolina the power of condemnation. The bill was designed to pave the way for the Atlantic Coast Pipeline to seize private property in NC. The pipeline, which would have required the blasting, excavation, and removal of mountaintops along 38 miles of Appalachian ridgelines as part of its construction, was thankfully cancelled in July 2020 following years of delays and mounting costs.

87. FOR FAIR REPRESENTATION IN WASHINGTON

Since taking control of both chambers of the NCGA in 2010, Republicans have used their power to draw Congressional maps that are extremely gerrymandered by political party. As a result, despite being evenly divided politically, NC’s current Congressional delegation consists of 10 Republicans and only 3 Democrats. In 2019, the existing Congressional maps were ruled unconstitutional by a state court, and the NC GOP was forced to re-draw the maps for the 2020 elections. While the new maps are fairer, they still bake in an 8-5 Republican advantage. Breaking the GOP majority in the NCGA would mean fair maps in 2021 and a likely 7-7 split in 2022 as NC adds a 14th congressional seat due to population growth – a 4-seat gain (over the current level) for Democrats in the US House of Representatives!

86. TO PROVIDE REPRODUCTIVE CHOICE IN INSURANCE MARKETS

Over the past eight years, the Republican-controlled legislature has placed severe restrictions on insurance policies covering abortion for public employees and those receiving coverage through the ACA’s health care exchange. In both cases, abortion can be covered only if the woman's life is endangered or in cases of rape or incest. North Carolinians should receive full reproductive health care coverage, regardless of the way in which they receive their health insurance.

85. TO KEEP UNREGULATED CONTAMINANTS OUT OF OUR DRINKING WATER

The Chemours and DuPont companies have discharged unknown quantities of the chemical Gen X, used in Teflon and other products, into the Cape Fear River, contaminating drinking water for Wilmington, Fayetteville, and other coastal areas. GenX is closely related to a chemical it replaced called C8 – which DuPont used for years even after discovering that it caused cancer, birth defects, and other serious health concerns. After multiple failed attempts to address the issue, the Republican-controlled legislature finally allocated a small amount of money to provide access to clean drinking water for those impacted by GenX contamination and to fund the state’s efforts to address emerging compounds and their threat to safe drinking water. Much more funding and regulation is needed to protect consumers from corporations that dump unregulated toxins into our air and water.

84. TO TAKE THE OPIOID CRISIS SERIOUSLY

In 2016, four of the top twenty-five cities in the US for opioid abuse were in North Carolina, including Wilmington in the top spot (11.6% opioid abuse rate); yet, the GOP-controlled legislature’s response has been meager, and their failure to expand Medicaid (#17) has seriously exacerbated the problem. Gov. Cooper has made addressing the opioid crisis a top priority, but the GOP-controlled legislature has blocked any meaningful steps.

83. TO END THE DEATH PENALTY

Since 2009, five states have abolished the death penalty given the incredible rate of wrongful convictions and the stark racial bias in its use. North Carolina should be next.

82. FOR JUSTICE FOR THE VICTIMS OF SEXUAL ASSAULT

The Republican-controlled legislature spent years refusing to provide funding to test a statewide backlog of over 15,000 untested rape kits containing DNA samples and other evidence collected following sexual assaults, putting NC in the lead as the state with the highest reported number of untested rape kits. In 2019, the legislature finally approved, in a partial budget bill, $6 million to process the backlog.

81. BECAUSE NC SHOULDN’T HAVE THE LOWEST CORPORATE TAX RATE IN THE COUNTRY

Since taking control of the NCGA, Republicans have reduced the corporate tax rate from 6.9% to 2.5%, decreasing revenues by hundreds of millions per year. NC now has the lowest corporate tax rate in the country. Unbelievably, Republicans passed additional corporate tax cuts in their 2019 budget. Thankfully, Gov. Cooper’s veto has kept that budget from becoming law.

80. TO END RACIAL GERRYMANDERING FOR GOOD

In 2011, Republicans in the NCGA drew maps for Congress, the NC House, and the NC Senate that were all subsequently ruled unconstitutional, because they illegally packed African-American voters into a small number of districts, thereby diluting the power of their votes. The NCGA was eventually forced to re-draw these maps, but only after long legal delays that allowed multiple elections to occur with unconstitutional maps, essentially rewarding the NC GOP for their blatant racism.

79. FOR AFFORDABLE HOUSING

Even before the pandemic, over 500,000 North Carolinians already paid more than half of their income in rent. As rent continues to rise in NC’s major metropolitan areas, Democrats in the NCGA have proposed Senate Bill 748, which would sharply increase funding for affordable housing. At the very least, the NCGA needs to end restrictions on local governments that prevent them from using common strategies to promote the construction of affordable housing in their communities.

78. TO END SPECIAL PROTECTIONS FOR CORPORATE HOG FARMS

NC is home to an estimated 10 million pigs, which produce waste equivalent to 100 million humans, polluting ground water, rivers, and streams, and – when aerosolized – the air. In 2018, the GOP-controlled legislature stripped away the right of people living near pig farms to sue neighboring agricultural businesses – even in the most egregious and blatant cases of air and water pollution. 

77. TO PASS RED-FLAG GUN LEGISLATION

The NC GOP has refused to consider red-flag gun legislation, which enables family members or law enforcement to ask a judge to take guns from a person who is a danger to themselves or others. Similar laws have passed with bipartisan support in many other states.

