September 25, 2025 | Proudly representing Guilford County and the 57th District

This week we voted on Iryna’s Law, a GOP-written bill in response to the horrific stabbing death of Ukrainian refugee Iryna Zarutska on the Charlotte light rail last month.

Here’s why I ultimately sadly voted no:

This 21-page bill was crafted behind closed doors with no involvement from NC House Democrats, many of whom are judges, attorneys, and other experts in this field. It was released to the public mere hours before passage. The Senate voted on it Monday where the last amendment introduced was from Sen. Berger reimplementing the death penalty in our state and allowing executions by firing squad, hanging, and electrocution.

If you are following along with my year thus far, we successfully stopped that solo bill in committee months ago because it’s so barbaric and unpopular. Yet here it is now, slipped into a bill meant to honor Iryna. Using her name to implement firing squad executions is unacceptable. Democratic senators were so upset by this last-minute revision that they all either voted no or walked out of the chamber.

We had an timely opportunity as a legislature to introduce bipartisan legislation that could have passed unanimously to fix the many issues at hand that attributed to this horrific death - our mental health crisis, over-burdened judicial system, and ever-present community safety concerns.

I agreed with several elements of the bill including revising bail options for repeat offenders … they should not be on our streets. But this bill provides no funding to better support and increase the number of police officers or mental health providers … no better ways to solve our mental health crisis beyond a suggested study … no more allocated DAs or legal assistants outside of Mecklenburg to handle our already massive backlog across our state.

I look forward to working and voting on legislation that actually is proven to reduce crime and treat mental health. This sadly/frustratingly wasn’t it.

You may or may not be aware of significant Medicaid cuts across our state set to start 10/1, totally separate from the inhumane Medicaid cuts enacted at the federal level over the next 18 months.

This is because our GOP-led General Assembly has failed to pass a substantial budget for our state so in the summer we passed a mini budget with $600M allocated to Medicaid. DHHS has stated the need is $819M and based on this underfunding, they would be forced to implement cuts beginning 10/1. We were back in session this week, but the Senate passed a Medicaid funding gap bill with a multitude of other provisions that the GOP leaders in the House failed to even take up for a vote, and instead we voted on the House version of the funding bill which was a clean $192M funding gap and passed unanimously. So two bills agreeing to the $192M in funding cleared respective chambers, yet failed to even consider a concurrence vote in the other chamber, which is needed to send a bill to the Governor to sign. And now both chambers are not set to reconvene until 10/20, 3 weeks after the cuts are set to take place.

There is a lot of finger-pointing going on, which is infuriating to me because these cuts will literally cost lives. A few weeks ago, I met with Cone Health officials to discuss this dire situation, and we met with DHHS earlier this week to understand why the 10/1 cuts have to go into effect. I do agree with them that it is law to maintain a balanced budget in our state and they have to operate based on known funding, not promissory language of potential future funding.

At the end of the day, the General Assembly’s job is to appropriate funding for our state and send to the Governor to sign and enact into law. And both chambers of the General Assembly are controlled by the GOP. And they are failing to do our basic job to serve the needs of North Carolinians, 1 in 4 of whom are on Medicaid.

This article does a good job summarizing the dire situation.

Watch what happens over the next week. I’m so sorry we are in this situation. North Carolinians deserve better.

Thoughts Regarding Recent Political Violence

My heart has been heavy the past several months with the increased political rhetoric and gun violence. I struggle with the deaths of Hon. Melissa Hortman and her husband, Charlie Kirk, and the recent shootings and fatalities at CDC in Atlanta and ICE facility in Dallas.

One death by gun violence is too many. It all must end. I look at Charlie’s social posts of his family shielding his children from view and that resonates with me how we choose to speak out for what we believe in but so deeply want to protect our sweet, innocent children. My heart aches for his children and wife.

My heart also aches for the children impacted in the Colorado school shooting that happened moments after. And I’m still watching clips of desperate parents crying out for action after the Annunciation shooting. We are all in this together.

It doesn’t have to be this way.

I am ready and would be honored to work with any of my NC House colleagues who want to make our nation safer in their memories. We continually file an assault weapons ban, which are used in over 60% of mass shootings. September 10th was Suicide Awareness Day; we continually file a red flag law to temporarily remove firearms from those who are deemed to be unsafe to themselves or others. We filed 12 other gun safety bills this session, none of which sadly got any bipartisan support.

It truly doesn’t have to be this way.

Our country is broken in so many ways yet still so resilient and beautiful. I've leaned into my volunteering and philanthropy this past month and it's really warmed my heart. I encourage everyone to put down your phone and do something nice for someone.

Municipal Elections Begin

Early voting is ongoing after beginning last week for Greensboro's municipal primary races. It is your civic duty to vote in your local elections before or on election day, October 7. After the primary, the general election will be held on November 4. Consult the graphic below to make a plan to VOTE!

Here are the candidates for Greensboro Mayor and City Council. You choose one mayor, three at-large seats, and one district seat. To find your district, look up your voter registration record and look at "Ward" - most of my district is 2 or 3, and a small sliver of 4.

Budget-Focused Town Hall Scheduled

Join the Democratic Guilford County Senators and House Reps on Tuesday, September 30, for a discussion about the State Budget. We'll explain various budget proposals, why the process is stalled, and how the lack of a comprehensive budget impacts you and your loved ones.

This event is scheduled exactly 3 MONTHS after the State Budget was due. While the Republicans in power have failed to agree upon a comprehensive budget amongst themselves, I'll be hosting more events like this one to engage with you on critical topics. This is just the first in our series addressing our economy, healthcare, housing, and more!

I look forward to hearing from you all next Tuesday at 6PM at Rep. Quick's church New Light Missionary Baptist Church at 1105 Willow Road.

The General Assembly remains recessed. The next time votes might occur is the week of 10/20.

Despite this body's inaction, I am still hard at work meeting constituents and researching legislation. Please do not hesitate to reach out to me and my legislative assistant if you need help with a State Agency or have questions about legislation!

My virtual office hours remain open; you can schedule a one-on-one call here. I look forward to hearing from you!

NC Cash

Are you owed any of the almost $1.4 billion in the unclaimed property fund? NC Cash is a program ran by the North Carolina Treasurer's Office that helps reunite owners with their unclaimed property. This cash consists of bank accounts, wages, insurance policy proceeds, and other funds that lost track of their owner. Give it a look here and see if you can claim NC Cash.

Celebrating the accomplishments of District 57!

I want to celebrate YOU! If you would like to acknowledge someone for an accomplishment such as:

• Graduation
• Honor Roll
• Scholarship
• Gold Award / Eagle Scout

Please use this link to fill out this form to let me know! I am always happy to send a letter to help celebrate!

Youth Legislative Assembly Application Open

The North Carolina General Assembly is currently accepting applications for the 2025-2026 session. This mock legislative session invites high school students to voice their opinions and vote on issues concerning local, state, and national government. This is a great opportunity for students to develop their confidence, public speaking, and debate skills! Interested students in good standing can apply here.