
Small Business | Housing | Healthcare | Education | Action & Impact
Welcome to RPIC's Virtual Advocacy Week 2021
Welcome to the Research, Policy, and Impact Center's Advocacy Week. This year, RPIC will highlight activities, events, and presentations from our partners in an effort to keep you informed.
Here are a few ways you can TAKE ACTION in North Carolina

Find Your Legislators by Address, District, County or Voter Registration
https://ncleg.gov/FindYourLegislators
All residents of North Carolina are represented in the United States by both Senators Richard Burr and Thom Tillis. Representation in the House, the NC Senate, and the US House is determined by district. Each resident of the state has one representative in each of those legislative bodies determined by the district in which their residence falls.
Advocacy Week: Daily Highlights and Activities
Impact of COVID 19 on North Carolina Small Businesses
North Carolina's House has passed a budget. Since the House budget differs greatly from the Senate bill and the Governor's proposed budget, it will be sent to a conference committee to work out the differences and agree on a budget.
Meanwhile, here are some items of interest to the business community:
- A reduction of the corporate income tax.
- Reducing the personal income tax from 5.25% to 4.99%.
- A reduction in the franchise tax but not elimination.
- Increase in the personal deduction helping the lowest-paid workers.
- A policy change to allow small businesses to provide an avenue to begin a retirement IRA through payroll deduction.
Allowing businesses to take a business deduction on the PPP money received in the 2020 business closure during the pandemic as the federal government did.
Governor Cooper Vetoes HB 352 (Hotel Safety Issues, 2021-2022 Session)
Governor Cooper made the following statement on HB 352:
"This legislation is not the right way to ensure safety in hotels. It removes legal protections and allows unnecessary harm to vulnerable people, including families with children, who have turned to hotels and motels for housing in a time of need."
HB352 is an act to clarify that occupants of accommodations provided by hotels, motels, or similar lodgings do not create a tenancy and are not subject to Chapter 42 of the General Statutes and to clarify that these occupancies are governed by the statutes relating to inns, hotels, and other transient occupancies.
HB352 leaves already vulnerable renters in crisis adding to our homeless population. Read more on this issue as documented by NC Housing Coalition's Pamela Atwood. https://nchousing.org/policy-update-9-9-21/
Contact your NC House & Senate members to sustain the veto on HB 352.
https://ncleg.gov/Members/MemberList/H
https://ncleg.gov/Members/MemberList/S
RENTAL HELP: NORTH CAROLINA
Subsidized Apartments
HUD helps apartment owners offer reduced rents to low-income tenants. To apply, contact or visit the management office of each apartment building that interests you.
Public Housing and Housing Choice Vouchers (Section 8)
To apply for either type of help, visit your local Public Housing Agency (PHA).
Some PHAs have long waiting lists, so you may want to apply at more than one PHA. Your PHA can also give you a list of locations at which your voucher can be used.
Need advice?
Other North Carolina Resources
- Local tenant rights, laws and protections
- Help with your utility bills
- Find units for rent in rural North Carolina
- Independent living centers - for seniors and people with disabilities
- North Carolina Housing Finance Agency - resources for housing education and programs
- SocialServe.com - find affordable rental housing
- Search for Federal Tax Credit rental housing
In the News
- Federal Eviction Moratorium, What Renters Should Know
https://www.cnet.com/personal-finance/the-federal-eviction-moratorium-is-gone-what-renters-should-know-now/ - White House Plans for Affordable Housing
https://www.reuters.com/world/us/white-house-taking-steps-create-sell-100000-affordable-homes-2021-08-31/
COVID-19 North Carolina Dashboard
The COVID-19 dashboard provides an overview on the metrics and capacities that the state is following. Check here to see the number of cases, completed tests and current hospitalizations by daily by county throughout the state. Updates (as reported 9/14/2021)
https://covid19.ncdhhs.gov/dashboard
Sept. 13, 2021
- As COVID-19 cases remain high, public health officials with the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services are urging North Carolinians to get vaccinated against the flu to protect themselves, their families and those around them as the state enters flu season.
https://www.ncdhhs.gov/news/press-releases/2021/09/13/health-officials-urge-north-carolinians-get-vaccinated-flu-covid-19-cases-remain-high
A Healthier North Carolina
https://governor.nc.gov/issues/healthcare
In Governor Cooper's Budget:
Increasing Access to Quality Healthcare
Gov. Cooper’s budget provides access to health care for more than 600,000 working North Carolinians, keeps rural hospitals open and strong, reduces the number of uninsured veterans, helps fight the opioid epidemic, and injects over $5 billion in direct investment into the state by expanding Medicaid. No taxes would be increased to achieve this major expansion of health care access, and the American Rescue Plan provides an additional $1.7 billion in federal funds to support Medicaid expansion without the state covering any cost share for up to six years.
“We must get health care to more working people and the best way to do that is to expand Medicaid,” said Governor Cooper. “I am ready to work with legislative leadership and members of both political parties here in North Carolina to find a way forward.”
Investments for a Clean, Healthy North Carolina
The Governor’s budget builds on the state’s progress toward ensuring cleaner energy, air and water and attracting clean energy jobs. It also provides funding to help North Carolina become stronger and more resilient in the face of increasingly frequent natural disasters.
The budget invests over $100 million in expanding access to clean energy technologies, investing in clean energy economic development and building the clean energy workforce pipeline to catalyze North Carolina’s economy. The budget invests $10 million for clean energy economic development and $4.5 million in clean energy grants for homegrown start-ups and small businesses.
Clean, safe water and air are essential for the health and well-being of North Carolinians. Governor Cooper recommends over $300 million in spending on environmental stewardship, increasing access to parks, and enhancing the state’s resiliency to future floods. The budget also recommends nearly $8 million for emerging compounds mitigation.
Read more about the Governor’s plan to fight climate change and increase economic development in clean energy HERE. [https://files.nc.gov/ncosbm/documents/files/REC2021-23_Environment-and-Energy.pdf]
A Safer, More Equitable North Carolina
The COVID-19 pandemic continues to shine a light on long-standing inequities. The Governor’s budget proposal advances equity in our healthcare, economic, criminal justice and education systems through strategic investments, including funds to:
- Recruit and retain a diverse educator workforce;
- Ensure access to a sound, basic education for all students;
- Emphasize equity in government decision making;
- Support minority-owned businesses; and
- Prioritize fairness in the criminal justice system.
Senate Bill 462: Ratified Bill
AN ACT AMENDING CERTIFICATE OF NEED LAWS TO EXPAND ACCESS AND LOWER COSTS.
https://www.ncleg.gov/Sessions/2021/Bills/Senate/PDF/S462v4.pdf
Student loan debt in North Carolina’s largest counties, from Cumberland to Wake
Student Loan Debt By Race
(as of July 2021, data by educationdata.org)
Facts
- Student loans in North Carolina: Borrowers owe average of $36,293 in federal, private debt — and more facts
- Student loan debt in North Carolina’s largest counties, from Cumberland to Wake
- Student loan debt by ZIP code in North Carolina’s 3 largest cities: Charlotte, Raleigh and Greensboro
- Loan repayment programs for North Carolina residents
- North Carolina federal student loan borrowers younger than 25 owe more than national average — and more comparisons
- How to refinance student loans in North Carolina
- Sources
Governor Roy Cooper's Proposed Budget 2021-2023 For Education:
https://files.nc.gov/ncosbm/documents/files/REC2021-23_Education.pdf
Thank you for engaging with us during our Advocacy Week
We encourage you to continue following us on social media and stay tuned to WNCU 90.7FM for information, activities, and events in the future.