Reps. Ager, Cervania Statement on House Oversight Hearing
The House Oversight Committee engaged in cynical partisan theatre to paint Charlotte in a negative light despite the fact that Charlotte is safer per capita than many areas in the state, more economically successful, and effectively subsidizes the rest of the state through its contributions to state tax revenue. Charlotte is a symbol of the importance of our cities, and the legislature wishes to make an example of it to cow other cities into servile submission.
The reality is much starker. Over the past 15 years, the General Assembly, led by the Majority, underinvested in public health and public safety, has systematically dismantled education, and used local governments as boogeymen to spook the public into overlooking their shameless handouts to corporations and the wealthy.
Every minute the public is listening to partisan screeds about Charlotte is a minute not spent talking about the Majority’s inability to pass a budget, fund Medicaid, law enforcement, or invest in mental health and substance use disorder treatment, which is destroying not only cities, but also rural areas, which struggle from lack of resources and perpetual neglect from the legislature.
Charlotte programs like Operation TRIO and the CROWN Culture Initiative are intelligent strategies for addressing public safety in an effective and even-handed manner, rather than using the brute force tactics the Majority is so fond of that often places civilians and law enforcement officers at risk.
The Majority reacts with vitriol at any hint of equity or inclusivity, despite the fact that the measures it passed last year to ban DEI were vetoed by the Governor and are not law. They reject empirically supported solutions that close material gaps in economic and social circumstances in a knee-jerk reaction to advance a narrow culture war agenda, regardless of whether their own policies are actually law or not, whether they actually work or not.
The urban poor of North Carolina can at least count on cities to do their best to take care of them, despite significant constraints imposed by the legislature. But rural communities do not have this safety net. The Majority’s refusal to meet at the Governor’s call to fund major priorities including Medicaid, which disproportionately benefits rural counties, seems to communicate that the Majority is comfortable leaving rural families in the lurch.
“My district was also under attack by the Majority last month, so it's clear to me that this is just a distraction from their inability to pass a budget,” said Rep. Eric Ager (D – Buncombe). “If they were serious about statewide public safety and mental health, we'd be in Raleigh to pass a budget, not trying to punch down at our local governments to score political points.”
“The truth is that many of the districts facing the deepest poverty and highest crime rates are rural, and they’re the ones paying the price for the Majority’s failure to pass a budget,” said Maria Cervania (D–Wake).“We should focus on governing, and this means strengthening schools, supporting local communities, and delivering real solutions, not all this noise and posturing. If they were committed to public safety and the well-being of North Carolinians, they’d do the basic work of our job and pass a responsible budget now.”
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