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North Carolina Open Thread [1]

['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.']

Date: 2025-06-29

Welcome. This is a weekly feature of North Carolina Blue . The platform gives readers interested in North Carolina politics a place to share their knowledge, insight and inspiration as we take back our state from some of the most extreme Republicans in the nation.

Please stop by each week. You can also join the discussion in four other weekly State Open Threads . If you are interested in starting your own state blog, weekly to occasionally, I will list your work below.

Colorado: Mondays, 7:00 PM Mountain

Michigan: Wednesdays, 6:00 PM Eastern

North Carolina: Sundays

Missouri: Wednesday Evenings

Kansas: Monday Evenings

Please jump the fold for more, I hope you find this story collection useful.

In an interview with NC Newsline, Martin condemned Sen. Thom Tillis for supporting the bill and decried efforts by North Carolina Republicans to wrest control of elections in the state.

Democratic Party Chair Ken Martin lambasted Republicans over cuts to social services in the Republican mega-bill under consideration by the U.S. Senate and for efforts to tip the scales of elections in North Carolina in an interview with NC Newsline Thursday.

In a conversation at a Raleigh cafe Thursday afternoon, Martin criticized Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) for supporting efforts to cut health care coverage for his constituents and put rural hospitals at risk of closure, and said his seat is a prime target for Democrats in the upcoming Senate races.

“It’s quite despicable what the Republicans are doing right now in Congress,” Martin said. “Why are they throwing people off health care? All to give a tax break to the wealthiest people in our communities, to the billionaires, to the large corporations.”

Per an analysis by the Congressional Budget Office, the House version of the bill, passed in May, would cut Medicaid funding by nearly $900 billion and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program by $295 billion over the next decade. Martin quoted figures showing that North Carolina stood to lose $39 billion under the bill, with around 600,000 at risk for losing their health coverage. <More>

President Donald Trump is calling out Sen. Thom Tillis for not supporting his major new tax and spending bill, which advanced in the Republican-controlled Senate Saturday night.

President Donald Trump is calling out Sen. Thom Tillis for not supporting his major new tax and spending bill, which advanced in the Republican-controlled Senate Saturday night.

The president's “Big Beautiful Bill” would cut taxes on wages and tips while increasing spending on many of the president’s priorities, including immigration enforcement. The bill would also cut high-profile federal programs, including Medicaid and food stamps.

Both of the state’s senators took to social media Saturday sharing their thoughts on the bill. Tillis wrote, “I cannot support it,” saying the changes to Medicaid would be devastating to North Carolina.

On Sunday, the president criticized Tillis, mentioning Hurricane Helene and writing, "Thom Tillis has hurt the great people of North Carolina. Even on the catastrophic flooding, nothing was done to help until I took office. Then a MIRACLE took place! Tillis is a talker and complainer, NOT A DOER!” <More>

Hours before a tumultuous nearing-midnight vote on President Donald Trump’s package of tax breaks, spending cuts and increased deportation money, a Republican senator stood on the chamber floor and implored the plan's critics, "Read the bill.”

Hours before a tumultuous nearing-midnight vote on President Donald Trump’s package of tax breaks, spending cuts and increased deportation money, a Republican senator stood on the chamber floor and implored the plan's critics, "Read the bill.”

After the dramatic 51-49 roll call late Saturday, Senate Democrats did exactly that.

Unable to stop the march toward passage of the 940-page bill by Trump's Fourth of July deadline, the minority party in Congress is using the tools at its disposal to delay and drag out the process.

By midday Sunday the Senate had rounded its 12th hour, more than halfway through the clerk’s reading of the foot-high bill. There were hours still to go.

“Senate Republicans are scrambling to pass a radical bill, released to the public in the dead of night, praying the American people don’t realize what’s in it,” Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer of New York said after vote. “If Senate Republicans won’t tell the American people what’s in this bill, then Democrats are going to force this chamber to read it from start to finish."

The slow-walking points to a difficult days ahead. <More>

The final order of business on the legislature’s calendar before lawmakers embark on a month-long summer vacation was passing the latest Tropical Storm Helene recovery package.

Just a week ago, it appeared as if lawmakers might not reach a deal before their extended break. After the House passed its Helene recovery bill in May, the Senate sat on it for a month.

But shortly after Senate Democrats threatened to use a lesser-known procedure to force a vote on the Helene recovery bill, it began to not only move, but sprint.

Originally, Senate leaders hoped to use the Helene bill as a bargaining chip in ongoing budget negotiations; however, it became clear last week that the House and Senate would not come to a budget agreement before July 1.

Monday, the state Senate unanimously passed its heavily amended Helene bill. The House did not agree with the changes, so the bill went to conference committee yesterday, where selected members of both chambers came to an agreement. <More>

Chimney Rock State Park reopened Friday, June 27, exactly nine months after Helene damaged the area.

N.C. Govenor Josh Stein celebrated with state leaders and locals, just below the park’s lookout where the American flag flies.

“Every morning, I get to look at this mountain, this Hickory Nut Gorge Falls,” said Chimney Rock Village Mayor, Peter O’Leary. “What a glorious way to start the day.”

Natural and Cultural Resources State Secretary, Pam Cashwell also attended the 1:30 p.m. ribbon cutting.

GOV. STEIN MARKS CHIMNEY ROCK STATE PARK REOPENING BY SIGNING NEW HELENE RELIEF BILL

Mayor O'Leary was behind the scenes advocating to get to this day. He called, emailed and met with leaders from the start emphasizing the business community would go under if state leaders didn’t get moving on reopening the park. <More>

In a shaded clearing near Mingus Mill lies a cemetery. Small, unmarked rocks sit at the head and foot of each plot, adorned with shimmering coins visitors have left as tokens of respect.

The names, life stories, and even the exact number of people occupying Enloe Cemetery in Great Smoky Mountains National Park have long been lost to history, but interest in this plot of ground has increased in recent years as pieces of the story have come to light. The cemetery is believed to be the final resting place of at least half a dozen Black people who were enslaved by the Mingus family.

In 2023, two new interpretive signswere installed to illuminate the site’s history, and their presence highlighted the need for a better way to reach the cemetery, which sits atop a steep hill. The path from the parking lot was difficult to climb, often slippery, and prone to erosion. Thanks to a $31,600 contribution from park partner Friends of the Smokies, a new access trail has been in place since December 2024. <More>

For more than a decade, North Carolina legislative leaders have handed out income tax breaks to the wealthiest few while neglecting the well-being of everyone in our state.

Now, the U.S. Congress plans to extend a 2017 federal tax law that would hand even more benefits to the richest few, while hundreds of thousands of North Carolinians face the loss of health care and food assistance, as well as rising costs.

North Carolina state leaders will soon have a choice: Will they accept the harm being forced on our communities and slash essential services? Or will they step up to protect people’s health, stability, and financial well-being?

So far, signs point in the wrong direction.

Some state lawmakers have introduced proposals this session which indicate the legislative majority will embrace plans that take health care away from North Carolinians. Legislators in both the House and Senate introduced proposals that fast-track Medicaid work reporting requirements — an unnecessary and punitive measure that could strip health care from up to an estimated 496,000 people as soon as federal law allows. These proposals push the state’s Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) to begin planning for the implementation of Medicaid work reporting requirements on an expedited timeline, requiring DHHS to notify the legislature of the funding necessary for implementation within 30 days of approval by the Center for Medicaid Services.

But there is another path, and we must demand that state legislative leaders choose it for the health and wellbeing of us all. <More>

Thanks for stopping by, wishing all a powerful week.

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