News & Views podcast

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News & Views

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Conversations with prominent state and national newsmakers – politicians, advocates, analysts, academics and activists — about the news, events and public policy debates that shape life in North Carolina.

102 episoder

#North Carolina #News #NC Policy Watch #Politics

News & Views

updated for ca. et år siden

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102 episoder

#North Carolina #News #NC Policy Watch #Politics

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1
Congresswoman Deborah Ross on the tumultuous first weeks of the new Trump administration 12:55

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Congresswoman Deborah Ross (NC-02) (Photo: House.gov) Whether it was his intention or not, Donald Trump has undoubtedly caused more havoc in the first few weeks of his second administration than any president in U.S. history. The sheer volume of orders, directives, memos, and PR stunts — many of them contradictory and half-baked — has given rise to an atmosphere of widespread fear and anxiety. Fortunately, a large and fast growing group of advocates and elected leaders is pushing back. And one of the most thoughtful and articulate members of that group is Triangle-area U.S. Rep. Deborah Ross. Ross (NC-02) spoke eloquently at a January rally in Raleigh opposing Trump’s scheme to freeze trillions of dollars in federal appropriations and grants, and as she told NC Newsline’s Rob Schofield, she and her fellow Democrats in Congress and in state government have only just begun to fight. Click here to listen to the full interview with Congresswoman Deborah Ross .…

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NC NAACP’s Deborah Dicks Maxwell on Jefferson Griffin’s effort to overturn the election he lost 11:17

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Deborah Dicks Maxwell (Photo courtesy of the NC NAACP) Few political controversies in North Carolina loom larger right now than the effort of Republican state Supreme Court candidate Jefferson Griffin to overturn the election he lost last fall to Democratic incumbent Allison Riggs. Griffin still wants the ballots of more than 60,000 disproportionately Black and young voters thrown out on technical grounds and recently, in response, Deborah Dicks Maxwell, the president of the North Carolina NAACP, penned a power essay condemning the purge idea as a dangerous ploy that threatens lasting damage to our state. This past week, Newsline caught up with Maxwell from her Wilmington home where she displayed a sign reading “1898” — a reminder of the horrific racist coup perpetrated on that city many years ago in the aftermath of another controversial election. Click here to listen to the full interview with the NC NAACP President Deborah Dicks Maxwell.…

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Dr. Lauren Fox of the Public School Forum on NC’s top education issues 14:20

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Lauren Fox, Senior Director, Policy & Research, Public School Forum (Photo: ncforum.org) At the start of the 2025 state legislative session, few needs in our state stand out as more obvious and dire than the ones we see in our public schools. From teacher pay to facilities to student well-being to the way we track performance in and demand accountability from the schools we fund, public education in our state continues to reel from almost a decade and a half of legislative neglect. And while Republican legislative leaders continue to display little interest in reversing this pattern of neglect this year, the needs are no mystery. Indeed, the nonpartisan Public School Forum of North Carolina recently released a short, sweet and obvious list of public education priorities that would, if followed, make a huge and positive impact, and recently NC Newsline caught up with one of the experts who crafted it, the Forum’s Senior Director for Policy & Research, Dr. Lauren Fox. Read the Top Education Issues for the current biennium. Click here to listen to the full interview with Dr. Lauren Fox.…

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Lynn Bonner on the ongoing efforts of a NC Supreme Court candidate to have 60,000+ ballots discarded 10:21

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File photo of Lynn Bonner/ Photo of State Supreme Court signage by Clayton Henkel The big political story in North Carolina right now continues to revolve around the unsettled election for a seat on state Supreme Court. Multiple recounts confirmed that the incumbent justice, Democrat Allison Riggs, was the narrow winner over Republican challenger Jefferson Griffin, but nearly three months after Election Day, Griffin has yet to concede. Instead, he’s gone to court in an effort to have the ballots cast by more than 60,000 registered voters thrown out on a variety of technical grounds, in hopes it will reverse the election results. Last week, a new chapter in the saga unfolded when the federal Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals heard arguments over whether the matter should be decided in state or federal court, and the day after arguments were heard, Newsline’s Rob Schofield caught up with veteran reporter Lynn Bonner, to discuss where things stand and what might be next. Click here for the full interview with reporter Lynn Bonner. Read more of Bonner’s reporting here.…

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SEANC’s Ardis Watkins on the state health plan and the possibility of big premium hikes

