The warning bells are only getting more dire about the blue wave and how apocalyptic November could get for Republicans.
At the federal level, I honestly don’t have much to say in their defense. Voters gave Republicans the White House and both chambers of Congress in 2024 expecting them to bring down the cost of living. Nearly two years later, they’ve failed to deliver on that promise.
Here in North Carolina, though, it’s a different story.
Republicans like Reps. Mike Schietzelt, Erin Paré, Tricia Cotham, Brian Echevarria, Jonathan Almond and Allen Chesser are in fact working on ways to bring costs down.
I don’t tend to get very partisan here at Longleaf Politics, but these are special people. We need more people like them in public service. I’d hate to lose them because everybody’s fed up with Washington.
The gas tax debate is a good place to start.
Last week, the General Assembly voted overwhelmingly to suspend the state’s 41-cent tax on gasoline and diesel through November. The legislation replaces the lost road funding with state reserves.
As I wrote last week, I support a short break like this since we’re covering the road money and sticking to an end date. Democrats have criticized this as an election-season move, which isn’t completely unreasonable.
But these lawmakers have plans that go well beyond a few weeks of cheaper gas. Some have been on the table for months.
Last week, I sat down with Rep. Schietzelt and we talked about quite a few of them. I highly encourage you to watch the conversation here:
Schietzelt posted a reminder on Facebook late last week about his Energy and Housing Affordability Act, filed this spring.
It would make Duke Energy’s shareholders absorb 20% of fuel costs above the utility’s forecast, instead of passing the whole overage to customers as it stands today.
The bill would also encourage big electricity users to develop or contract for their own on-site generation, helping meet new demand without sticking the rest of us with as much of the cost.
Chesser has also taken the lead on a bill to eliminate the 2% local grocery tax, with Paré and Schietzelt among its primary sponsors.
This is the kind of work I want my legislators doing. Find something government can actually change, explain how it would help and try to get it done.
You can be disappointed with Republicans in Washington and still think we have some good ones worth keeping in Raleigh. That’s where I am.
What good have Republicans done for North Carolina? Nothing ever gets done, nothing ever improves, and having a Republican legislature is less a brake and more of an end-run as they don't believe in democracy more than they believe in screwing over anyone not them. Why else would they constantly put things in their favor?
People are tiRed of the elephant party. A Democratic legislature would improve wages and labor conditions, fix schools, protect the vunerable, and find new avenues of tax revenue. Pieces like this only make me laugh and want to vote Democrat more. Also, tying polarizing reps such as Cotham and Paré in here does nothing to help your case as they are a part of the problem.