Source: WUNC
Democratic gubernatorial nominee Josh Stein has proposed a series of policies focused on lowering costs and putting money back in the pockets of working-class families.
Stein wants to bring back the state’s earned income tax credit, which was eliminated by North Carolina Republicans in 2014. Stein’s proposal would lead to an average credit of $520 for working families, with families with three or more children receiving up to $1,486.
As the school year starts, Stein wants to help parents and teachers deal with rising costs. He has proposed reinstating a sales tax holiday in August, popular for back-to-school shopping, and to invest in free school meals for children. He has also proposed providing teachers with a stipend to help cover the cost of classroom supplies they often have to pay for out of their salary.
Stein also wants to make higher education more attainable and accessible, and has pledged to champion no-cost community college for students pursuing coursework in the state’s “high-demand industries.”
Meanwhile, Republican gubernatorial nominee Mark Robinson recently released his economic plan, part of which focuses on preventing state government entities from using ESG, or environmental, social, and governance investing. That’s the practice in which investment managers choose companies based on their policies on environmental and other issues.
The Republican-led state legislature already passed restrictions on ESG investing last year, but the Robinson campaign claims they will do more.
The Robinson campaign also claimed they wanted to cut taxes for all North Carolinians, but failed to provide any specifics about rates. When WUNC asked the campaign about the tax cut proposal, a Robinson campaign spokesman instead ranted about the “Soviet-style price controls” in the “Biden-Harris-Stein plan.”
Robinson’s plan also includes a pledge to “expand technical and apprenticeship programs in K-12” schools, a direct contradiction to Robinson’s recent call to reject federal education funding. North Carolina received $43 million in federal funding for career and technical education programs this past school year.
In-person early voting for the 2024 general election starts Oct. 17 in North Carolina.