76. To build new schools for a growing state

NC currently has $8 billion in unmet need for school construction and renovation. Yet Republicans in the state legislature refuse to provide much-needed funding – either directly or by putting a school construction bond on the ballot to let the voters decide, as Gov. Cooper has proposed in his 2019 budget. Simply put, the NC GOP has prioritized tax cuts for corporations and the rich over adequately funding our schools.

75. TO END SOLITARY CONFINEMENT

While North Carolina has made some progress in reducing the use of solitary confinement, which induces and worsens mental health conditions and has increasingly been defined as torture, the practice is still widespread, with some prisoners housed in solitary confinement for over a decade. Democrats in the NC House have introduced legislation to sharply curtail its use.

74. FOR A LIVING WAGE

North Carolina has the lowest allowable minimum wage at the federal minimum of $7.25 an hour. In 2014, the GOP-controlled legislature passed a law restricting municipalities from establishing higher minimum wage standards. Over 30% of NC’s workforce earns a wage below $11.34 per hour and would directly benefit from a modest increase to the minimum wage.

73. TO STOP THE RE-SEGREGATION OF OUR SCHOOLS

Racial and economic segregation in NC’s schools has risen sharply over the past decade, and the GOP-controlled NCGA continues to introduce new legislation that would greatly exacerbate it, including expanding corporate charter schools and allowing predominantly white communities to secede from current school districts.

72. TO STOP STATEWIDE PARTISAN JUDICIAL REDISTRICTING

In a haphazard process in 2018, the GOP used its supermajorities in the NCGA to override Gov. Cooper’s veto, changing the way judges are elected in 11 urban counties. The new approach is designed to increase the number of conservative judges and decrease the number of African-American and female judges.

71. TO PROVIDE FUNDING FOR VICTIMS OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE

In 2012, the NC legislature sharply cut funding for domestic violence programs across the state. Current funding levels make it hard for many women to find emergency housing in local shelters for themselves and their children, creating further barriers to escaping an abusive partner.

70. BECAUSE THE GOP WANTED TO IMMUNIZE DRIVERS WHO RUN OVER PROTESTERS

In 2017, the GOP-controlled NC House overwhelmingly passed HB 330, which grants civil and criminal immunity to motorists who “unintentionally” hit protestors. Following the death of an innocent protestor in Charlottesville from a vicious motor vehicle assault, the bill thankfully never became law. As protests for racial justice and against police brutality continue across the state and the country, North Carolina must continue to protect our basic constitutional rights.

69. To keep guns out of our schools

Existing state law prohibits guns in schools. In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, the GOP-controlled legislature passed HB 652 to allow guns on any educational property that’s both the location of a church and a school. Thankfully, Gov. Cooper vetoed the bill, and Democrats in the NCGA were able to prevent Republicans from overriding his veto.

68. TO END THE CRIMINALIZATION OF POVERTY

In 2017, the NCGA passed legislation making it much more difficult for courts to waive court fines and fees for those who can’t afford to pay. Without waivers, these fines and fees lead to the incarceration of the poor simply because they cannot pay, essentially creating modern-day debtors prisons.

67. TO SUPPORT PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION

The Republican leadership in the NCGA passed a budget in 2018 that made it impossible for North Carolina to secure federal funding for light rail projects, putting on hold potential light rail lines in Charlotte and in the Triangle and causing the state to forfeit $1.2 billion in federal funding for light rail infrastructure. Meanwhile, the growing density of NC’s major metropolitan areas calls for more public transportation to reduce traffic and provide economic access to employment centers for low-income workers.

66. TO EXPAND MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES

Since seizing control of the NCGA, Republicans have enacted large funding cuts for mental health services, including over $100 million per year from regional mental health facilities. Cutting funding for mental health services is both cruel and counterproductive, leading to much larger future health care costs.

65. TO FINALLY RATIFY THE EQUAL RIGHTS AMENDMENT

In January, Virginia became the 38th state to ratify the equal rights amendment. Forty-eight years after it was passed, NC should vote to finally add its support for a constitutional amendment banning discrimination on the basis of sex.

64. TO EXTEND NC’S HATE CRIME LAW TO SEXUAL ORIENTATION AND GENDER IDENTITY

Despite growing concerns about violence against the LGBTQ community, the GOP-dominated NCGA has blocked consideration of Democratic legislation that would add sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, ethnicity, disability, and gender to the scope of the state’s hate crimes law.

63. TO END RACIAL PROFILING BY LAW ENFORCEMENT

Democratic representatives have filed bills in several recent legislative sessions that would prohibit racial profiling by law enforcement officers. Unfortunately, since taking control of the NCGA in 2010, GOP legislators have blocked all meaningful police and criminal justice reform, steadfastly refusing to bring these bills up for debate or a vote.

62. TO RESTORE THE ESTATE TAX

In 2013, the GOP-controlled legislature repealed the estate tax as part of a tax policy agenda that has shifted the burden from the super-rich to the poor. The repeal of the estate tax is estimated to cost North Carolina $60 million per year in revenue. Regressive sales taxes have been used to help fill the resulting gap in revenue.

61. TO GET RID OF ‘COMPANY’ CHARTER SCHOOLS

In 2017, the Republicans used their supermajorities in the legislature to pass House Bill 800, which permits a business to secure up to half the slots in a local charter school for its employees in exchange for a $50,000 donation. This bill opens the door for companies to essentially create publicly funded private schools for their employees.

