Three months after the story first broke, Whatley remains silent. That silence is becoming harder to defend as more North Carolinians ask a simple question: why did Michael Whatley knowingly give a convicted child sex offender power inside the Republican Party?
Public polling shows that the vast majority of North Carolinians have no idea who Stevens is, but her no-show at the veterans event follows a pattern of minimal campaigning from Stevens.
Davidson County Schools Superintendent Gregg Slate says his district has recently been spending around $60,000 a week on fuel for their fleet of school buses, with diesel costs about 50% higher than they were in North Carolina a year ago.
“Rather than invest in the students who need it most,” said NCAE President Tamika Walker Kelly, “lawmakers have found another way to provide tax giveaways to the wealthy at the expense of working families who depend on public education.”
Questions about Whatley’s ties to the utility company go beyond his investments. Recent reporting found that he spent more than a decade lobbying for utility companies, including Duke Energy, and arguing in favor of rate increases.
“The judicial branch of government is supposed to act as a final defense of the Constitution. But North Carolina’s judicial system is facing a loss of independence, impartiality, and public confidence,“ stated North Carolina Democrats in a media advisory regarding the constitutional amendments.
The first two amendments revolve around tax measures, including a change to property tax that could threaten essential services funded by local government, and an income tax rate measure that provides another massive tax break for the wealthy few, and more.
More than 200,000 North Carolinians have lost Affordable Care Act coverage this year, the largest enrollment decline in the country. Rising premiums and the expiration of enhanced federal subsidies have made health insurance unaffordable for many families who previously relied on marketplace plans.
SB 1084 would cut the early voting period by an entire week, limiting North Carolinians to seven fewer days to express their constitutional right to vote. Under current law, early voting runs from the third Thursday before election day. The bill, if passed, would move the start of early voting to the second Thursday for all elections.
“People want to live and work here, but we simply do not have enough homes to meet that growing demand,” Stein said. “Housing is the single biggest expense that most families face, so if somebody’s rent or mortgage takes up too much of their monthly paycheck, that means that they have that much less to spend on other essentials.”