At the first meeting of the North Carolina Board of Elections following Woodhouse’s hiring, board members clashed over concerns about his involvement with the state’s elections. Woodhouse has frequently voiced support for voter suppression measures, from railing against Sunday voting to requesting that election officials reduce polling hours and locations.
Earlier this year, the Republican-led legislature in North Carolina eliminated the state’s carbon emissions reduction target for 2030 and allowed Duke Energy to charge consumers for the cost of gas and nuclear power plants before they are even operational.
Business owners and residents have said that Whatley has rarely been seen in impacted areas, and over 100 residents have requested that Whatley be removed from the FEMA council for not delivering on his promises to help the area. North Carolina has received only roughly 9% of the funding needed to recover from the devastation left by Hurricane Helene.
While Berger is potentially chasing Trump’s approval, North Carolina is still without a state budget, three months into the fiscal year, and after missing a critical Medicaid funding deadline. Despite controlling both chambers of the North Carolina General Assembly, Republicans still have not passed a comprehensive budget, threatening more than a billion dollars in federal funding, health care access, teacher pay raises, and Hurricane Helene recovery aid for small businesses.
Primary care practices, particularly those in rural and underserved parts of the state, will be impacted the hardest, according to the North Carolina Academy of Family Physicians.
If the credits expire, the average North Carolinian enrollee is expected to pay $672 more annually for the same health insurance plan they currently have, with even greater increases expected for rural residents. Many residents won’t be able to afford this increase, putting 157,000 North Carolinians at risk of losing coverage, Stein cautions.
North Carolina currently sits as one of the only two states in the nation operating without a current state budget. The last state budget lawmakers created was set to run out in July, and since that deadline, lawmakers have only been successful in passing a reduced or “mini” budget that funds certain priorities. Though Stein signed the legislation in early August, he called it a “Band-Aid budget,” saying it falls short of what’s needed and fails to meet the needs of the people of North Carolina.
Cooper described what will be a “nasty shock” for North Carolinians on November 1st, when the ACA Marketplace begins open enrollment for next year. “They’re about to be notified that their health insurance premiums are going through the roof. Because insurance companies are raising their premiums on top of federal subsidies not being renewed by Congress in this ‘big, beautiful bill.’”
Advocates and Democrats have condemned state Republicans for their “political gamesmanship”, as the crime bill attempts to tackle safety concerns without addressing the underlying factors. Earlier in September, Democratic lawmakers called for a proposal that increases funding to public safety personnel, including police officers, as well as provides new investments to the mental health system.
According to an analysis from Energy Innovation, the OBBBA would drive up the average household energy costs by $220 in 2030 and nearly $490 in 2035. In addition, the federal bill is expected to cut over 41,000 jobs from North Carolina’s workforce in 2030 and another 32,000 jobs by 2035.