(The Center Square) – Democrats in the North Carolina Legislature complained Tuesday that the Republican majority killed good bills without even considering them in the respective rules committees of the Senate and House of Representatives.
Crossover day for a bill to clear one chamber or the other has now passed, shutting out Democrat-sponsored bills for this session, the legislators said.
“We are gathered here today to mourn the death of bills filed by Democratic legislators that have died in committee,” Sen. Natalie Murdoch, D-Durham, said in a news conference at the Legislative Building.
The bills called for reopening rural hospital clinics, expanding child care support, increased breast cancer screenings and Medicaid expansions, Murdoch said.
In rebuttal, House Speaker Destin Hall, R-Caldwell, shared a cartoon on social media depicting a grave for Democratic bills about pickleball diversity; policies of diversity, equity and inclusion, commonly known as DEI; parental rights; taxpayer money for illegal immigration; and sex changes for prisoners.
“These are not partisan ideas,” Murdoch said of party’s proposals. “These are life saving, common sense solutions with bipartisan roots.”
Ninety-one percent of North Carolina residents oppose Medicaid cuts, she said.
“Republicans in D.C. will create at least a $2.5 billion hole in the North Carolina budget to pay for tax breaks for the wealthy and corporations,” Murdoch said.
North Carolina has a “trigger law” that will immediately cause deep cuts in the state’s Medicaid program if federal funding for states that expanded the program is reduced enacted, she said.
“Democrats have continued to offer ways to avoid that,” Murdoch said. “Instead of action, those bills were sent to die in Rules Committees. No hearings. No votes. No debates.”
Democrats filed dozens of bills this year to help keep communities safe, said Sen. Woodson Bradley, D-Mecklenburg, a survivor of domestic violence. The bills included legislation to modernize protection against domestic violence and to protect children online, she said.
“Not one of them got a hearing,” she said. “Less than 5% of the people in this building know what it’s like to be a victim. That’s who I came here to help. And that’s who the North Carolina GOP silenced when they buried these bills.”
