Approved by the Executive Committee of the Governing Board of the North Carolina Council on April 23, 2020. The North Carolina Council of Churches supports the Governor of N.C. and […]
“Woe to those who make unjust laws, to those who issue oppressive decrees”~Isaiah 10:1 The North Carolina General Assembly (NCGA) just finished its 2018 short session without passing legislation that would […]
The Affordable Care Act (ACA) continues to be one of the most divisive laws passed in the United States in recent history. After several failed attempts by Congress this year […]
We find ourselves in a better place than we might have been when it comes to health care policy. Remaining ever vigilant and recognizing that there is still much work […]
The U.S. Senate’s vote this afternoon moves the debate forward to potentially repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act. What that will look like is anybody’s guess. Senators Burr and […]
It appears that the U.S. Senate will vote today on some sort of health care action. What they’ll be voting on, however, is unclear even to some of them. This […]
More than 10,000 individuals and 50 organizations have signed a petition asking Governor Cooper to revoke the world’s largest wood pellet manufacturer’s flawed air quality permit in Richmond County. At […]
No one seems completely clear on whether the Senate will vote next week on health care or what they will vote on if they do. That might be deliberate in […]
Yesterday, the Senate unveiled a revised version of the Better Care Reconciliation Act. According to a report from our friends at the North Carolina Justice Center the changes, and their […]
“Biomass” may sound like a clean idea, but it actually means cutting down and turning trees into fuel pellets to be burned for energy — creating more carbon pollution than […]
Presented with a new state budget that, whatever its occasional virtues, is mainly about easing tax burdens on the well-off while grinding opponents of legislative Republicans into the dirt, Democratic […]
Would you be Surprised to know 97 percent of online pharmacies are illegitimate? The North Carolina Council of Churches has joined with Secretary of State Elaine Marshall and the Secretary […]
Late yesterday afternoon the Congressional Budget Office released their score of the Senate’s proposed health care plan and the numbers are extremely troubling. As our friends at the North Carolina […]
Members of the United States Senate have released their proposed health care plan, all 142 pages of the “Better Care Reconciliation Act of 2017” developed in secrecy, with a score […]
By now the strategy is familiar – the strategy used by the N.C. General Assembly’s Republican chiefs to try to make a fundamentally flawed state budget appear, well, not that […]
As the Senate continues its secret deliberations on a health care plan that will effect all Americans, the potential impact on one of the most vulnerable groups in our society […]
The Council’s commitment to health care as a basic justice issue dates back decades. Significant progress toward health care for all was made with the Affordable Care Act, progress toward […]
We were already living in a time of profound consequence. President Trump’s decision to pull the U.S. out of the Paris Climate Agreement means that while the needs of our endangered climate are increasing, […]
Consider the shame of the North Carolina General Assembly working to rush through a bill that weakens gun laws as National Gun Violence Awareness Day approaches. It is right up […]
For more than two decades, the NC Council of Churches has called for access to health care for all. The score from the Congressional Budget Office makes it undeniably clear […]
Plenty of analysis is already happening around the 2018 budget proposal out of the White House. The Washington Post provides two helpful graphics here and here. More is being written […]
So, the question as always comes down to one of vision. The elected chieftains who decide how much money North Carolina’s state government will spend, what it will be spent […]
The passage of the American Health Care Act by the House of Representatives reflects a political choice on a life-or-death matter. If House members truly believed that this was the […]
The public is opposed to efforts to replace the Affordable Care Act, but some members of the U.S. House of Representatives seem determined to forge ahead anyway. The latest version […]
Every state legislator should be required to listen to the stories shared at a press conference organized this week by North Carolina advocates for health care. Anyone opposed to Medicaid […]
This week, Donald Trump issued an executive order to turn back the clock on the climate progress we have made over the past decade. In addition to directing the EPA to […]
Thank you for every call, email, and letter to Congressional leaders that led to today’s decision to pull the American Health Care Act without a vote. Those committed to a […]
The budget blueprint for 2018 released by President Trump on Thursday cuts a wide swath through programs that serve women, people of color, those of low income (for poor women […]
