Lawmakers have introduced companion bills – House Bill 7 (HB7) and Senate Bill 14 (SB14) – that would make changes to the state’s existing Savings Reserve Account, commonly referred to as the Rainy Day Fund.
The upcoming biennial budget debate will be the first one since all of the tax changes written into statute in 2013 have gone into effect, and budget writers will once again feel the constraints of a state tax code that fails to support smart public investments that allow all communities in the state to thrive.
We now know that TANF has failed to deliver on either one of these promises. TANF, in fact, has had the opposite effect. The cash assistance program that existed under AFDC has nearly disappeared and struggling families are finding it harder to find work that pays a living wage.
The long-term impact of child abuse—and Adverse Childhood Experiences—is far-reaching; without a commitment to prevention and to effective systems and support for treatment, the effects of childhood abuse can generate a host of lifetime personal and societal costs.
The $22.9 billion state budget proposed by the Senate for the upcoming 2018 fiscal year and the $23.4 billion budget for the following year reflects an aggressive pursuit of tax cuts for the wealthy and profitable corporations in spite of increased uncertainty around federal funding to North Carolina and growing unmet needs in communities across the state.
We need to guarantee that when people do hit hard times, they do not go without the basics, including medical care. That’s why state lawmakers need to strengthen, not weaken, Medicaid.
North Carolina is committed to being a military-friendly state, which is why it is important that proper policy is applied to the quality of life of veterans. Thousands of North Carolina veterans struggle daily with unemployment, homelessness, hunger and the lack of health insurance. Calling attention to these shortcomings and addressing them with sound public policy is the best salute we can offer to our heroes.
Since 2013, state lawmakers have passed significant income tax cuts that largely benefit the state’s highest income earners and profitable corporations. These costly tax cuts have made the state’s tax system more upside-down by delivering the greatest income tax cuts to the state’s highest income taxpayers, while maintaining a heavier tax load on low- and middle-income taxpayers.
The $22.9 billion state budget proposed by the House for the upcoming 2018 fiscal year reflects a missed opportunity to embrace smart public investments and prepare for federal uncertainty brought on by cost shifts in Medicaid and food assistance, among other core public program and service cuts to the state from the federal level.
The final 2018 federal budget will play out in state budgets over the 2018-19 fiscal years and for decades moving forward. Each year, state policymakers will have to make decisions within the context of the framework set forward by the federal budget which would dramatically change the federal and state contract that seeks to protect the health, well-being and financial security of our nation.
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