Reives Report | Short Session Starts
What to watch for as legislators return to Raleigh this week.
Hello,
Welcome to the new and improved Reives Report. We are launching the newsletter on this platform in tandem with the start of the 2024 Short Session at the General Assembly. It is our hope that this format will be easier to read and easier for you to share with friends and family in Chatham County, Randolph County and around the state. The goal is to keep you informed about what is going on in your General Assembly.
As legislators return to Raleigh to deal with business during the Short Session, there are a number of items to watch for. The Assembly, WFAE and WRAL have primers from their political reporters on what to expect. Below are some of Rep. Reives’ priorities, both this year and beyond.
Workforce Development
One of the primary goals that Rep. Reives has in the General Assembly is ensuring that North Carolinians are able to access the education and experience needed to land the thousands of new jobs coming to our state. Workforce development is essential to maintain our success in economic development projects.
Community colleges in District 54 have stepped up to help make that happen. Central Carolina Community College and Randolph Community College both have great programs geared toward the new industries expanding in the region. Wolfspeed, VinFast and Toyota will need thousands of well-trained employees when they reach their full potential. There are also ancillary businesses showing up to help support those larger projects. They will have different workforce needs than the major developments, but our great community colleges are ready to help equip local folks who want to pursue new careers in those industries.
Childcare
The cost of childcare is on the top of every family’s mind this year. It is also a major topic of discussion at the General Assembly as the state faces a looming “childcare cliff.” According to WRAL, North Carolina is considered a childcare desert.
Axios Charlotte reports that up to 3 in 10 childcare centers could shutter if the General Assembly does not step in this Session. The state was able to leverage federal dollars to right the ship -- briefly -- during the pandemic, but that money is no longer available. Last year, the bipartisan Early Childhood Caucus proposed a $300 million investment in stabilizing childcare.
“The $300 million proposal is one of five bills filed by bipartisan legislators that caucus leaders said would be their focus this session. The bills are aimed at supporting the child care industry through teacher compensation and higher subsidy rates, rethinking the state’s quality rating system, boosting maternal and infant health, and creating a pilot for a new funding model for child care.
Providing support to this industry is a bipartisan goal that unites families and the business community. It should be a major focus of the General Assembly in the coming months.
Education
North Carolina’s public schools continue to face challenges, particularly with teacher retention. New reporting from the Department of Public Instruction points to higher attrition rates in recent years. During the 2022-23 school year, the statewide attrition rate was 11.5 percent, up 7.8 percent from the previous school year.
There is a specific issue with beginning teachers, those who are in their first three years in the profession. Stress and burnout are contributing to the problem, and the issue is acute in rural areas where teachers are particularly underpaid. Wealthier counties like Wake and Mecklenburg are able to supplement teacher income through county dollars that smaller, less affluent communities do not have.
Instead of investing adequately into the public education system, the General Assembly will consider adding hundreds of millions of dollars to the expanded voucher program. Expanding the program even further will unleash millions of taxpayer dollars for the top 7% of income levels to subsidize private education. You can see the breakdown in the table below:
Governor Cooper has called for a moratorium on expanding the voucher program.
Expanded spending on the voucher program will send more money into unaccountable private institutions that have no standardized way to measure student success. These institutions are allowed to discriminate in choosing whom they serve, all at the expense of funding for the public school system that desperately needs adequate investments.
There are many more priorities this Session, not least among them sufficient raises for our state employees and cost-of-living adjustments for retirees. We will keep you informed about updates as they come, particularly when the budget is unveiled. Governor Cooper’s budget will be announced soon and we will provide more details on that in the coming weeks.
Rep. Reives’ Latest Column
North Carolina teachers put in hundreds of hours into their profession. Their work extends far outside the walls of a classroom; they support our state’s children at sports games, band performances, and church programs. They are the glue that holds our schools and communities together.
But right now, teachers in North Carolina are overworked, underpaid, and disrespected. Republican leaders in the General Assembly have created these conditions.
Teachers are expected to do more with less. Youth across North Carolina are experiencing a serious mental health crisis, and teachers are on the frontlines. When our schools fall short of the psychologists, counselors, and nurses that are desperately needed, teachers shoulder the additional demands. They are not only in charge of learning, but they care for kids who are going through a hard time.
You can read the full column in the Chatham News + Record.
Additional Articles
N&O: UNC System board to consider policy targeting DEI, potentially eliminating related jobs
AP: North Carolina sees slight surplus this year, $1B more next year
N&O: Casinos may be on hold, but NC lawmakers could act on another gambling issue this year
Ned Barnett: Child care costs in NC are about to get worse. Lawmakers should step in
WRAL: 12 people a day died from drug overdoses in North Carolina, 2022 data says
Axios: North Carolina clears decades-long rape kit backlog, AG Josh Stein says
WUNC: North Carolina's top elections official tells lawmakers that county boards need more help
Axios: Florida's near-total abortion ban will push NC clinics to the brink
N&O: Judge strikes down NC law on felon voting, saying racist origin ‘has not been cleansed’
N&O: NC judicial branch at odds over what to ask from lawmakers. How jobs, eCourts are factors