Elected officials discuss state's economy at Chamber event.

RALEIGH – Housing affordability, health care accessibility and workforce development are key for Wake County legislators.

The 11 elected officials of the North Carolina General Assembly spoke at the Greater Raleigh Chamber of Commerce Elected Officials Breakfast last week. Chamber members also got networking time with the legislators. Many officials spoke on the significance of health care, child care, and education on the workforce and quality of life in North Carolina.

Senator Gale Adcock began opening statements by urging business leaders to pay attention to legislation that impacts health care systems, which are the largest economic driver in Wake County. The county’s hospitals provide over 34,000 part- and full-time jobs.

“That is more combined job creation than the state government, the Wake County Public School System or Walmart,” she said. “This provides $2.8 billion in annual wages.”

But North Carolina is still missing a state budget and is the only state in the country without one.

Senate Minority Leader Sydney Batch discussed the rising costs of health care at the expense of small businesses, especially with cuts to Medicaid.  “If we cut Medicaid expansion, all of us are going to be paying the cost,” she said. Batch said she pays $8,000 a month in health care for her nine employees.

Senator Jay Chaudhuri lauded the success of the county. Wake County has the state’s largest population at 1.2 million, and is among the top counties for teacher pay, as well as teacher certifications. It is also top in foreign international investment, higher education and corporate headquarters.

“I would remind you that North Carolina’s success and the success that we’ve had in Wake County boards is because we had business and government and university work together,” Chaudhuri said.

Representative Monika Johnson-Hostler spent 11 years on the Wake County Board of Education. Johnson-Hostler, who runs a nonprofit, said health care and child care are important for employing women. “I understand as an employer the importance of health care and child care support,” she said. She also said that it’s important to collaborate with community colleges and provide more apprenticeships to prepare the workforce.

“Our workforce is no longer like me, where a clear pathway to a four-year degree and then a further degree is no longer the pathway,” she said.

As a small business owner, Rep. Ya Liu said one of the biggest issues is affordability. Property taxes, homeowner’s insurance and rising costs of groceries, as well as hiring workers and equipment, are all burdens on small business owners. “I really want an environment where business can thrive and workers can feel safe in their communities and not feel discriminated by our federal agents,” she said.

“What benefits the state of North Carolina and what benefits y’all as business owners and workers is basically the same thing,” Rep. Tim Longest said. “The 30-billion dollar question that I’m wrestling with; and that I think all of us wrestle with, is whether and when we’re going to pass a budget that meets the needs of the state of North Carolina.”

Representative Phil Rubin discussed the unpredictability of the state and federal government. “Chaos is costly,” he said, advocating for more predictability. “For most of the people in the room, if you don’t know how much your goods are going to cost because tariffs are in, then they’re out, then they’re threatened, then they’re back; it’s just a really hard way to run a business,” he said. “And the same thing when you don’t know whether the state’s going to pass a budget or what that budget is going to look like.”

Representative Mike Schietzelt, the only Republican on the panel, said North Carolina is the top state for business and for workforce development in the country. “We have a lot of things going for us right now,” he said.

Representative Julie von Haefen said women are the majority population in the state and the issues should reflect that.

“There are so many issues in the General Assembly that affect women,” she said, like child care, paid family leave, reproductive freedoms and minimum wage. “They’re (representatives) not listening to us. We need you to tell your stories about how some of the policies that we’re passing in the General Assembly are affecting you and the people that you know.”

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