By George Reed, Retired Executive Director Newly Introduced Bills CRIMINAL AND JUVENILE JUSTICE H 233, Ban the Box, would govern how state and local governments could use criminal histories in […]
Around the release of the alt-health plan currently making its way through Congress, several elected leaders have gone where elected leaders sometimes go – blaming the poor for being poor. […]
Despite evidence that the Affordable Care Act is more popular and more needed than ever, some Republicans in Congress have proceeded with partisan plans to repeal Obamacare while dismantling Medicaid […]
The political situation at the national level has occupied the time and attention of many faithful progressives. Each day has brought with it more reasons to be concerned for our […]
By George Reed, Retired Executive Director Newly Introduced Bills ENVIRONMENTAL CARE H 171, Change Exclusion for Solar Energy Systems. Current law provides an 80% exclusion from property taxation for the […]
Our friend Rob Schofield over at Policy Watch wrote a column on Tuesday that was as vitally important in its truth-telling as it was hard to read for the future […]
At another time in my life, I would not have spent most of Saturday occupying my tiny square of personal space in the heart of Washington DC, literally shoulder to […]
Groups at the state and national level continue to mobilize around concerns about President-Elect Donald Trump’s stated policy objectives and choices for cabinet posts. The NC NAACP, Interfaith Power & […]
On Friday, the House of Representatives voted to continue the process that could ultimately repeal the Affordable Care Act. Activists across the nation were already planning Day of Action events […]
Looking ahead to 2017, there is much more work for the Council to do than we ever imagined. Please join us. Your financial support helps us continue what began in […]
We are living in unsettling times. Progress we once thought inviolable now feels threatened. One constant is the NC Council of Churches and our commitment to a more just, united, […]
Community leaders continue to work endlessly to save the Pungo Hospital in Belhaven. Please join clergy and those concerned for justice this Wednesday, December 21, 10 a.m., at the Wake […]
By Nina Voli, Duke Divinity School Intern Although the Affordable Care Act expanded health care coverage to millions of Americans, the Supreme Court ruled that state enrollment in Medicaid expansion was optional. […]
As the 2016 campaign season grinds along the final stretch toward Election Day on Nov. 8 – and with thousands of North Carolinians already having cast their ballots – we […]
Why are health care premiums steadily going up? Gallup polls at the end of 2015 found that 74% of Americans say the amount they pay in premiums had gone up […]
Registration for 2016 Critical Issues Seminar workshops is now available online. If you have not yet registered, please use the form below to do so and include your selection for […]
Remarks delivered on March 30 by Volunteer Program Associate Sandy Irving at the Raleigh public hearing on Medicaid reform. As Medicaid reform is being planned, please consider including Medicaid expansion […]
These closing weeks, or days, of the General Assembly’s session are sometimes known as the silly season, when weirdness is the watchword at the maze-like Legislative Building on Raleigh’s Jones […]
The proverbial elephant labored and, against all hopeful expectations, brought forth a mouse. The “elephants” who run the Republican-controlled General Assembly labored and now have brought forth, if not a […]
A recent article in Raleigh’s News and Observer focused on the F-35 jet. The American Friends Service Committee calls this weapon system the “plane that ate the budget” and puts […]
The North Carolina Council of Churches celebrates today’s Supreme Court decision upholding the Affordable Care Act. For decades, the Council has supported universal health care, and while the current version […]
For a boatload of lofty, noble and wise sentiments, look no farther than the opening fanfares of Chapter 113A, Article 1, N.C. General Statutes. The reference is to a law […]
The Council of Churches’ Legislative Seminar – its top-profile public event of the year – is meant to inform, and it’s meant to inspire. We’re not too bashful to say […]
Call it an exercise in futility? Well, no. There may not be a chance in the world that the General Assembly’s Republican chiefs will let the latest proposal to expand […]
The mission of the NC Council of Churches extends into many areas that highlight the links between faith and public policies. And of the various events and activities sponsored by […]
Join us on April 14 at Greenwood Forest Baptist Church in Cary for the Council’s 2015 Legislative Seminar. Held every two years, the Seminar equips people of faith with the […]
Our faiths call us to work for justice and show compassion for the “least of these.” Justice issues can also make such good economic sense that we cannot afford not […]
The Council’s 2014 Advent Devotional Guide is now available as a free download. Each year, Council staff take a social justice theme as a focus for these guides to be used during […]
