“Our dysfunctional state legislature is again ignoring the needs of N.C. citizens. Republican legislators have continued to blockade the passage of a state budget, which was supposed to have been enacted by July 1st.“

As a recent letter to Voters Speak and the Salisbury Post by Joe Fowler pointed out, this delay has had serious consequences. School districts across the state, many of which have been opened for nearly a month, have been left in financial limbo. Other state agencies are facing the same uncertainty. And if that isn’t enough,  the Republicans are ready to enact election bills such as SB749 that take the vote away from the people and place the power directly in the hands of the legislature. SB747 is a direct assault on our right to vote.  

In March N.C. became the 40th state to adopt Medicaid expansion. For over a decade our state’s refusal to accept this program is estimated to have cost N.C. billions of dollars in lost revenue and an untold number of lives.

Unfortunately Republican leaders have insisted that Medicaid expansion can only be initiated when the budget is passed. They are blocking passage until a number of their ongoing projects to restrict access to the vote are enacted into law. This means that health insurance for approximately 600,000 North Carolinians, many in desperate need of medical care, has been placed on hold.

Much like what we find in the House of Representatives in Washington, the petty political maneuvering in our state legislature has rendered its members almost incapable of governing, We are left with Republicans grabbing power wherever they can find it and at the expense of the people.

Keith Townsend