The NC Chamber supports efforts that define, standardize, and incentivize workforce value non-degree credentials to align with in-demand jobs.
We will work closely with the North Carolina Community College System to identify policy reforms and initiatives that increase enrollment and deliver quality education; strengthen advisory support, training, and upskilling/reskilling; increase access for currently employed and displaced workers; and ensure a high-quality teaching force.
The NC Chamber will continue to advocate for the state to refine its programs and policies aligned with the science of reading and to increase third-grade reading proficiency.
The NC Chamber knows the importance of school readiness and supports a pre-K funding structure that adequately supports high-quality early childhood education.
We will continue to advocate for proper assessment efforts to identify learning deficiencies and to resolve them with evidence-based approaches through methods that uphold pedagogic and administrative accountability.
We will support the NC State Board of Education’s work to connect high school students with postsecondary and career opportunities.
The NC Chamber will continue to seek out and advocate for high-quality academic pathways that reach all North Carolina high school students through college readiness programs or career opportunities such as apprenticeships, technical education, and early college high schools.
Pillar 2: Competitive Business Climate
The NC Chamber is committed to bringing value-driven health care to North Carolina in order to improve health outcomes and make costs more predictable and affordable. For this reason, the NC Chamber supports new legislation that will meaningfully establish association health plans in our state.
We will work to advance Certificate of Need (CON) reforms that reduce costs to the healthcare system and businesses while opposing the indiscriminate elimination of such laws.
We will support and advocate for efforts to allow for full remote online notarization in North Carolina, a necessity for businesses to operate in today’s fully digital environment.
The NC Chamber will oppose legislation that expands the number of health insurance mandates imposed on North Carolina businesses as mandates unduly increase health care costs for employers.
The NC Chamber will advance tort and civil liability reforms that reestablish North Carolina’s position as a top-10 state for legal business climate, including reforms that provide certainty and protect companies from frivolous nuisance lawsuits. Further, the NC Chamber will monitor liability protections passed for businesses in 2020 as a result of COVID-19 and advocate for strengthening protections where needed.
The NC Chamber will work to defeat legislation that would create any form of rebuttable presumption around COVID-19.
The NC Chamber will work to oppose any burdensome regulations in food and supply chains and other essential operations that must continue despite Covid-19 and economic challenges facing employers.
We will work to defeat legislation that erodes the balanced reforms to North Carolina’s workers’ compensation laws or that threaten North Carolina’s status as a right-to-work state. In addition, the NC Chamber will fight to maintain balance on the North Carolina Industrial Commission, Board of Review, and other boards and commissions by supporting and/or opposing nominees during the confirmation process. Our guiding principles will include ensuring said bodies are led by individuals with a balanced view of their substantive areas of authority, a strong commitment to the work ethic required by the position and making sure that the business community is well represented.
We will continue to protect the integrity and solvency of our state’s unemployment insurance (UI) system, ensuring that we can keep providing claimants with the employment relief they need while preventing unnecessary burdens on job creators who pay the taxes that support the UI Trust Fund.
We will work eliminate the state franchise tax as it is a regressive tax that penalizes North Carolina businesses for tangible investments in the state.
We will monitor developments surrounding the North Carolina Department of Revenue’s interpretation of our state’s tax laws, particularly with regard to positions that harm North Carolina’s reputation as one of the best states in the nation for business and effectively drive business out of the state.
We will support efforts to increase regulatory predictability and certainty for job creators related to environmental, social, and governance criteria.
We will support legislation enabling North Carolina to become a more attractive state for food manufacturing by seeking a more predictable liability climate for food manufacturers.
Pillar 3: Infrastructure and Growth Leadership:
The NC Chamber will advocate for a modernized transportation funding structure to keep our residents and visitors safe, improve our quality of life, and meet the demands of a growing state in an increasingly competitive business environment. We will continue to boldly lead a coalition of future-minded organizations, Destination 2030: The Road to a Stronger Transportation Future, that seeks to identify and advocate for additional revenue sources that can stabilize North Carolina’s road, rail, and port (land and air) infrastructure investments.
The NC Chamber will support the implementation of the Federal Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act in North Carolina to ensure the benefits promised by the new bill will be fully realized in the coming years across our economy.
The NC Chamber will continue promoting its forward-thinking, “all-of-the-above” energy strategy that supports grid modernization and improves access to natural gas, nuclear, biomass, geothermal, renewables, solar, and wind power.
The NC Chamber will champion the connection between education attainment and broadband adoption. We will support efforts to strengthen broadband infrastructure grants, broaden access to digital devices, improve affordability and adoption, and enhance availability in unserved areas.