At a time when the Republican leadership of the General Assembly is running roughshod over our rights, the NC Progressive House Caucus is a welcome voice. Founded in February 2025, shortly after Donald Trump was elected President, the Caucus aims to be the voice of the moral opposition to what’s going on in our state,” according to Pricey Harrison, Representative from Guilford County and one of the founding members of the Caucus.
In the years since Republicans gained control of the state legislature in 2010, they have followed the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) playbook, introducing legislation based on ALEC model bills that reduce individual and corporate taxes and eliminate regulations, including environmental regulations, tighten voter identification rules, weaken labor unions, and oppose gun control. They have also introduced legislation that has transferred money that rightfully supported public education to so-called “opportunity scholarships,” taken control of the State Board of Elections from the Governor (who happens to be a Democrat) and given it instead to the State Auditor (a fellow Republican).
The actions of the Republican majority have made it more difficult for individuals to get health care, including Medicaid, threatening the survival of rural hospitals. They have cut corporate and individual taxes so deeply that they have endangered the ability of the state to fund necessary infrastructure and services. The latest Republican gambit is to propose a constitutional amendment that would limit the ability of cities and counties to raise property taxes. While Republicans claim the purpose of this proposal is to protect the well-being of working citizens in difficult times, in fact raising property taxes is the only means local governments have to counter the General Assembly’s chronic underfunding. According to Democratic Representative Eric Ager from Buncombe, these GOP lawmakers have “underfunded our schools, our emergency management divisions, our court systems, and our district attorneys … Additionally, they’ve continued to pass unfunded mandates, costs that our local governments are forced to fund. They (local governments) don’t have a choice.” Governor Josh Stein calls it a cynical shell game that will result in raises in the sales tax which will affect all of us, every day.
The Progressive Caucus sees its role as standing up against these anti-democratic actions. Marcia Morey, Durham Representative and another founding member, describes her vision of the caucus this way: “To me, ‘progressive’ does not mean radical or leftist. To me it means common sense. We’re fighting for workers’ rights, immigration rights, due process, the right to choose, public schools, gun safety. None of that is radical. It is what we have heard our constituents say: ‘We want stronger voices to be heard.’”
Begun in a conversation among three of the founding members, the Progressive Caucus now includes 13 representatives from 7 counties, including Caswell and Orange, Forsyth, Mecklenburg, New Hanover and Wake, as well as Durham and Guilford. With little power to get laws passed in a Republican-dominated legislature that hordes power, controlling what committee representatives are assigned to, what bills get heard even in committees, let alone making it to the floor for a vote, the caucus focuses on speaking with moral clarity about the things they and their constituents care about.
Proposing legislation that supports our rights and makes clear how the state should support its citizens is, of course, an important part of fighting for what matters. The first bill that the caucus put forward — HB20 — was aimed at ending gerrymandering, to give all citizens the ability to elect representatives that truly represent their values.
The caucus has filed other bills that assure our right to vote as well: a bill to keep early voting sites open, a bill to keep ICE away from public facilities including schools and voting places, H 1229, a bill to counter dark money in politics by stripping corporations of political spending, and H 1230, a bill to prohibit Federal interference in elections. Like other bills filed and championed by Democrats, these bills were referred to the Rules Committee and blocked from moving through the legislative process to become law.
The focus on voting rights is a critical step, given the Progressive Caucus goal of fighting for a North Carolina that is “by the people and for the people.” To counter actions taken by the Republican majority, Caucus members use their position as elected representatives to publicly “promote a legislative agenda focused on equality, liberty, justice, and safety for all people in our state.”
They have filed multiple bills that focus on affordability and the economic well-being of North Carolina’s working families, including: raising the minimum wage to a living wage of $18/hour; reenacting the Earned Income Tax Credit to provide tax relief for working families; proposing a bill to provide paid family leave; and another to provide universal free breakfast and lunch to all public school students. They have also filed bills promoting common sense gun regulations, criminal justice reform, marriage equality, and a woman’s right to choose.
Although these bills may be dead on arrival right now, it is important that North Carolinians know what rights and public goods the Progressive Caucus is fighting for. To this end, Caucus members hold town halls in their districts to ensure that they are focusing on the needs and concerns of their constituents. And every time they take a stand in opposition to the majority or file a bill to protect a right, Caucus members hold press conferences and write op-eds to make sure citizens across the state know what is happening in Raleigh.
To build a stronger unified voice within the legislature and across the state, the Progressive Caucus has launched a PAC which will endorse candidates and help fund their campaigns for the state house. None of the contributions they collect will go to existing Progressive House Caucus members. Nor will any of the candidates they endorse challenge other Democrats. The goal is, rather, to increase the number of Democrats in the legislature who are there to address the basic rights and needs of all North Carolinians – not just the wealthy 1%. Visit the NCPHC Webpage to learn more about those candidates the Progressive Caucus supports, what they are fighting for, and here to join the fight.
