Crossover passes by at the NCGA

Hello,

The House will begin the budget process on our side starting this week, with the full budget rolled out in committees next week. Stay tuned for updates on what it contains and how the process will play out after it leaves our Chamber.

This week, House and Senate Democrats joined together to mark the crossover deadline. Leader Reives kicked the press conference off. Full remarks are copied below. You can watch a video of my remarks here.

Good morning, and thank you for being here. I am glad to be here alongside some of my colleagues in the House and Senate caucuses to share with you some of the many priorities that went unaddressed this Legislative Session.

Last week marked the crossover deadline, a point at which most legislation must pass one of either the House or Senate to be considered for the rest of this legislative session. It won’t be a shock to many of you that nearly every bill filed by Democrats was sent to the respective Rules committees to die. 

For those in the public who are unaware, just because we file legislation does not mean it gets a hearing. I think that North Carolinians deserve at least that -- to be heard. Because my colleagues and I collectively represent millions of people who in some ways have no voice in this legislature. That’s wrong. 

I don’t believe that either party has a monopoly on good ideas. We certainly work together on legislation that can move our state forward, but there are people in these caucuses who have had very different lives and upbringings than the folks in the majority. And those people represent North Carolinians who have had similar stories. Their voices and their priorities deserve to be heard in Raleigh just as much. 

We’ve filed bills that cover every aspect of life in North Carolina, and how we think it might be improved. There are bills dead in Rules today that would provide economic relief to working families. That would cut taxes for the middle class. That would protect your right to make decisions about your own body. Bills that would protect consumers, build up small businesses and ensure that everyone gets a fair paycheck for their hard work. And bills to ensure that our elections are safe, secure and cannot be overturned just because of the winner’s political party.

This just scratches the surface of the ideas that will be covered today. We are here to fight for you and your families. At bare minimum, these ideas deserve to be scrutinized, debated and considered in committees. I am happy to work with anyone who wants to help make North Carolina a better place. I believe the bills you see on these posters today represent missed opportunities, if not to enact every idea here than to at least start the discussion on where we can find common ground. 

As I said at the top of this discussion, there are millions of North Carolinians represented by Democrats in the House and Senate here in Raleigh. These ideas deserve to be heard not for the sake of us as legislators, but for the people who have entrusted us to be their representatives in this legislature.

You can read coverage of the press conference from WRAL, WUNC and NC Newsline.

Below is an excerpt from an op-ed published on Chapelboro’s website. The Senate budget proposed cutting all funding for the Innocence Inquiry Commission.

As a former prosecutor and a current defense attorney, I can attest to the value that [the Innocence Inquiry Commission] provides for North Carolinians. The last thing that anyone working in the criminal justice system wants is for someone to be wrongfully convicted. It flies in the face of our expectations as Americans that everyone should get a fair shake, particularly when people’s lives are on the line. That is why gutting the Innocence Inquiry Commission is a bridge too far for me.

In the scheme of our state budget, the commission barely makes a dent in our bottom line. WRAL reckons the annual budget of $1.6 million accounts for 0.005% of the state budget. That is a lot of money to you or me, but in the pursuit of justice for the wrongfully convicted, I believe it is entirely justified. There are far more appropriate places to trim the fat when it comes to state spending.

Continued on WCHL’s website here

I was proud to join as a primary co-sponsor of House Bill 569 which passed the House of Representatives overwhelmingly, 104-3. In a statement to WHQR, Wilmington’s NPR station, I said: 

"I was glad to see the House overwhelmingly support the PFAS Pollution and Polluter Liability bill. North Carolinians should not be held accountable for the bad actions of polluters. This is common sense legislation to improve the quality of our water and I am hopeful that the Senate will do the right thing and get this bill to Governor Stein's desk.”

Despite all the partisanship you see in the General Assembly, there are still some problems we can solve working together. 

You can read more coverage of the bill from WUNC and WHQR.

Carolina Public Press published a great article highlighting the efforts of UNC Health Chatham and their maternity care. Across North Carolina, ten hospitals have had to cut maternity care over the past decade. But in Siler City, UNC Health reopened a maternity care center that had been closed since 1991. Projections suggest that hundreds of babies will be delivered this year. And the average travel distance for pregnant women was nearly cut in half, down to 16 miles. Let’s hope this trend continues and that more North Carolina mothers have easy access to maternity care.

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