nc house

According to new polls conducted by Public Policy Polling for Progress North Carolina, two Cumberland County legislative seats could be very competitive this fall. (These polls are part of a series of surveys designed to answer the question: “Can progressives retake the NC General Assembly?”)

In Senate District 19, incumbent Republican Sen. Wesley Meredith trails potential Democratic challenger and NC House Rep. Diane Parfitt, 37%-40%. Download the complete results for Senate District 19.

In House District 45, a potential matchup between former Republican county commissioner Diane Wheatley and Democratic school board member Kim Fisher is also close. Wheatley leads Fisher, 38%-36%. Download the complete results for House District 45.

It looks like the Legislative mini-session just ended.

During the session, the NC House voted for the gas tax cap, but the Senate said “Screw it. We’re worrying about that in May.” So it looks like the NC Senate has packed their bags and gone home after only really passing one important thing: the repeal of the Racial Justice Act, which now sits on Perdue’s desk.

Normal business, or Legislative sleight-of-hand?:

The House Education Committee voted today to allow up to 50 new charter schools each year and to set minimum enrollment and growth standards.

Okay, it's slightly better than the Senate bill, and it's still got Committee work to be done (Finance). But to push this thing forward today, while all eyes were focused on the hugely controversial Voter ID Card bill, smacks of opportunism and a desire to work in the shadows.

On Monday, both the North Carolina House and Senate adopted resolutions honoring the Boy Scouts of America in recognition of their 101st anniversary yesterday.

Unsurprisingly, neither resolution (House, Senate) mentions the Scouts' anti-gay and religious discrimination against youth members and adult leaders. And, unsurprisingly yet again, not a single member of the legislature had the courage or conviction to vote against the resolution.

Dear state lawmakers, do you actually care about children -- all children -- or just the straight and religious ones?

(Crossposted from InterstateQ.com)

Cross-posted on Amplify
The Healthy Youth Act (HB 88) will be heard on the house floor tomorrow, and there will be a vote either tomorrow or thursday (April 16th). If it passes it will be the most important reproductive rights victory in NC in over 15 years (since the NC legislature introduced abstinence-only in the mid 1990’s.) The Healthy Youth act has passed three committees (Education, Health, and Appropriations), and this is the FINAL STEP in passing in the state House before it moves to the state senate.

Laura Leslie and Mark Binker both have more.

We wish Rep. Carney a speedy recovery.

Two hours ago I had never heard the name Pricey Harrison. It just so happened that I emailed every sponsor and co-sponsor of HB726, a bill that would expunge the criminal records of those who committed a misdemeanor before the age of 18 and had a clean record for two years after.

My expectations were of a few form letters over the next few weeks. Instead, around midnight, I get a personal email from Ms. Harrison sent via her iPhone. And did I mention that I do not even live in her district??!

This is the kind of Representative we need in North Carolina and across the country. I ask my fellow BlueNCers to promote this diary and, if you can afford it, throw a few bucks to Ms. Harrison's campaign.

While we all bemoan the current inaction, we should also reward action.

I am a teenager on the North Carolina Youth Leadership Council (NCYLC) in Chapel hill, NC. This is an exciting few weeks for us, because we are introducing the Healthy Youth Act, a bill that would put comprehensive sex education into schools in grades 7 through 9. Teens are going to be lobbying, attending a press conference, writing letters, talking to their schools, and making phone calls for this cause. I met with a NC senator from Durham to discuss this issue today, and we are working on persuading more state representatives and senators to vote for the Healthy Youth Act.

This Diary is meant as a how to guide on making North Carolina more progressive within the state legislature. As we have seen, even with large Democratic majorities, it is often not enough to just get more Democrats elected to office in Raleigh. We also need to make sure that we are pushing for different Democrats, real progressives who put people first. But, how do we do that on an individual basis?