LOD: Selling Out

The NC General Assembly adjourned today and the impact of its final decisions will reverberate for years to come – from a conniving vote that legalizes fracking and energy exploration, to the disgraceful deal-making that sold out students, the Racial Justice Act and victims of sterilization, to a last-minute change in the final state budget that will block federal funds from helping our elections run smoothly. (The last change was ordered by national Republican operatives who blame the funding of “too many” Early Voting sites in 2008 for Obama’s victory in NC.) These decisions are all part of the record state legislators can run on – or away from. To help highlight issues that candidates should address during the 2012 campaign, the NC Justice Center has produced a series of issue papers, with a key question at the end of each one-page document to pose to prospective officeholders.  Check out the menu of topics to better understand the challenges facing North Carolina and use them widely in voter education. There are many ways to hold legislators accountable: One came today, when the NC League of Conservation Voters announced it is rescinding the “Rising Star” award it gave earlier this year to Rep. Susi Hamilton, a first-term legislator from Wilmington who yesterday traded her vote for the fracking bill in exchange for a $60 million tax break for the film industry centered in her home city, indeed in her home.