Posts

GOP budget standoff drags through its second month

By Eleanore Wood / August 20, 2019 / Comments Off on GOP budget standoff drags through its second month

The cost of GOP budget inaction is about $42,000 per day, or about a million dollars and counting. Legislative Republicans can either hold an override vote or return to the negotiating table, but instead, they’re doing neither while pointing fingers at the governor. Enough House Democrats have pledged to sustain Gov. Cooper’s budget veto that Republicans have…

Read More

NC House Dems to GOP leaders: You don’t have the votes for budget override

By Eleanore Wood / August 13, 2019 / Comments Off on NC House Dems to GOP leaders: You don’t have the votes for budget override

Summer is almost over, and in a couple of weeks, kids will head back to school. But our state budget still hangs in limbo as Republicans continue to refuse to negotiate.  Last week, House Democrats published a pledge to sustain Gov. Cooper’s budget veto which was signed by 51 of 55 House Democrats — all…

Read More

Ten budget questions for NC Senate President Phil Berger & NC House Speaker Tim Moore at head-in-sand university tour

By Logan Smith / August 13, 2019 / Comments Off on Ten budget questions for NC Senate President Phil Berger & NC House Speaker Tim Moore at head-in-sand university tour

As the state legislature’s GOP leaders visits NC A&T and UNC-Greensboro on Tuesday, the budget standoff continues as GOP leaders deny reality of need to compromise GREENSBORO — More than five weeks after Gov. Roy Cooper submitted a compromise budget proposal to Republican leaders with no response, NC Senate President Phil Berger and NC House…

Read More

Progressives slam Brockman at budget town hall in High Point

By Logan Smith / August 6, 2019 / Comments Off on Progressives slam Brockman at budget town hall in High Point

Last week, Progress NC and a number of other organizations including the Guilford Co. Association of Educators, the NC Black Alliance, and Indivisible Guilford County, held a budget town hall in High Point with local lawmakers. Sen. Michael Garrett, Rep. Amos Quick, and Rep. Ashton Clemmons all promised to stand up for public schools by…

Read More

GOP budget standoff holding up state employee raises, school budgets

By Eleanore Wood / July 31, 2019 / Comments Off on GOP budget standoff holding up state employee raises, school budgets

Three weeks into the GOP budget standoff, July paychecks are going out for many state employees whose pay raises are being delayed by Republican leaders’ unwillingness to negotiate. However, those paychecks aren’t the only things left in limbo by the GOP budget standoff. With the 2019-20 school year approaching, school districts are having to make…

Read More

GOP House member’s resignation makes state budget veto override even more unlikely

By Logan Smith / July 26, 2019 / Comments Off on GOP House member’s resignation makes state budget veto override even more unlikely

Gov. Cooper offered a budget compromise more than two weeks ago. GOP response? No negotiation. No votes to override Cooper veto. And now only fewer GOP votes to count on. RALEIGH — It has been more than two weeks since Gov. Cooper offered a budget compromise to Republican leaders after vetoing their budget proposal, but…

Read More

GOP may try to ram their budget through the General Assembly this week

By Eleanore Wood / July 25, 2019 / Comments Off on GOP may try to ram their budget through the General Assembly this week

With GOP leadership telling their caucus to expect budget votes this week, Republican lawmakers are once again trying to ram through a budget which does not address the concerns of hard-working North Carolina families or our valued educators. Instead of expanding Medicaid and investing in our schools and our students, the politicians are trying to…

Read More

Newly-revealed opioid database spotlights the need for Medicaid expansion in rural areas

By Logan Smith / July 23, 2019 / Comments Off on Newly-revealed opioid database spotlights the need for Medicaid expansion in rural areas

DEA database shows over 2.5 BILLION pain pills sold in NC from 2006-2012, mostly in rural areas represented by anti-Medicaid lawmakers RALEIGH — A new DEA database published by the Washington Post last week tracks each and every pain pill sold in the United States, giving us a precise look at exactly which communities are the hardest…

Read More

Ms: Charlotte Passes Noise Restriction, Improving Abortion Clinic Access and Protecting Patients

By Eleanore Wood / July 23, 2019 / Comments Off on Ms: Charlotte Passes Noise Restriction, Improving Abortion Clinic Access and Protecting Patients

A huge victory for abortion rights activists in Charlotte was years in the making. A step forward in this important fight for abortion access. From Ms. Magazine: The quiet buffer zone noise ordinance passed by the City Council of Charlotte, North Carolina, prohibits the use of loudspeakers, bull-horns and megaphones within 150 feet of medical facilities,…

Read More

Berger leaves the country as GOP leaders refuse to negotiate budget standoff

By Eleanore Wood / July 18, 2019 / Comments Off on Berger leaves the country as GOP leaders refuse to negotiate budget standoff

North Carolina’s budget standoff continues into its third week as NC Republicans refuse to negotiate with Gov. Cooper or legislative Democrats. As of Monday, July 22nd, Gov. Cooper presented GOP leaders with a counter-offer 14 days ago. GOP response?  Zippo. Republicans won’t even come to the table. Instead of working with the governor to agree…

Read More