60. TO PREVENT OFF-SHORE OIL DRILLING ALONG THE OUTER BANKS

NC Senators Burr and Tillis and many Republicans in the NCGA are strong proponents of drilling off the Outer Banks. With Trump’s push to expand off-shore drilling along the Atlantic Coast, we need leaders who will work to protect our coast and reduce our dependence on fossil fuels.

59. BECAUSE THE MOTORCYCLE ABORTION BILL SHOULDN’T BE A THING

In 2013, Republican legislators infamously attached abortion restrictions to a motorcycle safety bill, revealing the new language just minutes before the vote. The resulting changes in state law sharply restricted abortion access by prohibiting abortion coverage in health-care plans offered through the health insurance exchange, restricting the use of medical abortions and requiring abortion clinics to meet the same standards as ambulatory surgical centers, a measure designed to make it cost-prohibitive to operate clinics.

58. TO END THE PROTECTION OF CONFEDERATE MONUMENTS

A 2015 bill passed by the Republican-controlled NCGA and signed by Republican Gov. McCrory blocks local governments from removing or relocating confederate monuments, protecting these symbols of white supremacy and oppression and providing yet another example of the GOP-controlled state legislature’s continual interference in local decision making. In 2019, the Republican-dominated UNC Board announced a shocking plan to give a white supremacist group $2.5 million along with the recently toppled Silent Sam statue.

57. To prevent mass school shootings

While mass school shootings continued to occur on an almost-weekly basis across the country, the NC GOP refused to take any concrete action to keep our children safe. In addition to common-sense gun legislation, Gov. Cooper and Democrats in the NCGA have proposed adding significant funding to the budget for safety upgrades to public schools and college campuses; to add 500 additional school counselor, psychologist, and nurse positions; and to pay for additional school resource officers. These efforts have been blocked by the Republican majority in the legislature.

56. BECAUSE THE NC GOP WANTS TO LET LANDFILLS AND FARMS SPRAY deadly TOXINS INTO THE AIR

In 2017, Republicans in the NC House and NC Senate overwhelmingly passed HB 576, which would have allowed landfills to spray leachate, or contaminated water from the bottom of the landfill, into the air over the landfill. Environmentalists believe that over 190 contaminants, including some carcinogens, would escape through evaporation in NC's humid climate, making their way into our air and waterways. Thankfully, Gov. Cooper vetoed the bill. 

55. TO PREVENT PARTISAN RESTRICTIONS ON EARLY VOTING

Beginning with the 2013 “monster” voter law (#97) and continuing with legislation passed just before the 2016 and 2018 elections, the NC GOP has repeatedly enacted policies designed to make early voting more difficult by shortening the number of days and sites and, in a move targeted squarely at African-American voters, eliminating Sunday voting. Thankfully, many of these attempts at targeted voter suppression have been blocked by the courts. We should be doing everything we can to make voting easier, not harder.

54. BECAUSE EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION IMPROVES LIVES AND SAVES MONEY

Early childhood education is one of the most effective ways to improve lives. Not only does it help children thrive academically, it also reduces teen pregnancy, incarceration, welfare use, and health care costs – a huge return on investment by every measure. Democrats in the NC Senate have proposed a bill that would greatly increase resources for the state’s birth-through-eight early learning system.

53. TO BRING BACK NORTH CAROLINA’S MIDDLE CLASS

North Carolina’s economy is one of extremes, with pre-pandemic growth in both high- and low-wage jobs over the past 15 years but an actual decline in the number of middle-class jobs, despite the state’s rapidly growing population. While Republicans in the NCGA have prioritized tax cuts for large corporations and the super wealthy, they have left not only the poor but also the middle class behind.

52. TO STOP THE CONTINUED WEAKENING OF OUR GUN LAWS

Since gaining power, Republicans have worked relentlessly to weaken NC’s gun laws. In the 2017-18 legislative session, the NC House passed HB 746, which allows for concealed carry without a permit, eliminates mandatory training, and reduces the age limit to 18. This bill has yet to pass the NC Senate.

51. To bring back non-partisan judicial elections

The GOP-controlled legislature eliminated public funding for judicial elections in 2013 and made them partisan in 2017, reversing a movement that began over 20 years ago to take politics out of judicial elections in an effort to keep our courts fair and independent.

50. TO STOP THE GOP’S ANTI-IMMIGRANT LEGISLATION

Republicans in the NCGA continue to propose and pass toxic anti-immigrant legislation. In 2015, Republican Gov. McCrory signed HB 318, preventing counties and municipalities from curbing local law enforcement’s cooperation with ICE (#91), requiring state and local government agencies to use E-Verify, and barring government agencies or law enforcement from using consular or embassy documents to verify someone's identity or residence. In the 2018 legislative session, Republicans in the NC Senate passed SB 145, which would require local cooperation with ICE and turn highway patrol officers into immigration officers, while Republicans in the House passed HB 35, which would require almost all businesses outside the domestic and farm sector to use E-Verify, locking many immigrants into these low-wage sectors. Thankfully, neither bill has become law.