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SEANC Executive Director Ardis Watkins (Courtesy photo) One group that’s suffered the most in recent years as a result of the pennywise pound foolish fiscal policies of the North Carolina General Assembly are our state employees. Thanks to massive revenue declines resulting from repeated tax cuts for corporations and the wealthy, state employee salaries have lagged, and job vacancies and worker stress have soared. Now comes word of more potential bad news. According to the new state Treasurer, Republican Brad Briner, the State Health Plan on which so many state employees and their dependents rely is deep in the red and enrollees could see big premium hikes of as much as 15%. So, what, if anything can be done? NC Newsline recently caught up with State Employees Association of North Carolina (SEANC) executive director Ardis Watkins, who told us while an infusion of cash from lawmakers would help, so too would an infusion of transparency from the corporate health insurance industry. Click here to listen to our full interview with State Employees Association of North Carolina executive director Ardis Watkins.…

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Natural Resources Defense Council’s Drew Ball on Trump’s plans to end wind energy projects 11:57

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Drew Ball, Natural Resources Defense Council (Photo: Screengrab from NC Newsline interview) Wind energy. Whether it’s offshore or on land, wind energy is a booming and enormously promising industry that can play a big role in ending our heroin-like addiction to fossil fuels. What’s more, because of its geography, North Carolina is extremely well-positioned to benefit from its growth. Tragically and bizarrely, however, the Trump administration is trying to halt wind energy development and recently, Newsline got a chance to learn how and what it will mean if they’re successful in a conversation with the North Carolina-based southeast campaigns director for the Natural Resources Defense Council, Drew Ball. Click here to listen to our full interview with Drew Ball.…

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The new leader of NC Senate Democrats, Sen. Sydney Batch, previews the 2025 legislative session 15:33

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Sen. Sydney Batch (Photo: NCGA) As the North Carolina General Assembly prepares to begin its 2025 session in earnest this week, Senate Democrats have a new leader. After several years at the helm, veteran Raleigh lawmaker and former state House Speaker Dan Blue recently turned over the reins to another member of the Wake County delegation — State Senator Sydney Batch. Batch, an accomplished attorney who lives in Apex, is the first woman of color to serve as a party leader in the legislature, and as quickly became obvious during a recent conversation we had, she’s a smart and tough politician who will bring a refreshing surge of energy to a delegation that’s long been wrongfully consigned to minority status as a result of partisan gerrymandering. Click here to listen to NC Newsline’s full interview with Leader Batch.…

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Political scientist Chris Cooper on Trump 2.0 and NC’s yet to be decided state Supreme Court race 13:39

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WCU political scientist Chris Cooper (Screengrab from News & Views interview) As everyone knows by now, Donald Trump is president of the United States again. And while there are obviously many Americans who welcome this news and see Trump as a victim, a hero, and someone who will somehow restore “greatness” to the nation, for millions of others, the chief emotions that Trump’s return has spurred are fear and anxiety over what the country might come to resemble under a president who embraces a brand authoritarian rule the nation has never before experienced. And yet, despite these deeply conflicting views and emotions, politics, elections, and law and policymaking will go on and recently, Newsline’s Rob Schofield got a chance to check in with someone who keeps track of such things in our state better than just about anyone else, Western Carolina University political scientist, Professor Chris Cooper. Click here to list to the full interview with Professor Chris Cooper.…

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Duke OB/GYN Dr. Beverly Gray on reproductive healthcare and Gov. Stein’s efforts to protect it 12:26

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Duke Health OB/GYN Dr. Beverly Gray (Photo: Courtesy of Scholars@Duke) Few policy debates received more attention in last November’s election than reproductive freedom. Strangely, however, despite widespread evidence that significant majorities favor abortion rights and the right to contraception — see for example the results of numerous ballot initiatives — Republicans opposed to reproductive freedom managed to win the presidency and control of the new Congress and to maintain control of the North Carolina legislature. So, what does all this mean? How are women and the physicians who hope to serve them faring in the states where abortion rights have been limited or eliminated? And will North Carolina Gov. Josh Stein’s recent executive order that seeks to protect physicians and patients help? Recently, Duke Health OB/GYN Dr. Beverly Gray — who co-hosts the new podcast “ Outlawed ” — joined NC Newsline to discuss these and other questions. Click here to listen to our full interview with Dr. Beverly Gray.…

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Eliza Sweren-Becker of the Brennan Center on Jefferson Griffin’s efforts to discard 60,000+ ballots 15:46

