Your voice, your vote: 14 issues to use in assessing the candidates

[Editor’s note: As a part of an ongoing effort to help North Carolina voters become better informed and to use their knowledge in casting ballots in the 2020 election, experts at the North Carolina Justice Center (parent organization of NC Policy Watch) have prepared a series of brief and informative voter guides on 14 key policy issues. Organized under the heading “Your voice, your vote,” each of the one-page guides includes a series of questions and key facts to use is assessing the positions of various candidates.]

Access to Educational Opportunity

Twenty-five years after the Leandro case commenced, the state is further from meeting its constitutional obligation to provide all children with the opportunity to receive a sound basic education.

Click here to access the education policy voter guide.

Affordable and Safe Housing

North Carolina’s elected leaders should commit to provide affordable, safe housing to North Carolinians by investing in proven programs.

Click here to access the housing policy voter guide.

Closing the Medicaid Coverage Gap

When workers across the state are experiencing record job losses and cuts in work hours, more than 750,000 North Carolinians who earn low incomes could gain health insurance coverage if lawmakers expanded Medicaid eligibility.

Click here to access the Medicaid policy voter guide.

Criminal Justice Fines and Fees

People affected by court costs are not getting the relief they need, and court-imposed fees have increased 400% over the past 20 years.

Click here to access the criminal justice policy voter guide.

Federal COVID-19 Relief

North Carolina’s elected federal leaders must ensure good schools, healthy neighbors, and safe communities are not threatened despite the COVID-19 pandemic, and that individuals and families can make ends meet.

Click here to access the COVID-19 relief policy voter guide.

Health and Safety for Workers During COVID-19

North Carolina needs to protect all workers from the devastating effects of COVID-19. Creating an OSHA standard for businesses would help keep workers and their families safe when many people have no choice but to go to work.

Click here to access worker health and safety policy voter guide.

Immigrant and Refugee Policies / Temas de Inmigración y Refugiados

The Trump administration is intentionally stoking fear and misinformation about immigrants and refugees. Through misguided and dangerous policy decisions, as well as anti-immigrant rhetoric and fear-mongering, President Trump  has torn families apart, shirked international obligations, worked to exclude both people of color and people of low- or moderate-incomes from the U.S. His decisions have led to unprecedented backlogs in visa processing. In the courts, his policies have separated U.S. citizens and lawful residents from their families and prevented U.S. employers from sponsoring workers they need to compete in a global economy.

Click here to access the immigrant and refugee policy voter guide in English

La administración de Trump está avivando intencionalmente el miedo y la desinformación sobre los inmigrantes y los refugiados. A través de decisiones políticas equivocadas y peligrosas, así como retórica antiinmigrante y propaganda del miedo, el presidente Trump ha separado familias, eludido obligaciones internacionales, y trabajado para excluir a las personas de color y a las personas de ingresos bajos o moderados de los Estados Unidos.

En Español

Paid Sick Days and Family Leave

North Carolina’s leaders should act urgently to ensure all working North Carolinians can access paid leave and paid sick days throughout the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond.

Click here to access the paid leave policy voter guide.

Paying Your Fair Share of Taxes

North Carolina’s elected leaders should ask the wealthy and powerful to contribute to thriving communities across the state by paying taxes.

Click here to access the fair tax policy voter guide.

Raising the Minimum Wage

North Carolina needs to create jobs that pay workers enough to afford the basics for themselves and their families, particularly during these uncertain times. Raising the minimum wage would provide a critical antidote to the ongoing boom in low-wage work.

Click here to access the minimum wage policy voter guide.

Safety Net

Safety net programs are a crucial tool to weather the economic toll of COVID-19. We need lawmakers who will champion anti-poverty solutions and strengthen and expand our existing safety net programs.

Click here to access the safety net policy voter guide.

Smart Public Investments

Our elected leaders must ensure priorities like good schools, healthy neighbors and safe communities are reflected in a state budget that values well-being, equity and transparency

Click here to access the public investments policy voter guide.

Supporting Businesses Owned by People of Color and Women

North Carolina’s lawmakers can ensure all businesses have access to opportunity so that they can pay their employees and neighbors a living wage, strengthen local economies, and build prosperity for Black, brown, and white business owners. Targeted support for historically underutilized businesses is a crucial part of an economic recovery. This particularly important given the COVID-19 pandemic, during which businesses owned by people of color have been overrepresented in impacted industries and unable to access initial federal relief funds.

Click here to access the minority business policy voter guide.

Unemployment Benefits

Public policies like the unemployment insurance system, food assistance, and assistance with mortgage, rent, and utility payments can help communities during the COVID-19 pandemic and resulting economic downturn.

Click here to access the unemployment policy voter guide.