49. To provide adequate relief from natural disasters   

Over the past decade, the NC GOP has repeatedly used their supermajorities in the NCGA to slow and block disaster relief for North Carolinians. Referring to the damage from Hurricane Matthew, which devastated coastal areas in 2016, even former Republican Gov. Pat McCrory acknowledged, “The poorest of the poor in North Carolina are the ones who are being hurt the most by these floods,” and yet the GOP-controlled legislature’s response to the almost $5 billion in damages and lost economic activity was frustratingly slow and woefully inadequate.

48. TO END 50-YEAR PRIVATE CONTRACTS FOR TOLL ROADS

The Republican-controlled legislature has increasingly turned to the use of toll roads to avoid adequately funding public infrastructure, handing out 50-year operating contracts to the private firms that build them. Five more toll roads are planned, including three in the Charlotte area.

47. TO INCREASE FEMALE REPRESENTATION IN RALEIGH

Despite a surge, women currently make up only 26% of our representation in the NCGA. In 2018, Democratic women flipped seven seats in the NCGA, and there are many outstanding progressive women running in the most competitive races in the NC House and NC Senate in 2020, providing a chance to sharply increase the number of women in the NCGA and build a bigger bench of experienced female leaders for future statewide races.

46. TO HOLD DUKE ENERGY ACCOUNTABLE FOR POLLUTING OUR WATER

Duke Energy has 110 million tons of coal ash stored in leaking ponds around the state. Coal ash contains incredibly high levels mercury, cadmium, arsenic and other heavy metals that cause cancer and neurological problems. In 2014, 39,000 tons spilled into the Dan River near Eden, coating the riverbed in toxins and contaminating ground and surface water. Despite acknowledging leaks at eleven plants across the state, the company has faced few consequences. In April 2018, Duke Energy agreed to pay $156,000 for polluting ground and surface waters around three power plants, an amount comparable to a couple of days’ salary for the company's CEO, Lynn Good.

45. To restore and expand the racial justice act

In 2013, the GOP-controlled legislature repealed the Racial Justice Act, which provided a path for inmates on death row to avoid execution if racial bias was a significant factor in their cases. The law was originally passed in 2009 following clear evidence of racial bias in the application of the death penalty and the exoneration of numerous African Americans who had been wrongfully convicted by all-white juries. In recent years, many states and jurisdictions, including red states like Utah, have enacted similar laws. North Carolina should fully restore and expand the Racial Justice Act.

44. TO RESTORE FUNDING FOR OUR PUBLIC COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES

Due to massive cuts by the GOP-controlled NCGA, state funding for public colleges and universities is 17% lower per capita today than it was in 2008. As a result, tuition has increased at 2.5 times the rate of inflation over this same period. Our public universities have long been a crown jewel of our state. It’s time to restore the funding needed to keep them distinguished and affordable.

43. TO PROTECT OUR CONSTITUTION

In 2018, the NC GOP used its supermajorities to place six deceptively-written Constitutional Amendments on the ballot with the aim of seizing the power of appointments for state courts and the board of elections from the Governor; disenfranchising a large group of voters – disproportionately poor, African-American, and elderly – by requiring a photo ID to vote (#22); and capping income taxes well below what they had been for the highest tax bracket prior to 2013. Amendments to the state constitution that benefit the people of North Carolina should be made following thoughtful deliberation and debate. Instead, the NC GOP has abused the process for blatant partisan power grabs. North Carolina’s Constitution is extremely vulnerable to Republican supermajorities in the NCGA. The NC GOP is more than willing to deceive and mislead the public to seize more power for themselves and systematically disenfranchise voters.

42. TO PROTECT FOOD ASSISTANCE FOR THE WORKING POOR

North Carolina currently ranks 41st in the country in food insecurity; over 15% of households don’t have adequate food for one or more of their members. Yet the GOP-controlled NCGA has long sought major cuts to NC’s food stamps program, eliminating access for 105,000 participants in 2015, and threatened to make an additional 133,000 participants ineligible in their proposed 2017 budget. Besides reducing hunger, food assistance has been shown to sharply improve educational and other life outcomes for children.

41. TO STOP UNREGULATED FRACKING IN NORTH CAROLINA

In 2014, Republican Gov. McCrory and the GOP legislature pushed through new rules to allow fracking in NC. The rules were not only overly weak in protecting public health but also completely failed to address air quality concerns, chemical disclosures, or compulsory pooling, an extremely controversial practice in which landowners who do not wish to lease their mineral rights are forced to accept drilling anyway. The GOP legislature also overrode all local moratoriums on drilling – like those in Lee and Chatham counties – denying a voice to the people most affected by the associated air and water pollution. Fracking has not yet started in NC due to legal issues with the GOP’s maneuvers. NC should be focused on the plentiful sources of renewable energy available in our state and end our obsession with fossil fuels.

40. BECAUSE THE WEALTHIEST NORTH CAROLINIANS DIDN’T NEED A 30% INCOME TAX CUT

Over the past five years, Republicans have cut the top income tax rate from 7.75% to 5.5%, a 29% cut for the wealthiest North Carolinians, while eliminating the earned-income tax credit (#89) and enacting regressive sales taxes.

39. TO STOP THE PRIVATIZATION OF OUR SCHOOL SYSTEM

Over the past seven years, Republicans in the NCGA have taken many steps toward privatizing our school system, including expanding a private school voucher program (in which more than 90% of the schools receiving money were religious schools), funding the rapid growth of charter schools (up 75% since 2010), and requiring mandatory public school takeovers by corporate charters (#61). All of these programs divert resources from traditional public schools, leaving funding for public schools in NC near the worst in the country (#27).