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Attorney Eliza Sweren-Becker of the national Brennan Center for Justice (Courtesy photo) The big political news story in North Carolina right now revolves around the yet unsettled election for a seat on state Supreme Court. Multiple counts confirmed that the incumbent justice, Democrat Allison Riggs, was the narrow winner over Republican challenger Jefferson Griffin. But more than two months after Election Day, Griffin has yet to concede. Instead, he’s gone to court in an effort to have the ballots cast by more than 60,000 registered voters thrown out on a variety of technical grounds, in hopes it will reverse the election results. It’s a remarkably audacious strategy that has spurred numerous citizen protests and additional lawsuits, and as we learned in a recent conversation with attorney Eliza Sweren-Becker of the national Brennan Center for Justice, it’s also something that has many observers deeply concerned about the precedent it could establish for elections across the nation. Sweren-Becker serves as senior counsel in the Brennan Center’s Voting Rights and Elections Program. Click here to listen to our full interview with Eliza Sweren-Becker of the national Brennan Center for Justice.…

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ITEP Senior Analyst Marco Guzman on the big hits to the economy that mass deportation could bring 12:20

for 14 weeks siden12:20

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Marco Guzman (Courtesy photo) Among the actions that the new Trump administration is expected to make a top priority in the coming days is an aggressive new mass deportation initiative targeting the nation’s millions of undocumented immigrants. It’s a plan that may sound superficially appealing to many Americans, but as we learned in a recent conversation NC Newsline had with Marco Guzman — a Senior Policy Analyst with the nonpartisan Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy – it’s also a plan that will, if implemented, bring a host of unwanted consequences. As Guzman explained, not only is it likely that numerous key economic sectors will suddenly find themselves without an adequate workforce, but because undocumented people pay billions of dollars in taxes – even as they’re ineligible for most government services – it’s likely that both the federal and state governments will suffer big revenue hits. Click here to listen to the full interview with Guzman. Read ITEP’s report here .…

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NC Budget and Tax Center researcher Logan Rockefeller Harris on the the 2025 Living Income Standard 14:46

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Logan Rockefeller Harris (Courtesy photo) For 30 years now, the nonpartisan North Carolina Budget and Tax Center has been our state’s preeminent research nonprofit in the fields of fiscal and economic policy, and in recent years one of its signature products has been the biennial Living Income Standard report . The report documents what it actually costs for families of various sizes to make ends meet in all of the state’s 100 counties. Recently the group released its 2025 report and as Newsline’s Rob Schofield learned in a conversation with the author – BTC Research Manager Logan Rockefeller Harris – the report shows once again why both the federal government definition of poverty and North Carolina’s minimum wage law are hopelessly out of date. Click here to listen to our full interview with Harris. Click here to read the 2025 Living Income Standard report. The 2025 Living Income Standard (LIS) captures how much income working people and families need to afford basic expenses. (Source: NC Budget & Tax Center)…

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NC League of Conservation Voters’ Dan Crawford on building on NC’s environmental accomplishments 14:33

for 15 weeks siden14:33

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North Carolina League of Conservation Voters Director of Governmental Relations Dan Crawford (Photo: nclcv.org) As has been the case for several years now, at the start of 2025, no single issue poses a greater threat to the long-term well-being of North Carolinians – and indeed, all Americans — than the global climate crisis. From the economy to public health to natural disasters to immigration to species extinction, global warming from fossil fuel use is rapidly and negatively transforming our planet. Fortunately, all hope is not lost. As North Carolina League of Conservation Voters Director of Governmental Relations Dan Crawford explained in a recent e xcellent op-ed for NC Newsline , North Carolina has made a good deal of encouraging progress on the environmental policy front in recent years and is poised to build on those accomplishments in 2025. And recently we caught up with Dan to learn what some of our priorities should be in the new year. Listen to our full interview with Dan Crawford here.…

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Duke University Prof. Brandon Garrett on recent commutations and the future of the death penalty 14:01

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Duke Law Professor Brandon Garrett (Courtesy photo) There are a lot of reasons that the death penalty is almost never imposed anymore. Not only is it hugely and uniquely expensive to apply and proven to be of no use in deterring crime, but stacks of evidence also confirm it has long been applied unjustly. Tragically, the death penalty is mostly reserved for cases involving defendants who are poor and of color and victims who are white and there are many cases in which the horror of innocent people being sentenced to death has occurred. Both President Biden and former Gov. Roy Cooper lent further momentum to the death penalty’s slow but steady decline recently with a series of death row commutations, and as Newsline learned in a recent conversation with the head of the Wilson Center for Science and Justice at Duke University Law School, Professor Brandon Garrett, we’ve reached a point here in North Carolina and around the country at which the death penalty’s full abolition is now on the horizon. Click here to listen to our full interview with Garrett.…

