Alanna Joyner
Last week, state Democrats renewed their calls for Medicaid expansion in an effort to address the state’s long-standing racial health disparities and to help out the state’s economic recovery from the pandemic. Under President Biden’s American Rescue Plan, the state would receive more than $1.7 billion in federal funding in addition to incentives targeted at…
Read MoreFive years after the state’s notorious House Bill 2 or HB2, Republican legislators are back with a slew of discriminatory bills that targets the state’s transgender and gender-nonconforming communities. North Carolina’s Senate Bill 514, Senate Bill 515, and House Bill 358 mirrors the rising trend of transphobic legislation across the country, blatantly attacking gender-affirming healthcare,…
Read More
With more than 360 bills introduced in 47 states across the country, many of which mirror the worst of Georgia’s Senate Bill 202, our right to vote hangs in the balance. In North Carolina, the Republican-backed Senate Bills 326 and 377 are their own versions of Georgia’s Jim Crow-era voter suppression laws. Through House Bill…
Read MoreIn the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, North Carolinians across the state continue to struggle with paying rent and getting rental assistance, all while staying afloat. The latest Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) federal eviction moratorium and the state’s residential eviction moratorium extensions through June 30th has given many North Carolinians much needed…
Read MoreAccording to a new report from the nonpartisan nonprofit, Represent Us, North Carolina is one of several states at “extreme risk” for political gerrymandering. In total, the report finds that 35 states have an extreme or high threat of gerrymandering — that’s over 188 million Americans or 70 percent of the nation facing potential voter…
Read MoreLast week, Democrats in the North Carolina General Assembly introduced four bills that would protect LGBTQ North Carolinians from discrimination, violence, and harassment. The ground-breaking package of LGBTQ-inclusive bills, called the Equality for All Act, establishes statewide nondiscrimination protections, bans on “conversion therapy” and the “gay/trans panic” defense, and a full repeal of HB142. From…
Read MoreIn honor of Women’s History Month, Progress NC Action is highlighting women who have fostered change, encouraged debate and have transformed our state through their contributions to arts, sciences, politics, etc. Similar to the women highlighted in previous blog posts, Patsy Takemoto Mink was no stranger to firsts. Mink was the first woman of color…
Read MoreThe federal pandemic relief bill contains a big carrot to expand Medicaid. Will North Carolina bite?
Today marks the 11th anniversary of the passage of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) — a law that reformed the health care system and allowed more than 20 million Americans to gain coverage. Although the law passed over a decade ago, North Carolina remains one of the 12 states that have not adopted Medicaid expansion…
Read MoreAmid one of the worst public health crises faced by the state and nation on top of rampant GOP voter suppression tactics, North Carolina set records last November in the number of people eligible to vote, people who cast ballots and saw a drastic increase in voter turnout. From WRAL: More than 57,000 individuals responded…
Read MoreDurham-based civil rights activist Rev. Dr. Pauli Murray, was the first Black person to earn a doctorate in law from Yale Law School, a founder of the National Organization for Women and the first Black woman to be ordained an Episcopal priest. As a Black, queer, southern woman, Murray fought for racial and gender equality,…
Read More