38. TO STOP THE GOP’S ENDLESS UNCONSTITUTIONAL LEGISLATION

Since gaining supermajorities in both chambers of the NCGA in 2012, Republican lawmakers have passed a continuous stream of unconstitutional legislation, including their monster voter law (#97), racially (#80) and partisan (#34) gerrymandered congressional and legislative districts, attempts to seize power from the executive branch (#24), and so on. The GOP-controlled legislature’s power grabs have been so extreme that it was even sued by a governor from their own party in McCrory v. Berger. Exasperatingly, the GOP often benefits from its unconstitutional legislation during the course of the lengthy legal battles required to contest their illegal laws – while taxpayers pay the literal price, footing the bill for tens of millions in legal fees.

37. TO PROTECT REPRODUCTIVE CHOICE

Since taking control of the NCGA in 2010, the GOP has passed a long list of restrictions on reproductive choice, including severe limits on insurance coverage for abortion (#86), mandatory long waiting periods, and restrictions on medication-based abortion (#59). These new laws, along with the fact that 90% of NC counties do not have any facilities that provide abortions, severely limit reproductive choice for many North Carolinians, especially those with limited ability to travel. In 2019, Republicans continued their obstruction of reproductive rights by passing a “born-alive” abortion bill. As Gov. Cooper wrote in his veto, because existing law already protects newborn babies, this bill was an unnecessary interference between doctors and their patients.

36. TO ENSURE FAIR ELECTIONS

In the days immediately following Roy Cooper’s election in 2016, the GOP-controlled legislature moved to strip the Governor of his authority to appoint a majority on the State Board of Elections – authority that had been in place for nearly 50 years. The NC GOP passed three different bills with this aim over the next two years, the first two of which were declared unconstitutional, and proposed a Constitutional Amendment for the 2018 ballot, all with the goal of moving authority to appoint election boards from the Governor to the state legislature.

35. TO PROTECT OUR COAST

From supporting off-shore drilling (#60), to banning the study of sea-level rise, to overturning a popular local ban on plastic bags in the Outer Banks, to failing to adequately address coastal erosion, the GOP-controlled state legislature has put our coast at risk. This failure to protect our beautiful coast is a tragedy for future generations.

34. TO END PARTISAN GERRYMANDERING

In 2011 and again in 2017, NC GOP lawmakers used detailed board of elections data to draw congressional and legislative maps that are among the most politically gerrymandered in the history of the United States. As a result, although more North Carolinians voted for Democrats in 2018, Republicans hold a 10-3 advantage in US Congress and majorities in both the NC House and NC Senate. In 2019, the NC Supreme Court ruled that the 2018 maps were unconstitutional and again order the GOP-controlled legislature to re-draw the maps. The maps in place for the 2020 elections are fairer, but the GOP retains a structural advantage due to remaining partisan gerrymanders in several parts of the state. The only sure way get fair maps in NC is for Democrats to reclaim the majority in at least one chamber of the NCGA for a seat at the table when the maps are redrawn following the 2020 Census. And if they regain a majority, Democrats have pledged to support independent redistricting legislation for North Carolina.

33. TO FULLY REPEAL HB2 AND LET NC CITIES WRITE THEIR OWN LABOR LAWS

In addition to enshrining LGBTQ discrimination in state law, HB2 also restricts municipalities in North Carolina from enacting anti-discrimination policies of any kind, setting a local minimum wage, regulating child labor, or making certain regulations for city workers – in yet another of example of legislative overreach into local affairs by the NC GOP.

32. TO FULLY REPEAL HB2 AND END LGBTQ DISCRIMINATION

Proposed and signed into law in less than 12 hours, HB2 became widely known for the restrictions on transgender bathroom use that made our state “a pioneer in bigotry.” But its impact is much broader. The bill also bars NC cities and towns from enacting anti-discrimination laws on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity, making it legal for private companies throughout the state to fire anyone because they are gay. Full repeal of HB2 is not enough. We need full legal protection from discrimination for LGBTQ North Carolinians.

31. To protect access to health insurance in the pandemic

Over 238,000 North Carolinians have lost health insurance coverage during the pandemic – the 5th highest total in the nation. A full 20% of North Carolina adults under the age of 65 are now uninsured, while the NC GOP still steadfastly refuses to expand Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act (#17) despite the desperate situation so many North Carolinians are in as the pandemic exacerbates the already terrible health insurance situation in our state.

30. TO IMPROVE THE HEALTH OF PREGNANT WOMEN AND BABIES

North Carolina ranks #41 in the country in the fraction of women aged 18-44 who have health insurance, so it may not be surprising to learn that NC women get below-average care during pregnancy and that the health of babies born in NC ranks near the bottom in every category, including #43 in low birthweight, #44 in neonatal mortality, and #41 in infant mortality. The NC GOP’s failure to expand Medicaid (#17) and the sabotage of our health care exchange (#93) has contributed greatly to the poor health and mortality of pregnant women and babies in NC. 

29. TO DECRIMINALIZE MARIJUANA

Despite 80% support by North Carolinians for medicinal use and 45% for recreational use, NC remains one of 16 states that totally restricts the use of marijuana. Democratic bills introduced in the 2017-18 legislative session would decriminalize possession for personal use, but the NC GOP has completely blocked these bills. Given the strong racial bias in the enforcement of drug laws, decriminalizing marijuana would be a major step toward racial justice in NC.