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Jennifer Roberts of the Carter Center’s Strengthening Democracy Project on Jimmy Carter’s legacy 15:45

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Jennifer Roberts (Courtesy photo) Last week the nation paused to honor the life and legacy of former President Jimmy Carter. Carter died December 29, 2024 at the age of 100, and while opinions vary as to how successful his one term in the White House was, there’s a widespread consensus that no president in American history enjoyed a more productive or successful post-presidency. In an array of important areas – promoting democracy and fair elections, combating poverty and disease, championing human rights – Carter worked long, hard, successfully and with great humility to build a better world. And recently NC Newsline got a chance to discuss some of that work with someone who knows it intimately – the co-leader of the Carter Center’s Strengthening Democracy Project in North Carolina, former Charlotte mayor Jennifer Roberts. Click here to listen to our full interview with Roberts.…

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Newsline political reporter Galen Bacharier on Roy Cooper’s legacy and the new Stein administration 12:02

for 16 weeks siden12:02

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Galen Bacharier (File photo) A new year is upon us and with it, some important changes in state government. As a result of the November election, North Carolina now has several new leaders serving on its Council of State – most notably a new governor. After eight years in the governor’s mansion and nearly 40 in elected office, Roy Cooper has exited public service – at least for a while – and turned over the reins of state government to his successor, Gov. Josh Stein. But before he departed, Cooper took a bit of a victory lap to celebrate his administration’s accomplishments and to drop some hints about what might be next in his career. And recently, I got a chance to discuss Cooper’s farewell, the possibility that he’ll seek another office next year, and some of the things that North Carolinians can expect from the Stein administration in a conversation I had with my colleague, NC Newsline politics reporter Galen Bacharier. Click here to listen to the full interview. Read more of Galen Bacharier’s reporting here .…

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Outgoing DHHS Sec. Kody Kinsley on NC’s health and accomplishments from his three years at the helm 28:45

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Kody Kinsley, outgoing secretary of the NC Department of Health and Human Services. (Photo: DHHS) Gov. Roy Cooper’s second four-year term as our state’s chief executive has come to a close, and if there’s one accomplishment from that period that stands out above all others it was his tireless and ultimately successful campaign to expand the state’s Medicaid program – a move that has saved and will continue to save, quite literally, thousands of lives. Of course, the work to secure Medicaid expansion and its successful implementation was far more than a one-person job. It took hundreds of committed and hardworking state employees to make it happen and the person in charge of that effort on a day-to-day basis was the state’s outgoing Secretary of Health and Human Services, Kody Kinsley. Kinsley served as HHS secretary for the final three years of Cooper’s term, and as NC Newsline learned in a recent conversation with him as he prepared leave office, while he’s enormously satisfied with how Medicaid expansion has gone, he’s also proud of some other accomplishments that will make life better for millions of our state’s most vulnerable residents. Click here to listen to the full interview.…

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NC’s agriculture leaders on the devastating impact of Hurricane Helene in 2024 9:23

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Steven Troxler, commissioner of the NC Department of Agriculture, details the damage caused by Hurricane Helene (Photo: NCGA Screengrab) If there was one story that dominated the news this past year – aside from the election – and left a lasting imprint on North Carolina, it was Hurricane Helene. The storm ravaged western North Carolina in late September causing an estimated $58 billion in damage. Unfortunately, the Republican-controlled legislature passed only modest relief measures in the fall, while pledging that more help would be coming from the federal government in the new year, but that remains in the distance. Meanwhile, the looming question is whether many of affected businesses and households will be able to hang-on until then. State Agriculture Commissioner Steve Troxler told House lawmakers earlier this month that the only way he could describe this year was “absolutely awful.” One industry that makes its money in December and was left reeling by Helene is the state’s Christmas tree industry. Rodney Buchanan, president of the NC Christmas Trees Association, told lawmakers few people appreciate how specialized this business is – and how hard it will be for these family farms to recover. In this segment, we revisit some of the testimony from a recent legislative hearing highlighted the devastating impacts that Hurricane Helene had on agriculture, and we’ll hear some of the powerful testimony.…

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State Rep. Pricey Harrison on the climate crisis and lessons from Helene 9:23

