By George Reed, Retired Executive Director Newly Introduced Bills BUDGET AND TAXES H 540, Teachers & State Employees Pay Raise, would give annual raises of $2,400 to teachers and other state employees making less than $100,000/year. The bill would appropriate more than $700 million for the first year of these raises. Introduced by Reps. Malone (R-Wake Forest), Jordan (R-Jefferson), J. Bell (R-Goldsboro), and Hardister (R-Greensboro). Referred to House Appropriations. CHILDREN AND FAMILIES S 594/H 608, Family/Child Protection & Accountability Act, would require the state to develop a plan to divide…
GOP Mantra: Party Hearty!
They might not care for the image, but Republican members of the N.C. General Assembly act as though they were drunk with power. They have the votes not merely to set conservative policies on spending, taxes, education, health care, protection or misprotection of the environment — votes they’ve been only too happy to cast. They also have the votes to put their ideological stamp on North Carolina’s civic affairs in ways that could endure for many years and blight the state’s character – its self-proclaimed identity as a place where…
Big Stakes in High Court Pick
Compared with some of the provocatively, even outrageously unsuited people whom President Trump has chosen for high office, Neil Gorsuch barely moves the needle. But that’s not to say Americans concerned about safeguarding the institutions of democracy should be heartened to see Gorsuch ascending to the U.S. Supreme Court, as almost assuredly he will. There never was any doubt that Trump would nominate a conservative to fill the high court’s vacant ninth seat – the seat that came open upon the death of conservative icon Antonin Scalia a year ago….
Speak Out on Cabinet Nominees
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 & Light, MomsRising, Faith in Public Life, and the National Council of Churches are just some of the organizations calling on people of conscience to speak out against nominees who have been described as: Representing and promoting “hateful ideals and policies.” (MomsRising) Having “questionable ties to foreign governments with anti-democratic leadership and human rights abuses.” (Interfaith Power & Light) Epitomizing “extremist,…
Advent Guide Focuses on Peace
The NC Council of Churches has never taken peace for granted. Indeed, along with our work in opposition to violence, there has long been the recognition that peace manifests itself in many ways – in how we relate to one another, in the policies our elected officials put in place, in who has enough. For this year’s Advent Lectionary Guide, the Council’s staff chose to focus on peace. The reasons may be obvious, but even in the absence of a soul-sucking political climate, our reality is that we need to…
Separating Church and Hate Since 1935
We work toward a church that is all-loving. That’s what we’ve always done and that’s what we’re going to keep doing. Stay connected with the Council to learn about opportunities to welcome our immigrant sisters and brothers, care for creation, work for economic justice and voting rights, build toward Christian unity and interfaith understanding, teach our church-goers how to be healthier, and do all that we can to help everyone live into the beloved community. Please pray with us and work with us to be sure that all beloved children…
Speak Peace
Remarks delivered on September 21 by Executive Director Jennifer Copeland at a press conference marking the International Day of Peace. Words make a world. The words we use become embedded in the ways we think about the world around us. So, we have bullet points, target dates, and killer ideas. We shoot emails, fire off memos, and kill two birds with one stone. Using words that connote violence is second nature to us even when the sentiments we’re expressing are every day normal—sending an email. But when every day normal…
North Carolina Passes a Decade with No Executions
Many in our state are celebrating 10 years of no executions and putting out a call for no more killings in our name. Patrick O’Neil a leading abolitionist in our state has helped organize a service and vigil to commemorate 10 years of an execution-free North Carolina. The service will begin at 7 PM on August 18th at Pullen Memorial Church in Raleigh and Patrick offers the following for our thoughts and meditation: “The last execution in North Carolina was of Samuel Flippen on August 18, 2006. Since then, executions have been…
2015: Our Conservatives Weren’t Kidding
For those of us who want to see North Carolina governed with the interests of all its residents in mind – not mainly the interests of the well-off and privileged — 2015 amounted to yet another slog down a disappointing path. It was the third full year since conservative Republicans completed their takeover of power in Raleigh, gaining large majorities in both the state House and Senate while Republican Pat McCrory seized the governor’s office. McCrory, now seeking a second four-year term, largely has seemed content to let top legislators…
‘We stand adjourned’ – finally!
The senators and representatives who make up North Carolina’s General Assembly let their 2015 session run on far longer than it should have. Let’s be glad that the curtain has come down. There’s been enough damage. But as if our illustrious lawmakers wanted to give us the worst of both worlds, the session’s climactic phase featured a chaotic stagger toward the finish line that allowed major bills to be ramrodded through in a helter-skelter process that made a mockery of sober decision-making. In other cases significant proposals were simply pushed…
When Lawmakers Itch to Execute
The last person to be put to death by the State of North Carolina – in other words, put to death on behalf of all of us who live here and choose the leaders who write our laws – was Samuel Flippen, 36, who was given a lethal injection at Central Prison in Raleigh at 2 a.m. on Friday, Aug. 18, 2006 as his parents watched. The execution was the final chapter in a sad tale – of that there’s no doubt. Flippen had been convicted in the courts of…
At the Legislature, a Fateful Crossing
With its self-imposed April 30 “crossover” deadline, the General Assembly can sidetrack bills that haven’t gained enough support to make them worth fussing with during the remainder of the legislative session. A bill that makes the deadline by gaining approval in either the state House or Senate stays alive – for better, or as happens too often these days with Republican conservatives in charge, for worse. So, with the crossover dust now settling, North Carolinians have a clearer sense of what this year’s legislative damage toll might include. Some lowlights:…
Justice Advocates Convene for the Cause
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 that this year’s version, held on April 14 at Greenwood Forest Baptist Church in Cary, succeeded on both counts. With the General Assembly moving into the heart of its biennial “long session” – and with conservative legislators seemingly bent on deepening many of the ill-advised holes they’ve been digging for themselves and the state – the seminar focused on a…
Death Penalty – Pentecost
Several years ago I met the mother of a condemned man who had been on death row for twenty years. We happened to be standing outside Gov. Hunt’s office, waiting for our turn to appeal for clemency for her son. At that time, Gov. Hunt was willing to meet with the family of the murderer before the execution. When she was finally called into the governor’s office, I remember thinking that I wasn’t sure I would be able to leave that office quietly after begging for my son’s life, but she did it. She walked out with dignity and hugged me hard. She was hanging on for dear life. Three days later her son died at the hands of the state.
What Frightens Civitas?
Apparently I scare Civitas. Maybe it’s my upbringing. I was raised by a single mom (my parents divorced when I was a toddler) who was fortunate to have a solid job with the federal government and a supportive family who were the safety net between us and poverty. We were lucky. Maybe it was my education. I came up through the Virginia public schools, Kindergarten through college (Wahoowa, y’all!). I attended U.Va. on a partial scholarship from a corporation that thought supporting young people of color through higher education was…