What do Tuesday’s elections mean for North Carolina? How can people of faith in the state continue to affect positive change? Join the staff of the North Carolina Council of […]
I had the pleasure of serving on the North Carolina Institute of Medicine’s (NCIOM) Task Force on Rural Health, which was charged with creating a roadmap for better health in […]
UPDATE: After this blog was posted, the final budget was unveiled and passed by the House and Senate. The large reductions in Medicaid reimbursement rates mentioned in the blog below […]
For most North Carolinians, the myriad choices that comprise the state budget may affect the quality of their children’s education, or whether their favorite state park is kept in good […]
As the end of open enrollment on March 31 approaches, little time remains to take advantage of advanced premium tax credits and cost-sharing subsidies on Healthcare.gov. You have 10 days […]
Economic circumstances too often define us. How much we do or do not earn can put us on a path that either buffers our failures or tempers our successes. The people who make the least amount of money have the fewest opportunities to succeed, no matter how much they work or how hard they study.
For Christians, the biblical calls to justice and to providing for the least of these are foundations of our faith. At the same time, we as a nation mark this year the 50th anniversary of the war on poverty. Under different circumstances we might celebrate the milestone, but there is still too much to be done.
A cross-section of North Carolinians and progressives from other states flooded downtown Raleigh on Saturday as part of HKonJ 2014. Longtime activists from across the state walked with college students, parents […]
Join the NC NAACP, the North Carolina Council of Churches, and coalition partners for this weekend’s Moral March on Raleigh and HKonJ People’s Assembly. Events include: A Mass Meeting and […]
At the close of a momentous year for politics and public policy in North Carolina – a year that challenged many people of faith to act on their beliefs — […]
On Tuesday, Executive Director George Reed took part in an NAACP-organized press conference urging Gov. Pat McCrory to call a special legislative session to reconsider decisions blocking Medicaid expansion and cutting off unemployment […]
The NC NAACP has endorsed an open letter to Gov. McCrory about the state’s decision to deny certain unemployment insurance benefits and expanded Medicaid coverage to hundreds of thousands of […]
Adam Searing, Director of the NC Justice Center’s Health Access Coalition, describes one effort of the local community around Roanoke Rapids to educate their residents about the Affordable Care Act. The […]
Whether you plan to enroll in the Health Insurance Marketplace on your own or through the assistance of a trained Navigator or Certified Application Counselor (CAC), I have five tips […]
The political stakes and motives are plain to see. President Obama and his Democratic allies on Capitol Hill are locked in a desperate struggle with the Republicans who control the […]
An exciting moment in the history of our country has arrived, and we need your help. North Carolina’s new federally-facilitated Health Insurance Marketplace is opening on October 1. For an […]
As the beginning of the enrollment period for the Health Insurance Marketplace approaches, it is important to be aware of ways dishonest individuals may try to gain access to your […]
Helping people get the health care they need is serious and important stuff. As the next phase of the Affordable Care Act kicks in on October 1, a lot of […]
One of the problems for people of faith trying to understand the Affordable Care Act and its requirements and benefits for them is that there is bad information out there. […]
Dozens of organizations across the country are planning events to celebrate Medicare on or around the program’s 48th birthday on July 30. The North Carolina Council of Churches is among […]
The News & Observer
These are difficult times. We pray that our lawmakers and governor will demonstrate compassion for our fellow North Carolinians who need food, clothing, health care and shelter and for the many charitable nonprofit organizations that provide this support.The impact of Moral Mondays continues to extend beyond North Carolina. Two recent articles and an editorial in “The New York Times” are reaching a national audience. One of the […]
Many of you listen to Marketplace, a business-news program produced by American Public Media and carried in North Carolina by WUNC radio. Monday night, Marketplace carried a very good, though […]
I finally had the chance to go my first Moral Monday earlier this week. Walking around Halifax Mall with our Executive Director, George Reed, I was struck by how many people we both knew. I’m deeply proud of the involvement by clergy and faith communities in particular. So many of our members are represented not only in the crowd but also in the faces of those participating in civil disobedience and getting arrested. As we celebrate Independence Day this week, we give thanks not only for the many freedoms our country offers, but in particular for the countless faithful voices speaking up and speaking out for those who are being pushed to the margins by this General Assembly.