28. To protect displaced workers in the pandemic

The extreme stinginess of North Carolina’s worst-in-the-nation unemployment insurance program put in place by the NC GOP in 2013 is horrible for workers who lose their jobs in ordinary times (#99). But in the pandemic, the impact on North Carolina’s families and economy has been devastating. With 1.3 million NC residents filing for unemployment insurance since March, benefits have already started to run out for many NC families, not only leaving them completely vulnerable financially but also exacerbating the economic recession.

27. BECAUSE NC SHOULDN’T BE ANYWHERE NEAR THE BOTTOM IN PUBLIC SCHOOL SPENDING

While education spending in other states has rebounded since the recession, the GOP-controlled legislature has failed to increase spending in NC. In 2016, North Carolina’s per-pupil school spending was still below 2008 levels and ranked 45th in the country, significantly below much poorer states like South Carolina, Kentucky, and Louisiana. According to one recent study, North Carolina’s public schools have dropped from the Top 20 in the county to 40th due largely to insufficient funding.

26. TO SUPPORT RENEWABLE ENERGY

Since taking control of the NCGA, the Republican legislature has stifled renewable energy growth, causing NC to fall behind other states in creating sustainable energy markets. From repealing tax credits for rooftop solar and electric hybrids to a moratorium on new wind turbines, their resistance to renewable energy continues to hurt North Carolina.

25. FOR FAIR AND INDEPENDENT COURTS

Over the past five years, the GOP-controlled legislature has passed an increasingly alarming series of legislation aimed at taking control of the courts, first making judicial elections partisan (#51), then changing how judicial elections work in urban counties (#72), and, most recently, putting a deceptively written Constitutional Amendment on the ballot in 2018 that would move authority to appoint judges from the executive to the legislative branch (#43). Thankfully, North Carolina voters rejected that Amendment.

24. TO PROTECT THE SEPARATION OF POWERS

Having created legislative maps that are extremely gerrymandered in its favor, the Republican legislature moved to weaken the executive and judicial branches of government and concentrate more power in the legislative branch. Their power grab has included: attempting to take over the state board of elections (#36), creating new obstacles to the Governor’s appointment power to fill positions in the Executive Branch, forming unconstitutional commissions to manage pollution from coal plants and fracking (#41), and interfering with judicial elections. We need to protect the basic checks and balances on our state government.

23. TO MAKE SMART PUBLIC INVESTMENTS FOR A GROWING STATE

Since taking over the NCGA in 2010, Republican legislators have sharply reduced government spending on everything from schools to infrastructure, failing to make the investments necessary for the next generation of North Carolinians. State spending as a fraction of total personal income has declined over 20% since 2008 as a result of continued tax cuts that have largely benefited corporations and the wealthy. In his 2019 budget, Gov. Cooper proposed a major school and infrastructure bond, which the GOP has blocked by refusing to negotiate and reach a bipartisan compromise. It’s time to invest in North Carolina’s future.

22. BECAUSE VOTER ID HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH VOTER FRAUD

The Republican Party has created and promoted a false narrative about widespread voter fraud to stoke fear and galvanize support for voter ID while hiding their true intent: to disenfranchise African-American, poor, and elderly voters. After their 2013 monster voter law (#97) was declared unconstitutional due to the precision with which it targeted African-American voters, the NC GOP placed a Voter ID Constitutional Amendment on the ballot in 2018. As a result, North Carolina has joined Mississippi as the only states to enshrine this odious form of systematic disenfranchisement in their constitutions. In a lame duck session after the 2018 elections, the NCGOP used their supermajorities for a final time to ram through a racist implementation of the constitutional amendment that, once again, systematically discriminated against African Americans. Voter ID has been put on hold for 2020 while several cases make their way through court.

21. To end the Gop dirty tricks in Raleigh

Over the past several years, the GOP-controlled NCGA has increasingly moved to using secretive practices for writing and passing extreme legislation. Bills – most famously HB2 (#33) – are often written behind closed doors and then passed within hours, with no time for public comment or for lawmakers to even read the final bill. In 2018, the entire state budget was written in secret by the GOP and passed without allowing any amendments or debate. Perhaps the crown jewel of GOP dirty tricks took place last year on the morning Sept. 11th, when the GOP leadership in the NC House called a surprise vote to override Gov. Cooper’s budget veto after announcing that they would not hold a vote, knowing that a number of their Democratic colleagues would be attending ceremonies to honor 9/11 victims. It’s time to restore thoughtful debate and deliberation to the NCGA. We must not yield to the GOP’s attacks on our democracy.

20. TO END NCGA RESTRICTIONS ON LOCAL DECISION MAKING

Because local governments in North Carolina ultimately get much of their authority from the state, the GOP has been able to use its unchecked power at the state level to intervene in local affairs in myriad ways, placing restrictions on anti-discrimination (#33), minimum-wage (#32), environmental (#35), natural-resource (#46), housing (#79), education, and election laws.

19. BECAUSE PEOPLE SHOULD MATTER MORE THAN CORPORATIONS

Across the broad spectrum of public policy, the NC GOP has consistently favored corporations over North Carolinians. From cutting corporate taxes to the lowest rate in the nation (#81); to protecting polluters like corporate hog farms (#78), Duke Energy (#46), and Chemours (#85); to expanding corporate charter schools (#61), the NCGA has placed the profits of big corporations above the health and welfare of the people of North Carolina.

