Comprehensive Report Card on State
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NEW Hold Lawmakers Accountable: CARD REPORT Did They Really Do That? INSIDE t Your See Wha r Did Legislato TAX THE POOR AND CUTS FOR SCHOOLS, HEALTH, VOTING . NC legislators passed the most radical laws in years This REPORT CARD lets you see the impact of elections. The winners can pass laws that Photo by Phil Fonville, philfonville.com change lives and that are far more extreme One of 13 Moral Mondays: Veterans with flags lead Rev. Barber and scores of North Carolinians than promised. Inside, you will see how into the General Assembly w here they present their grievances to law makers – and are arrested. each legislator voted on 20 ratified bills. Public outrage defeated some bills and altered From Moral Mondays to Forward Together others. We must continue to educate, organize, speak up, hold officials accountable, and vote! The Rev. Dr. William J. Barber II Our Job As Dissenters Here’s a short list of the damage done in 2013 asked to meet with Republican legis- Called to Act lative leaders with a delegation from Excerpts from remarks by (based of a list from NC Policy Watch): the NAACP and Historic Thousands on Rev. Barber on June 30, 2013 “We are called to a dee ply moral and constitutional • 170,000: number of workers entitled to Jones Street (H K on J) coalition, but At this moment in history we are vision of society. This vision federal emergency unemployment benefits they refused. After more letters and being called once again to answer the demands that public policies who will lose them due to changes in NC's rallies, nonviolent civil disobedience question of the psalmist, “Who will focus on justice for all and unemployment system. began in April. Moral Monday crowds rise up for me against the evildoers. grew and arrests reached over 900 by Who will stand up for me against the care for the common good. ” • 500,000: number of low-income adults the end of the 2013 legislative ses- workers of iniquity?” - Rev. Dr. W illiam J. Barber II, denied health care cov erag e under sion. Who will challenge the wrongs of President, NC NAACP Obamacare because of NC’s decision. Now, the organizing goes home to injustice? Who will dissent? • 907,000: number of low-wage workers let people know what happened in Somebody must stand and say it Raleigh, hold the elected leaders ac- doesn’t matter what party is in It is extreme to play F racking for affected by NC ending its Earned Income Tax Dollars with our g round water! Credit. countable, and build support for: power. There are some things that • Educational equality & quality; transcend politics and the narrow It is extreme to dismantle our • 80%: percent of taxpayers who will receive a • Economic sustainability, good categories of liberal versus conserva- public schools in order to hand them over private companies! tax increase thanks to this legislature. jobs, and labor rights; tive. There are some things that must We raise our dissent knowing • Healthcare and environmental be challenged because they are • $10,000: average amount millionaires will that this movement is about the justice for all; wrong, extreme, and immoral: get from the tax changes enacted this year. moral fabric of our entire society. • An end to discrimination in the It is extreme for any state but espe- People of all races and ages are • 5,200: number of teaching positions lost criminal justice system; cially a Southern state to make it coming together to fight against a under the approv ed state budg et. • Human rights and voting rights. harder for citizens to vote! dangerous agenda of extremism. Look on the back cover of this Re- It is extreme to cut Medicaid for • 4,580: number of teacher assistants positions We dissent because we are port Card for ways to expand this more than 500,000 people! cut in budget. fighting for the type of democracy Forward Together movement based It is extreme to raise taxes on that places the common g ood at • 15: number of years it takes a NC school on a moral and constitutional com- 900,000 working citizens in order to the center of public policy: We teacher with a BA degree to earn $40,000. mitment to “the good of the whole.” cut taxes for the wealthiest families! must have a society that articu- Here are excerpts from a talk It is extreme to reseg regate our • 50: rank of NC in average teacher salary lates the connection between the Rev. Barber gave in June to those ar- schools and eliminate preschool for increase over the past 10 years. moral call for justice and constitu- rested during Moral Monday: more than 30,000 poor children! • $10 million: public funds allocated for the tional call for the common g ood. first time in a NC state budget for private The greatest myth of our time school vouchers. is the notion that extreme policies harm a small subset of people, • 15: number of NC’s 16 abortion clinics such as people of color. However, subject to be closed after passage of new these policies harm us all. What comprehensiv e anti-abortion law. we’ve seen here and elsewhere is • 50%: percent African Americans are more wealthy extremists playing on the lik ely not to have a photo I D than whites. fears of working-class and white people. We’ve seen ultraconserva- • 7: number of days sliced off E arly V oting tive politicians (and donors) adopt- period, even thoug h 56% of v oters used it in ing a divide-and-conquer strategy, 2012. causing many people to vote • 25%: increase in contribution limits private against their own interests. Our donors can give candidates. job is to unpack the truth about these extreme policies and how • Zero: options judicial candidates have for Photo by Phil Fonville, philfonville.com they adversely impact ALL people. running a campaign without relying on priv- During a prayer, a diversity of Moral Monday participants holds a Dissenters help destroy the ate funds, now that public financing is dead. letter asking Gov. Pat McCrory for a meeting. He did not grant it. myths of delusion and domination. page 2 Report Card: The NC House How To Read This Chart The Grade is based on whether the legislator voted against the bills described in Average Grade the box below that became law. The higher the legislator’s Grade, the better! for NC House: 34 The Grade number equals the percent of the votes the legislator cast that are against the bad bills, minus two points for each vote missed. Find the legislators in your county using the chart on page 5. (See the Senators’ Grades on the pages 6-7). t i r id s s d o a e e ls n The symbols in the chart show how e o t g ls g p r io p n s o o e d t u t C e n s n g t - s r e a o c u r s the legislator voted on the bill e o i j g n a a n x e o g h h h w t a io i l g a g f m r c a in t u o a d y c c l s e e t h a s f r c e T n d o s u n s c g l g u a i l h n r n J i o e t c = voted against bad bill b a l n e a n d p c o e u t b r c i h c i t e l p g e r e i t t g a i i a t e k te c m n a r i o t e c n d c - c e g t = voted for bad bill a r x e a iv a c r u e d d o a a e e h o is f r t a a n o l r r a o r a a n r D P W S E F D B F E T M U L P C P R U S = did not vote Distr House Member Party Grade 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 58 Alma Adams Dem 98 107 Kelly Alexander Jr. Dem 82 20 BAD LAWS 69 Dean Arp Rep 0 40 Marilyn Avila Rep 0 1. State Budget (S-402). The $20.6 billion 32 Nathan Baskerville Dem 98 budget lays off about 4,000 teacher assistants, increases class size, freezes 10 John R. Bell IV Rep 5 teacher pay, ends their tenure and extra 21 Larry M. Bell Dem 90 pay for advanced degrees, diverts $10 86 Hugh Blackwell Rep 9 million from public to private (including religious) schools through vouchers, and 62 John M. Blust Rep 10 cuts 2,400 slots for pre-K programs. It 52 James L. Boles Jr. Rep 0 raises co-pays and cuts eligible doctor 60 Marcus Brandon Dem 77 visits in half for Medicaid enrollees; cuts 95 C. Robert Brawley Rep 15 funds for minority economic develop- 103 William Brawley Rep 0 ment prog rams and distressed commu- nities, for Prisoner Legal Services and for 22 William D. Brisson Dem 37 related services. It fails to invest savings 55 Mark Brody Rep 0 from closing prisons in community 9 Brian Brown Rep 5 treatment programs to reduce recidivism; 81 Rayne Brown Rep 3 it underfunds mental health programs; 88 Rob Bryan Rep 0 and more.