If you could tell your lawmakers one thing about the rising cost of living, what would it be? 

It’s a question that the Coalition Against Right-Wing Extremism posed to North Carolina, and folks from all across the state, from Asheville to Wilmington, shared stories of pain and perseverance, struggle and resilience. 

Advocates came together on Tuesday to launch the report, titled The Costs We Carry, and it showed what it means to be a working class North Carolinian right now. 

Parents talked about the impossible decisions they face: “I don’t know anyone right now who is not stressed out about having enough money to keep their home or feed their family.” 

Neighbors shared the pain they feel for their community: “I saw a young lady last night on the street corner in our town with a sign. She was asking for money for food. She had a baby and a baby carriage. What does that tell you about our conditions here?” 

Seniors worried about where their next meal would come from: “At 83 years old, I can barely buy food.” 

Renters wondered if they’d ever not be living paycheck to paycheck: “It shouldn’t feel impossible to afford a place to live.” 

And some were just in disbelief: “I work too hard to be struggling this much financially.” 

People are hurting, but they’re still fighting. We’re all carrying the costs of unjust policymaking, budgets and bills that continue putting the wealthiest few over the needs of working families. 

While President Trump builds himself a ballroom, Congress has been busy giving away tax handouts to the ultra-wealthy. The Republican budget passed last summer cut over $1 trillion from SNAP, Medicaid, and other health programs, while giving over $1 trillion in tax cuts to the wealthiest 1%– including billionaires and massive corporations. 

Republicans also allowed key tax credits to expire– making health care more expensive for hundreds of thousands of North Carolinians. Roughly 800,000 North Carolinians have seen a 30% average rate increase in their monthly premium, and 200,000 others have lost their coverage entirely as a result of cost increases.  

Housing and utilities are reaching record highs. As President Trump aims to drive up housing prices, Republicans in the NC General Assembly are allowing Duke Energy to drive up utility bills. North Carolina’s residential electricity prices spiked by 10% in 2025, and the NCGA recently passed legislation that allows Duke Energy to raise rates by an additional $23 billion through 2050. 

And as if that isn’t enough, Trump’s cost-raising tariffs have also driven up prices on groceries– frozen fish is up 8%, beef is up 16%, and coffee is up nearly 20%. 

But the numbers don’t do these stories justice. They don’t capture the hours spent staring at the ceiling at night, figuring out how to spend the next paycheck. They don’t capture the sinking feeling that hits when the check engine light comes on. They don’t capture the tension in the chest when an email hits that another statement is due.

“Behind every data point is a person making an impossible choice– whether to fill a prescription or pay the power bill or put gas in the car to get to work,” said one advocate at the Cost We Carry launch on Tuesday. 

North Carolinians deserve better. All across the state, working people are making countless sacrifices to support their families. Taking on extra hours, picking up a side hustle, skipping that doctor’s appointment– they’re doing what they can to get by. But it shouldn’t be this hard. We must continue coming together to demand better of our legislators and begin building an economy that rewards the hard-working families who are fighting so hard to make ends meet.