Take Action

The state budget bill released on Tuesday evening does not include several critical pieces of legislation needed to advance the health and wellbeing of all North Carolinians. The budget put forth does not include Medicaid expansion, which is vital for over 600,000 people in North Carolina who cannot wait any longer for lifesaving health care. It also fails to make the investments necessary to have a constitutional education system, funding barely half of the court-ordered Leandro Plan.

Families with low incomes, people of color, immigrant communities, and all who call our state home deserve a budget that prioritizes the resources they need to thrive.

Contact your lawmakers today and tell them this budget is unacceptable.

The  Pregnant Worker Fairness Act is likely to be voted on in the next couple weeks. This piece of legislation would go a long way in protecting the health and safety of pregnant workers. This is a major opportunity to advance family-friendly workplace policy, and we need to make sure Sen. Tillis knows we are counting on him to support the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act.

North Carolina lawmakers have announced the reintroduction of inclusive legislation that raises the state’s minimum wage from $7.25 an hour to $15 an hour by 2023 and indexes it to the cost of living, ends the subminimum wage for persons with disabilities, phases out the tipped minimum (currently $2.13 an hour) and repeals exemptions for agricultural and domestic workers.

The NC Paid Family Leave Insurance Act and Healthy Families Healthy Workplaces Act would guarantee working North Carolinians access to paid family and medical leave and the ability to earn paid sick days. These policies would allow ALL North Carolinians to be able to choose to be there for our families when it matters most. Let your legislators know why paid leave and paid sick days are important to you.

The systemic problems with our state’s Unemployment Insurance system must be addressed if North Carolina expects to recover quickly and fully from the recession brought on by COVID-19.

Take a moment to send a message on these priorities and concrete steps necessary to fix North Carolina’s Unemployment Insurance system.