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Rep. Pricey Harrison (Photo: NCGA) The devastation wrought by Hurricane Helene in western North Carolina is rightfully provoking calls for more action than has been forthcoming from state and federal lawmakers, and one area in which one hopes such demands will bear fruit is in planning and prevention. Regrettably, state Republican legislative leaders have repeatedly blocked legislation and rules, and overrode gubernatorial vetoes, designed to protect against the impacts of hurricanes and other storms. Thankfully, advocates have long identified and championed policies that would better prepare our state for the storms that will inevitably come our way (and also combat the climate change that’s helping to drive them) and one of the most knowledgeable is State Rep. Pricey Harrison of Guilford County. And as Rep. Harrison told Newsline during a conversation we had in October, it’s her hope that Hurricane Helene will finally spur her colleagues to action in this long-neglected area. This is a rebroadcast of our interview that originally aired on October 13, 2024…

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Jason Kanawati Stephany of the Food Bank of Central and Eastern North Carolina on food insecurity 13:32

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Jason Kanawati Stephany, Vice President of Communications & Public Policy at Food Bank of Central & Eastern North Carolina This year’s election may have come and gone, but one thing that hasn’t gone anywhere in North Carolina this year is hunger. Especially since congressional Republicans blocked the reauthorization of some key social safety net programs that led to great success during the pandemic, food insecurity has expanded to the point at which more than 560,000 people in our region alone fit this troubling description. And with the recent devastation wrought by Hurricane Helene, things have been even more dire in western North Carolina – a fact that has led the Food Bank of Central and Eastern North Carolina to ship truckloads of goods to the mountains. Earlier this week, we learned more about this effort, the work of the food bank more generally and the need for average folks to become anti-hunger advocates in a conversation with the food bank’s Vice President of Communications and Public Policy, Jason Kanawati Stephany. Click here to learn more about how you can contribute. This is a rebroadcast of our interview that originally aired on November 10, 2024.…

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Stateline reporter Alex Brown on how the new Trump administration may torpedo offshore wind efforts 10:51

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Stateline Reporter Alex Brown (Photo of offshore wind project by John Moore/Getty Images) As the world races to reduce fossil fuel use and carbon pollution in order to combat the climate change crisis, one enormously promising source of non-polluting energy is offshore wind. Indeed, numerous East Coast states are counting on offshore wind projects to power tens of millions of homes and to help them transition to cleaner energy. Unfortunately, as Alex Brown, a national environmental reporter for the website Stateline recently reported , putting wind turbines at sea requires the cooperation of a powerful landlord: the federal government. And soon, that government will be led by President-elect Donald Trump, who has frequently disparaged offshore wind and said he will quote “make sure that ends on Day 1.” Last week, NC Newsline caught up with Brown to learn more about where things stand. Click here to access the full podcast with Alex Brown.…

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Alexandra Sirota on the legislature’s power grab bill and the disinvestment in core public services 14:30

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Alexandra Sirota (Photo: NC Budget & Tax Center) A new law enacted by North Carolina Republican legislators that purports to be about Hurricane Helene relief is, for the most part, anything but. Rather than providing desperately needed relief and recovery dollars to devastated families and businesses, Senate Bill 382 is a 131-page power grab bill that seizes duties from newly elected Democrats and shifts them to Republicans. What’s more, as NC Newsline learned in a recent conversation with Alexandra Sirota – the executive director of the nonpartisan North Carolina Budget and Tax Center — the new law is sadly emblematic of a decade-long pattern in which legislators have repeatedly focused on accumulating power and helping the well-off while neglecting opportunities to make life better for average North Carolinians. Click here to access the full podcast .…

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Erica Palmer Smith on NC’s child care crisis and the challenges ahead for 2025 13:26

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Erica Palmer Smith (File photo) North Carolina remains plagued by a destructive child care crisis that has left many families without options and numerous providers hanging on by a thread. And while basic concerns for children and families should provide plenty of incentive for state leaders to tackle the problem, a new report compiled by experts at the state Department of Commerce and the children’s advocacy group NC Child, provides another compelling reason: the economy. The report finds that if North Carolina adequately funded child care, the state would realize billions of dollars in new economic activity and create thousands of new jobs. And recently we caught up with the executive director of NC Child, Erica Palmer Smith, to learn more about the report and her group’s other legislative priorities for 2025. Click here to access the full podcast .…

