On Friday, June 20, North Carolina Governor Josh Stein announced that roughly $3 million in grants were approved by the Rural Infrastructure Authority (RIA) for rural communities, which the governor says will attract an additional $52 million in public and private investments to support economic development across the state.
North Carolina already faces hunger at alarming levels, particularly in rural and low-income communities. The proposed cuts would mean fewer meals on the table, higher pressure on food banks, and devastating trade-offs for working families. Many food banks are already dipping into reserve funds and calling on private donors just to meet current demand—and they know worse is coming.
The NC League of Conservation Voters & BlueGreen Alliance gathered outside of Tillis’ Greensboro office to highlight the economic impacts of erasing the Inflation Reduction Act tax credits, particularly emphasizing the impacts affecting North Carolinians’ jobs.
“What we would see is upwards of $700 million a year of funding for SNAP decrease in the state of North Carolina,” said NCDHHS Secretary Dr. Dev Sangvai. “What you would then see is a reduction in benefits, a reduction in eligibility potentially.”
While it’s possible that higher tariffs could boost domestic production of steel and aluminum, it’s more likely that the tax policy will raise costs for consumers and companies that rely on those products. In an interview with NPR, a North Carolina manufacturer explained how the tariffs could harm his business.
The Trump administration is underfunding the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), leaving states like North Carolina, which rely on the critical agency, dangerously unprepared for severe storms and extreme weather.
The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) provided significant tax credits to businesses and homeowners who manufactured and sold clean-energy components, built energy-efficient homes, purchased clean-energy vehicles, or made energy-efficient improvements to their homes.
Attorney General Jeff Jackson has secured a win for North Carolinians frustrated with nonstop spam calls. In response to a lawsuit filed by North Carolina and 7 other states, a court barred John Spiller, owner of several telemarketing agencies, from operating in the telecommunications industry. The court also ordered the prominent robocaller to pay more than $600,000 to offset the costs of the lawsuit to impacted states.
The sprawling 1,000-page-plus package features numerous measures that will give trillions of dollars to billionaires, while taking food and health care away from hardworking Americans.
“FEMA’s denial of our appeal will cost North Carolina taxpayers potentially hundreds of millions of dollars to clean up out west,” Stein explained. “The money we have to pay toward debris removal will mean less money toward supporting our small businesses, rebuilding downtown infrastructure, repairing our water and sewer systems, and other critical needs.”