18. TO RESTORE PROGRESSIVE TAXATION

Over the past six years, Republicans have used their supermajorities in the NCGA to sharply cut taxes for the rich at the expense of everyone else. Regressive changes include reducing the corporate tax rate to the lowest in the country (#81), repealing the estate tax (#62), cutting the top income tax rate by almost 30% (#40), eliminating the earned income tax credit (#89), and expanding sales taxes to services like car repair that are disproportionately used by the poor. Taken as a whole, the changes have left the total tax bill of low- and middle-income households almost unchanged, while dramatically reducing the taxes paid by the top 1%.

17. FOR MEDICAID EXPANSION

The failure to expand Medicaid under the ACA is one of the most self-defeating and harmful policies inflicted by the GOP-controlled state legislature on the people of North Carolina. Not only would Medicaid expansion provide health insurance for nearly 500,000 low-income households and their children – saving more than a thousand lives per year – it would also create an additional 35,000 jobs (including a large number of middle- and high-wage jobs in the health care sector) and expand NC’s economy by over $2 billion. The resulting increase in tax revenues would be more than enough to offset the state’s expenses, with the federal government covering 90% of the cost of Medicaid expansion. The lack of insurance coverage for the working poor in NC has greatly exacerbated the opioid crisis (#84), led to higher costs in NC’s health insurance exchange (#93) and contributed to extremely poor outcomes for pregnant women and babies in NC (#30). It’s this simple: expanding Medicaid would save thousands of lives and improve life for millions of North Carolinians.

16. FOR CRIMINAL JUSTICE REFORM

While North Carolina’s overall incarceration rate has stabilized over the past decade, enormous racial disparities persist (the ratio of the black incarceration rate to the white incarceration rate is 4.66), and fully 25% of those incarcerated are in jail awaiting trial, a number that has quadrupled since 1988. Incarceration rates could be reduced dramatically by decriminalizing marijuana (#29), ending the criminalization of poverty (#68), preventing racial profiling by law enforcement (#63), and reforming the pre-trial bail and bond systems. In so doing, North Carolina would also become a more just, equitable, and productive society.

15. TO RESTORE THE SOCIAL SAFETY NET AND PROVIDE A WAY OUT OF POVERTY

Since gaining control of the NCGA in 2010, the GOP has shredded North Carolina’s social safety net, cutting unemployment benefits to the worst in the country (#99), reducing eligibility for food stamps (#42) and child care subsidies for the working poor, failing to expand Medicaid under the ACA (#17), and even overriding Republican Gov. McCrory’s veto to add drug testing to the Work First welfare program. The NC GOP’s policies have made it much more difficult for NC families to climb out of poverty, and, as a result, poverty levels in NC remain higher than before the recession. We can do so much better for the people of North Carolina.

14. TO PROTECT OUR AIR, WATER, AND LAND

Over the past decade, the NC GOP has overseen a complete dismantling of North Carolina’s environmental protections with devastating effects for our environment, natural habitats, and public health. The long list of GOP achievements includes failing to clean up drinking water sources for the Triangle; removing wetland protections across the state; failing to protect ground and surface water from coal ash (#46) and agricultural (#78) and chemical pollutants (#85); reversing the ban on fracking (#41); reducing the number of air quality monitoring stations; and cutting the budget for conservation land trusts by 80% – among many others. It’s time to bring back the progressive environmental policy that once distinguished our state.

13. FOR COMMON SENSE GUN LAWS

In response to widespread mass shootings, Gov. Cooper and Democrats in the NCGA have proposed several common-sense gun policies, including banning bump stocks, requiring a background check to purchase an assault-style weapon, and red-flag gun legislation (#77). Similar legislation has been enacted on a bipartisan basis in many other states; yet, the NC GOP refuses to consider even the most widely supported ideas for reducing gun violence and instead is singularly focused on pushing guns into every public space, including public schools and churches (#69).

12. To Fight the COVID-19 Pandemic

Guided by public health experts, Gov. Cooper has led North Carolina through the pandemic better than any of our neighboring states, while having to the fight GOP obstruction and intransigence every step of the way. Not only has the GOP blocked the expansion of resources for fighting the disease – providing health care (#31), helping schools to re-open safely, and offering economic relief for those who have lost their jobs (#28) – but GOP leaders have repeatedly passed legislation aimed at re-opening everything from bars to gyms to bowling alleys (#98). Thankfully, Gov. Cooper has vetoed these bills, which would have put us on the paths of Florida, Georgia, and Texas, leading to thousands of additional deaths and further health and economic devastation for our state.

11. FOR BETTER JOBS AND BETTER PAY

While those with high incomes continue to thrive in North Carolina’s economy, the GOP-controlled legislature has completely failed the poor and middle class. According to a 2017 study, median household income has actually fallen by over $1,000 in North Carolina since 2007. By comparison, it has grown by 14-15% in the neighboring states of South Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia over this same time period. NC has become a national model of failed GOP tax policy, where large tax cuts for corporations and the wealthy have failed to produce the kinds of jobs and pay that benefit all North Carolinians.