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Author Dave Daley on the far right’s 50-year ploy to control American elections 28:29

for 19 weeks siden28:29

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David Daley (Courtesy photo) Over the last several years, few authors have done a better job of digging below the surface to chronicle what’s really going on in American politics – and in particular, the relentless brand of legal and policy hardball played by the Republican party – than David Daley. Daley’s best known book – which featured the provocative title, Ratf**ked– detailed how the political right has used partisan gerrymandering to rig elections and, in effect, disenfranchise millions of voters. In his newest book, he digs even deeper to explain how gerrymandering is just one of the tools employed by Republicans – the other most notably is control of the courts – to cement what can only be described as a distinctly undemocratic brand of minority rule. The book is entitled “ Antidemocratic: Inside the Far Right’s 50-year ploy to control American elections ,” and recently NC Newsline caught up with Daley in his home in Massachusetts to discuss it. Find the direct audio link to our podcast here .…

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Pollster David McLennan discusses Trump policy proposals, voters’ political news sources 13:12

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Meredith College Poll director David McLennan (Photo courtesy Meredith.edu) The 2024 election is now receding quickly in the rear-view mirror, but that doesn’t mean it’s not still interesting and important to understand what voters were and are thinking and, here in North Carolina, that’s where public opinion surveys like the Meredith College Poll come in. In the most recent iteration of the poll, we learned some of what voters are thinking about the election results, as well as some of the issues that were highlighted during the recently concluded campaign — including immigration policy, and diversity, equity and inclusion efforts in higher education. And in what may partially explain some of the regrettably uninformed views many voters hold, the poll made some worrisome findings about where voters get their news. And recently we sat down to discuss all these matters with the poll’s director, Meredith College political science professor, David McLennan. Find the direct audio link to our podcast here .…

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Sue Sturgis of the Energy and Policy Institute discusses Duke Energy’s role in climate change 14:42

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Energy and Policy Institute Research and Communications Manager, Sue Sturgis (File photo) It’s a great tragedy of our time that the global climate change crisis did not emerge suddenly or as a surprise. Indeed, a powerful new report from the nonprofit Energy and Policy Institute highlights the fact that scientists and energy industry leaders foresaw the crisis decades ago. The report is entitled “ Duke Energy Knew ” and it explains in sobering detail how by the 1970s, the utilities that comprise today’s Duke Energy Corporation had early warnings about how burning fossil fuels would lead to climate change. What’s more the report documents how, despite this knowledge, Duke utilities promoted climate change disinformation and opposed legal limits on greenhouse gas emissions. And recently NC Newsline caught up with the report author, Research and Communications Manager for the Energy and Policy Institute, Sue Sturgis.…

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Rev. Rob Stephens of the Poor People’s Campaign on SB 382, the new GOP power grab bill 13:38

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Rev. Rob Stephens speaks during a press conference in Raleigh. (Photo: Greg Childress) The weeks following last month’s election have been anything but quiet in the state legislature. As has become a kind of perverse post-election tradition when Democrats manage to win a few statewide offices or narrow the margin in the state House and Senate, Republican legislative leaders are using a lame duck session to ram through legislation designed to seize more power and effect a significant reorganization of state government. The power grab, which features a 131-page bill with dozens of law changes that was unveiled and passed in just a few hours, was so extreme that it attracted scores of protesters to the Legislative Building to bear witness and voice their outrage, and earlier, NC Newsline caught up with one of the protest leaders, a chief organizer for the Poor People’s Campaign of North Carolina and its sibling organization, Repairers of the Breach, the Rev. Rob Stephens.…

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NC Justice Center policy advocate Rebecca Cerese on the one-year anniversary of Medicaid expansion 14:21

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North Carolina Justice Center’s Health Advocacy Project policy advocate Rebecca Cerese (File photo) The past few years have seldom been a time for celebration in the world of North Carolina policymaking. In numerous subject areas, the state legislature has enacted regressive laws that promote inequality, segregation, and a less sustainable planet. Thankfully, one shining exception to this trend celebrated its one-year anniversary on December first—the expansion of the state’s Medicaid program under the Affordable Care Act. Already, nearly 600,000 North Carolinians have gained access to health insurance and the peace of mind and physical wellbeing that it provides. And this past week NC Newsline sat down with one of the advocates who worked for years to help make expansion a reality — the North Carolina Justice Center’s Health Advocacy Project policy advocate Rebecca Cerese.…

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Common Cause of NC’s Bob Phillips shares his take on the legislature’s latest power grab 15:52

