Fitzsimon File

It may not be reflected in many headlines yet, but there are some indications that the campaign for governor might actually move beyond running away from Randy Parton and parsing words about resumes and birthdays and include some discussion of issues that matter to people’s lives.

It is true that the latest news from the Democratic primary battle between Lieutenant Governor Beverly Perdue and State Treasurer Richard Moore is more of the same insider spin and counter spin and that has dominated the race so far.

Moore’s campaign is criticizing Perdue for meeting with potential donors in New York after earlier blasting Moore for raising money from Wall Street interests that manage some of the state’s investments.    

But the end of the Associated Press story about the latest flap provides a little hope that that maybe there will be discussion of issues far more important to families in North Carolina than which candidate’s campaign staff comes up with better soundbites to describe their opponent’s reliance on special interest money.

Moore said this week that his administration would spend $20 million to eliminate the waiting list for a child care subsidy that he said had reached 22,000 children.  The numbers might not be exact, at last check the waiting list had closer to 25,000 kids and it may cost closer to $100 million to eliminate it, but Moore deserves a lot of credit for the proposal.

Part of the promises made to single mothers as part of welfare reform in the mid 1990s was that they would receive help with child care so they could return to school or take a low-wage job to enter the work force. Yet 25,000 kids and their mothers are still waiting.

The average rate for childcare for a three-year-old is $7,000 a year and a fulltime worker making the minimum wage earns $12,700 a year.  

Eighty-two percent of the children who receive the subsidy live in families with incomes of less than $25,000. Ninety-three percent of the day care subsidy money helps make it possible for a parent to work or go to school to be better equipped to get a job. The other seven percent pays for services for children with special needs and their families.

Despite the compelling need to help single mothers lift themselves out of poverty, the waiting list is rarely mentioned on the campaign trail. Moore changed that this week and his announcement is not the only glimmer of hope for a meaningful campaign season.

Republicans Fred Smith and Bob Orr have both mentioned the need for more investments in affordable housing recently and Moore told a forum this week that the Housing Trust Fund needs a recurring source of funding.

Families in more than 700,000 households in North Carolina face a housing crisis, either living in substandard housing or a place they can’t afford, putting their financial health at risk. Fifty million dollars a year in the Housing Trust Fund would build 6,000 housing units, create 3,000 jobs, and generate up to $30 million in state and local tax revenue.

Every candidate for governor except Charlotte Mayor Pat McCrory appeared at a forum Monday sponsored by a coalition of advocates for people with mental illness, a developmental disability, or substance abuse problem. The presentations left a lot to be desired, but at least every candidate pledged more support for the system that is failing many of the most vulnerable people in the state.

Almost every candidate has a proposal for increasing access to health care, some of them far better than others, but at least the issue continues to generate discussion.  There’s plenty more to discuss too, including moving the eligibility for AIDS Drug Assistance Program up to the national average, increasing funding for school nurses, and making major new investments in alternatives to incarceration and reentry programs for prisoners, which would save lives and millions of dollars.

Nobody expects the candidates to agree on these issues or necessarily support more funding to address them, but like the mental health disaster, they all deserve attention by people who want to be governor.

The latest Elon University Poll asked people in the state what issues needed to be addressed. The economy was the most common answer, reflecting anxiety about health care, jobs, housing, child care, etc.  That was followed by education and then responses that the poll grouped under energy, the environment, and the drought.

Randy Parton didn’t make the list and neither did the campaign horse race, who is ahead this week and by how much, that dominates press releases and media coverage. Real issues are important. That message seems pretty clear and just maybe the candidates are finally hearing it.

 

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This entry was posted on Thursday, February 28th, 2008 at 3:43 pm and is filed under Fitzsimon File. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.