10. BECAUSE WE SHOULD WELCOME REFUGEES AND IMMIGRANTS

­As the Trump administration takes direct aim at reducing the number of non-white refugees and immigrants – whether documented or not – in our country, North Carolina should resist these racist and xenophobic federal policies to the maximum extent possible. Instead, the GOP-controlled legislature has pursued a toxic immigration agenda (#50), putting immigrants and other ethnic and racial minorities at risk of increased profiling and harassment and raising fear and anxiety for many families. We need immigration policies for our state and country that are fair, humane, and not racially motivated.

9. TO EXPAND ACCESS TO AFFORDABLE HEALTH CARE

Under GOP one-party rule, North Carolina managed to achieved the dubious distinctions of having both one of the lowest rates of health insurance coverage (#30, #31) and the highest health care costs (#93) in the country, with devastating consequences for many NC families. Expanding Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act (#17) would provide insurance coverage for an additional 500,000 residents, lower prices for almost everyone, and cost the state nothing. It has taken deliberate action on the part of the GOP to make health care so unavailable and unaffordable in NC. There is no defense for such morally reprehensible and fiscally irresponsible behavior.

8. TO STRENGTHEN PUBLIC EDUCATION

Since seizing control of the NCGA, Republicans legislators have worked to dismantle public education in North Carolina, inflicting incredible harm on a system that was once a crown jewel of our state. While starving the public school system as a whole for resources (#27), cutting teacher pay (#92), and failing to provide adequate facilities (#76), the NC GOP has simultaneously transferred funding to 75 new charter schools and set aside funds to support a rapid expansion of private school vouchers. Funding for NC’s public colleges and universities has also been cut by nearly 20% per capita since 2008 (#44). All of this has happened while the GOP has enacted enormous tax cuts for corporations (#81) and the wealthy (#40). It’s time to restore the funding that our public education system needs to thrive. 

7. FOR FAIR MAPS

Since taking control of the NCGA in 2010, the GOP has repeatedly drawn unfair congressional and legislative maps that are extremely gerrymandered on the basis of race (#80) and political party (#34). For the past decade, the US and NC State Supreme Courts have repeatedly found these maps to be unconstitutional and, at each turn, Republican mapmakers have tried to get away with as much as possible. As a result, the GOP holds 10 of NC’s 13 seats in Congress and majorities in both the NC House and NC Senate despite losing the statewide vote by over 3% in 2018. The maps in place for 2020 are fairer, but to get truly fair maps, Democrats need to take back control of at least one chamber of the NCGA by 2021 to have a seat at the table when new maps are drawn following the 2020 Census. Beyond 2021, North Carolina badly needs to establish an independent commission to draw congressional, legislative, and judicial maps that ensure fair representation and create true political competition in as many districts as possible, and Democrats have pledged to do so if they regain control of the legislature.

6. BECAUSE LOVE IS LOVE

Since taking control of the NCGA in 2010, GOP lawmakers have done everything in their power to block the extension of civil rights to members of the LGBTQ community, including passing a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage and civil unions in 2012, preventing local governments from banning discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity with the infamous HB 2 (#32), and blocking the expansion of hate crime legislation to sexual orientation and gender identity (#64). We must fight for equal rights and protections for all North Carolinians.

5. FOR EQUAL RIGHTS FOR WOMEN

North Carolina has a long way to go to ensure the full political, social, and economic equality of women. Political representation remains low (#47), the NC GOP continues to place severe restrictions on women’s health insurance and reproductive (#37) choices, we badly need more funding to support victims of domestic violence (#71), and the gender wage gap remains at 20% due to weak equal pay policies. Perhaps most emblematic of where North Carolina stands on women’s rights is that NC remains one of only twelve states not to have ratified the Equal Rights Amendment (#65).

4. BECAUSE BLACK LIVES MATTER

From voter suppression efforts that targeted African Americans “with almost surgical precision” (#97), to policies that undermine education (#8) and re-segregate our schools (#73), to extremely regressive changes to the tax code (#18) and the shredding of the social safety net (#15), the NC GOP has consistently enacted legislation that disproportionately harms African Americans. We need a legislature that will fight for racial equity and justice.

3. TO PROTECT THE SACRED RIGHT TO VOTE

From the racist and unconstitutional “monster” voter law of 2013 (#97) to efforts make early voting more difficult (#55) to the passage and unconstitutional implementation of the Voter ID constitutional amendment (#22), the GOP has attacked voting rights again and again, aiming to make it difficult for African-American, poor, and elderly North Carolinians to vote, thereby cementing their majorities in the NCGA for decades to come. We should be making it easier to vote, not harder. Fifty years ago, many civil rights leaders across the South gave their lives to ensure the right to vote. We need to protect that sacred right.

2. TO END THE GOP’S WAR ON THE POOR

From failing to expand Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act (#17), to cutting funding for public education (#8), to shredding the social safety net (#15), all while providing huge tax cuts for the rich (#18), the NC GOP has passed a wave of regressive policies over the past decade that can only be described as a war on the poor. We need make sure the NCGA works for everyone – not just wealthiest among us.

1. TO RETURN TO THE PEOPLE OF NORTH CAROLINA THEIR SOVEREIGNTY

North Carolinians deserve a government that truly represents the people. From drawing unconstitutional congressional and legislative maps (#7), to seizing power from the executive and judicial branches of government (#24), to continuous efforts to suppress voting (#3), the GOP-controlled legislature has attacked the basic democratic institutions of our state at every turn. It’s time to restore a functioning democracy in North Carolina.