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Common Cause of North Carolina executive director Bob Phillips (File photo) For more than a decade now, despite our state’s impressive record of honest and accurate elections, Republican legislators have passed bill after bill to make casting a ballot harder and more complex for voters and counting them more challenging for election officials. As Newsline’s Rob Schofield discussed in a recent conversation with Bob Phillips of Common Cause North Carolina, another round of changes along these lines is part of the massive government reorganization and power grab bill that Republican legislators recently sent to Gov. Cooper. And just to add insult to injury, the new proposal emerged at almost the same time that Senate Republican leader Phil Berger was wrongfully promoting election paranoia by casting aspersions at election officials and questioning Supreme Court Justice Allison Riggs’ narrow re-election win.…

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State Senator Julie Mayfield on the ongoing recovery needs in western NC 13:06

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Sen. Julie Mayfield (Photo: NCGA) The state legislature returned to Raleigh in late November for a post-election lame duck session, and while most observers had expected lawmakers to focus on overriding a gubernatorial veto of a bill to expand school vouchers and force sheriffs to cooperate with federal immigration officials, along with a third round of hurricane relief for western North Carolina, there was another big surprise in store. While the override did take place, the aid in the relief bill was much smaller than expected and the proposal was loaded down with dozens of controversial and unrelated law changes. Just before Thanksgiving, NC Newsline got a chance to catch up with one of the legislative champions for a more energetic approach to hurricane relief, state Sen. Julie Mayfield of Buncombe County. And as Mayfield told Newsline, the legislature needs to do more to address the acute needs in her part of the state.…

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Janet Singerman and Dr. Kristi Snuggs discuss how to solve NC’s child care crisis 14:43

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Janet Singerman and Dr. Kristi Snuggs, co-leaders of the North Carolina Child Care Resource and Referral Council (Courtesy photos) No industry in our state is, at once, both so critically important and so grievously undervalued as early childhood education. While everyone from the chamber of commerce, to parents, to economists and academics agrees that a robust and healthy child care industry is vitally important for the economy, workers, families and, of course, children, funding remains desperately inadequate. Federal COVID relief dollars provided a vital boost to the industry for a while, but today hundreds of North Carolina child care centers remain in constant peril of closing. Fortunately, the solution to the problem is no mystery. As NC Newsline learned in a recent conversation with the co-leaders of the North Carolina Child Care Resource and Referral Council – Janet Singerman and Dr. Kristi Snuggs – what’s needed is a meaningful and sustained funding commitment from the North Carolina legislature.…

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U.S. Rep. Wiley Nickel on accountability and his proposal for a so-called shadow cabinet 16:01

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U.S. Rep. Wiley Nickel (NC-13) (Courtesy photo) The election of Donald Trump to a second term in the White House has caused a great deal of consternation for many Americans. While all caring and thinking people cling to hope that Trump will concentrate on governing and refrain from the acts of political vengeance and ideological extremism that he forecast during his campaign, the early signs – particularly the remarkably unqualified slate of cabinet nominees he has advanced – have not been encouraging. So how can concerned leaders – Democrats, Republicans and independents – best monitor and respond to Trump’s actions? Recently, North Carolina Congressman Wiley Nickel offered an intriguing suggestion. He proposed that Democrats and their allies borrow an idea from parliamentary systems and form what’s known as a “shadow cabinet” to monitor and respond to the actions of the new Trump administration. And last week NC Newsline caught up with Nickel to discuss the idea. Read Nickel’s recent op-ed in The Washington Post here .…

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Davidson College Prof. Susan Roberts with her assessment of the elections and voter attitudes 15:52

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Davidson College Political Scientist Susan Roberts (Courtesy photo) Across the United States, elected leaders, analysts, pundits, and millions of average Americans are reflecting on and trying to make sense of Donald Trump’s victory in the recent presidential election. This is especially the case in North Carolina, where despite Trump’s win in the state presidential contest, Democrats fared well in statewide and legislative elections. One North Carolina expert who has some interesting and in some respects, outside-the-box takes on this situation (and North Carolina’s status as a so-called purple state) is Davidson College professor of political science Susan Roberts. And this past week, NC Newsline caught up with Professor Roberts at her Davidson office.…

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El Pueblo’s Iliana Santillan discusses the impact of the elections on NC’s immigrant community 14:51

