Hello,
Below are some of the things you may have missed over the past few weeks as the North Carolina General Assembly’s Short Session began. Education spending priorities, an anti-masking bill debacle, the Governor's budget, and more below.
Education Priorities Diverge
Last week, Democratic legislators unveiled the Children’s Bill of Rights framework. The Children’s Bill of Rights lists ten rights that our students deserve in North Carolina. The press conference featured a number of public school students speaking in favor of the proposal, including Luna Gomez, a 4th grader from Durham.
“I am worried because I noticed the kids in my school are starting to get very violent and physical,” she said. “My school needs a counselor. We need to feel and be safe. We need a counselor to talk with us kids to help solve problems instead of scolding, or suspensions. If there was a counselor to listen to our problems, things could be better.”
The Children’s Bill of Rights is a list of 10 items that Democrats support for every student in North Carolina. The press conference also included a lengthy printout of more than 230 bills filed by Democrats since 2011 that would address one or more of the ideals listed.
Meanwhile, the State Senate passed on party lines a bill to OK hundreds of millions of new dollars for taxpayer-funded vouchers. Senate Democrats debated the bill on the floor, where they “argued it was unfair for the wealthiest families to receive taxpayer-funded Opportunity Scholarships so they can send their children to private schools they can already afford when the state's public schools are struggling for more funds,” WCNC reports.
So far, the State House has not taken up the bill. An updated consensus revenue forecast now estimates that the state will take in much less than the expected $1.4 billion surplus previously projected. The new estimate is just shy of $1 billion. That means that House Republicans want to find the money to pay for the expansion of the taxpayer-funded vouchers elsewhere, WUNC reports.
Rep. Reives has consistently called out the expansion of the voucher program, especially noting the severe lack of accountability and oversight for taxpayer money.
Last week, Rep. Reives released a statement marking the 70th anniversary of Brown v. Board of Education: “We can see that our public schools are becoming more segregated, not less … We have to focus on providing every student in North Carolina a fully funded public classroom. That should be our first priority.”
The statement includes information about how North Carolina classrooms are becoming less diverse and more segregated, which expansion of the taxpayer-funded voucher program would exacerbate.
Governor Cooper, Leader Reives and Leader Blue held a press conference the first week of May highlighting new legislation to put a moratorium on the voucher program’s expansion.
“Elected officials have a duty to be good stewards of your tax dollars and ensure that money is well-spent. We are calling for commonsense oversight and accountability for private schools receiving taxpayer money,” Rep. Reives said at the press conference.
Rep. Reives visits Chatham County Classrooms
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To mark the end of Teacher Appreciation Week earlier this month, Rep. Reives joined Chatham County Superintendent Dr. Anthony Jackson to tour some of the district’s public school classrooms. Public school teachers do so much work for our children every day of the week. They deserve to be compensated and respected like the professionals they are.
Mask Bill Goes to Conference
The North Carolina Senate passed a controversial measure, along party lines, that would ban wearing masks in public even for health reasons. The story quickly gained national traction, and pressure from constituents across North Carolina helped stop the advancement of the bill in the North Carolina House. The House voted yesterday not to concur with the Senate version of the bill and sent it to a conference committee to hammer out a new version.
During debate in the State Senate, Senator Sydney Batch said this:
“We are now trying to turn back time and ignore science and allow individuals who want to protect themselves or to protect their loved ones from wearing a mask,” Batch said last week. “We talk a lot about freedoms in this chamber, I hear it all the time. I should have the freedom, my children should have the freedom and my husband should have the freedom to wear a mask in order to protect and save my life without fear of being arrested and charged with a class one misdemeanor, which is exactly what this bill would do.”
In the House yesterday, Rep. Sarah Crawford thanked constituents for their advocacy. “Thank you to the constituents of North Carolina … who shared significant concerns about House Bill 237 and forced us to reconsider what the Senate did on this bill.”
Rep. Reives was a featured speaker at the North Carolina Chamber of Commerce Legislative Reception this month. He has been a strong advocate for improving North Carolina’s workforce and has worked with state and local leaders to help encourage economic development projects. Along with Republican Majority Leader John Bell, Rep. Reives is a co-chair of the Economic Development and Foreign Trade Caucus.
Governor Cooper’s Budget Highlights
Governor Cooper unveiled his budget priorities for the year a few weeks ago; you can read the full document from the Office of State Budget and Management here.
Some highlights of the Governor’s budget include:
Increases for teacher pay, on average 8.5%, with a $1500 retention bonus for most teachers
700 teaching assistants in grades K-3
Allows for $2.5B in school construction bonds, if approved by local referenda
Invests $34.7M to expand “Read to Achieve” in middle school students
Expands the Teaching Fellows program to improve the teaching pipeline
$745M for childcare, including $200M for Childcare Stabilization Grants
Additional 5% raises for state employees, plus retention bonuses
3% COLA for State retirees
$100M fund for local communities to address PFAS
Robert’s Rules with 97.9 The Hill
From Chapelboro’s description of the episode:
North Carolina House Minority Leader and District 54 Representative Robert Reives spoke with 97.9 The Hill’s Andrew Stuckey on Thursday, May 2. He discussed the start of the General Assembly’s short session. He discussed some controversial bills being moved through the state Senate, while the House plays hurry up and wait. He talked about some areas where there may be bipartisan support, including in bolstering child care and affordable housing. He also spoke about the idea of “investing in people,” and what that could look like for the state legislature, and more.
Additional Articles
AP: North Carolina attorney general seeks funds to create fentanyl, cold case units
NC Newsline: Period supplies in schools are critical to education and health, schools and advocates say
CPP: NC tourism going gangbusters, with state among top US destinations
WRAL: NC lawmakers, students emphasize benefits of DEI policies ahead of vote to defund them
WUNC: NC House rejects Senate's proposed mask restriction bill
N&O: Middle class and wealthy NC families are those waiting for private school voucher funding
Cardinal & Pine: ‘Complete disregard for human life’: Doctors reflect on NC’s abortion ban
Rep. Lindsey Prather: Rural communities would suffer the most if NC Republicans expand their school voucher program
Rep. Julie von Haefen: Unregulated, unaccountable 'crisis pregnancy centers' get millions in state tax dollars
WRAL: North Carolina grapples with growing nursing shortage
NC Health News: N.C. developing plan to improve Medicaid participants’ job prospects
Please educate me about the bill, ?906, that allows town to annex farmland or woodland near them despite the reality that the people living on those lands have not vote in the town doing the annexation. This seems to function as a direct work around all we have been trying to do to protect agriculture and agribusiness. Love, Doc www.dykers.com Chatham County Ag Adv Board vice chair