Participating in Moral Monday impressed me with a sense of fraternity and hope in the face of policies and legislation that seem increasingly unjust and discriminatory, besides being detrimental to […]
NCCC Volunteer Program Associate Sandy Irving was arrested at the June 24 Moral Monday. Thirty-five years ago today, I became a mother—and in these last 35 years, I’ve spent a […]
A funny thing happened to House Bill 998, the Tax Simplification and Reduction Act, on its way through the state Senate. It got simplified. House Republicans had approved the bill […]
The Coalition on Human Needs is sharing sequester impacts and challenging people of faith to raise their voices for the less fortunate. Real cuts are harming our most vulnerable children. We […]
All people affected by this week’s devastating storms, particularly those in Moore, Oklahoma, need our prayers. In addition, donations can be made to organizations providing assistance, including denominational relief agencies, […]
Pediatrician and author Perri Klass has written a powerful essay on childhood poverty as a disease. She writes in part: Toxic stress is the heavy hand of early poverty, scripting […]
In keeping with its mission of supporting peace, unity and social justice, the Council recently has signed on to three letters involving issues being addressed at the federal level. We […]
There’s no telling how the tax cookies will crumble by the time the 2013 General Assembly closes shop. But chief bakers in both the House and Senate seem intent on […]
On March 23, the Affordable Care Act celebrated its third anniversary. The North Carolina Council of Churches has long supported universal health care, and we remain committed to that goal […]
If you are following the actions of the 2013 NC legislature, you know that the idea of accepting federal funds that will cover health insurance for hundreds of thousands of […]
Congress is overwhelmed with lobbyists for corporations, Chambers of Commerce, AARP, the Department of Defense, etc. But those living in poverty are short on lobbyist as the so-called ‘fiscal cliff’ […]
Since 1965, my first year of medical school, I knew that coal kills (see Alan Lockwood’s The Silent Epidemic: Coal and the Hidden Threat to Health). Since 1989, when I […]
Over the past few months, North Carolina Interfaith Power & Light has been a proud part of a coalition of nonprofits and businesses participating in a statewide ad campaign emphasizing […]
The NC Council of Churches rejoices in today’s ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court upholding the Affordable Care Act (ACA) which affirms the decades-long work and concerns of the NCCC […]
One of my friends just posted this amazing YouTube video of Severn Suzuki who, at age 12, addressed the United Nations at the first Earth Summit in Rio twenty years […]
The General Assembly leadership is committed to having this short session truly be short, and there’s talk of adjourning by early July. In fact, an adjournment resolution was introduced yesterday with a target date of June 19. This session, which starts in May of even-numbered years, is primarily to tweak the second year of the budget adopted the year before. In addition, certain bills which were introduced last year (mostly ones which passed in one house) can be considered. For a new bill to be introduced this year, it must fit into one of a few specific categories, with most new bills having to do with budgetary matters or coming from a study commission which met during the interim. Finally, pending veto overrides are also thought by the House and Senate leadership to be eligible for consideration.
The Spring 2012 Church Council Bulletin includes photographs from the Council’s recent Critical Issues Seminar, an update on items of interest in the General Assembly’s short session, a statement on the passage of Amendment One, the Council’s spring appeal, and more.
The General Assembly convened this past Wednesday for its regular “short session.” As always, the primary purpose of the short session is to tweak the budget for the fiscal year […]
In light of yesterday’s vote to add a discriminatory amendment about marriage to our state’s constitution, it is important to consider what was accomplished through this campaign and what it […]
Susannah Tuttle and I had the privilege of representing NCIPL at the annual meeting of Interfaith Power & Light last week in Washington, DC. We spent two days immersed in […]