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El Pueblo director Iliana Santillan (File photo) One group of North Carolinians for whom the election is likely to have a significant impact is the immigrant community. With President-elect Trump promising a wave of mass deportations and our state legislature plowing ahead with legislation to force local sheriffs to partner with federal immigration control officials, a new period of uncertainty and upheaval for thousands of families (and the businesses that rely on immigrant workers) appears to be in offing. Despite all this, voter surveys indicate that Trump did better with Latin American voters than some had expected – a fact that illustrates how diverse the Latin American community is. Earlier this week, NC Newsline got a chance to discuss this situation and what’s likely to come next with the leader of one of our state’s leading Latino issues advocacy organizations – the executive director of El Pueblo , Iliana Santillan.…

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Political reporter Galen Bacharier on the ’24 elections and what lies ahead for NC’s governor-elect 11:58

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Galen Bacharier (File photo) While a tiny handful of races have yet to be officially called, we now know the results of the vast majority of contests in the 2024 election and topping the list in North Carolina, of course, is the governor’s office, where attorney general Josh Stein will soon be sworn in as North Carolina’s 76 th chief executive. Earlier this week we sat down with NC Newsline reporter Galen Bacharier to discuss Stein’s landslide victory, the controversies surrounding Republican candidate Mark Robinson and what his future may hold, the potential changes in the North Carolina General Assembly’s composition and the prospects for additional Hurricane Helene relief – both in Raleigh and Washington – prior to year’s end. Read more of Bacharier’s reporting here.…

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Inside Climate News reporter Lisa Sorg on how a new Trump administration may impact the environment 10:36

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Reporter Lisa Sorg (File photo) Donald Trump’s second administration is poised to soon do a great deal of damage in several important areas – including health care, education, reproductive freedom, immigration, foreign policy and the economy. That said, when it comes to the damage that will be truly irreparable, no pledge looms darker or more ominous than Trump’s plan to scuttle efforts to combat climate change. So, where do things stand? Will the federal government now roll back efforts targeting the climate crisis even as its effects grow more devastating each year? And what can we expect from policymakers and polluters in North Carolina? Recently, NC Newsline caught up with Inside Climate News reporter Lisa Sorg to get her takes on these questions and, not surprisingly, the news she delivered was, for the most part, quite sobering. Read more of Sorg’s investigative reporting here .…

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Public School Forum of NC’s Mary Ann Wolf on election outcomes and the impact of public education 15:02

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Mary Ann Wolf (Photo: Public School Forum) Yet another area in which the recent general election is likely to have major impacts is public education. Here in North Carolina, education advocates are hopeful that the combination of a new governor and a slightly different state legislature could lead to a boost in public school funding – something that’s desperately needed given our state’s bottom-of-the-pack rankings in key funding categories, the ongoing shortage of qualified teachers, and the destructive impacts of Hurricane Helene. At the federal level, however, prospects for progress are uncertain at best given President-elect Donald Trump’s stated plan to eliminate the U.S. Department of Education. Recently, in order to get a handle on these developments, NC Newsline sat down with one of our state’s top public education advocates, the President and Executive Director of the Public School Forum of North Carolina, Mary Ann Wolf.…

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U.S. Rep Deborah Ross on bright spots in the 2024 elections and what comes next 11:46

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Congresswoman Deborah Ross (NC-02) (Photo: House.gov) The 2024 election is now mostly in the rear-view mirror, and as we all know by now, huge change is in the offing thanks to the return of Donald Trump. Trump’s election would appear to bode ill for a host of important and successful federal government initiatives of recent years on such matters as health care, environmental protection, education and more. One member of Congress who will be doing her best to defend many of those successful initiatives is Wake County U.S. Rep. Deborah Ross. Ross was reelected by a wide margin this past Tuesday and as she told NC Newsline when we caught up with her the day after Election Day, she’s hopeful that Democrats can add some balance to Washington and that her colleagues will return to Capitol Hill in the next few weeks to provide much more aid for hurricane-impacted areas of western North Carolina.…

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Political scientist Prof. Chris Cooper with takeaways from the 2024 elections 11:34

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Western Carolina University political science professor Chris Cooper (Screengrab from video recording) Even though North Carolinians gave the state’s electoral votes to Donald Trump, last Tuesday was, in many ways, a status quo election in our state, in which very little has changed in the way the two major parties are controlling key levers of power. What’s more, as we learned in a conversation the day after the election with Western Carolina University political science professor Chris Cooper, there is every indication that despite its performance in recent presidential elections, North Carolina remains one of the nation’s most deeply purple states. Cooper shares his takeaways from the November 5th elections.…

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