Name as it appears on the ballot: Sarah Crawford
Age: 43
Party affiliation: Democrat
Campaign website: www.sarahfornc.com
Occupation & employer: CEO, Tammy Lynn Center for Developmental Disabilities (TLC)
Years lived in North Carolina: 32
1. What in your background qualifies you to represent the people of your North Carolina district effectively? What would you cite as your three biggest career accomplishments?
I have extensive experience working in health care and public benefits, supporting families across North Carolina in accessing much needed services for themselves and their loved ones. I currently serve as CEO of Tammy Lynn Center for Developmental Disabilities, providing a life-span of services to individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities and their families. Through our work, we have connected thousands of families to life-changing and life-saving supports, and are addressing the needs of the community. Additionally, I have worked with managed care organizations and prepaid health plans across our state in delivering Medicaid services to those with the most need and the least access. Prior to this work, I served as National Director for Single Stop, a national nonprofit that worked at the intersection of social services and higher education. Through our work, we connected low-income students to public benefits that helped meet their social determinants of health and stay in school, allowing them to work towards the American Dream.
2. What do you believe to be the three most pressing issues facing the next General Assembly? What steps do you believe the state should take to address them?
During the next two years, the North Carolina General Assembly will have significant opportunities in a variety of areas. Most notably and timely will be the ways in which we support the recovery of Western North Carolina in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene. Specifically, I have been working in the areas of health and human services on what is needed to ensure our health care services for our most vulnerable residents are rebuilt and staff are supported. We must look to combine federal dollars with dollars that are in reserves for the General Assembly to support the rebuilding of our mountain communities. Additionally, I remain concerned about the fact that the General Assembly has shirked its constitutional responsibility for years in funding public education and support raising teacher pay and fully funding our public schools. Finally, we must restore abortion rights in North Carolina and show women that we trust them to make their own decisions regarding their reproductive rights.
3. To what extent do you support municipalities exerting local control over issues such as regulating greenhouse gas emissions, criminal justice reforms and police oversight, and passing development-regulating ordinances?
State and Federal regulations should be the floor, not the ceiling, when it comes to local control. Municipalities know their communities best and should be able to exert their authority over greenhouse gas emissions, criminal justice reforms and development-regulating ordinances. Moreover, municipal governments should not have to worry about the General Assembly meddling in their local ordinances, provided that they are not harming the public or doing anything that violates state law.
4. Do you support raising North Carolina’s minimum wage, and if so, by how much?
A single mom of two children, working for minimum wage, would have to work more than 130 hours a week just to pay for food, clothing, housing and transportation for her and her children. There are only 168 hours in a week. The minimum wage has not been raised in North Carolina in over a decade and has not kept up with the increased cost of living. I support an increase to the minimum wage to a minimum of $15, indexed for inflation, so that all hard-working families can thrive, not just get by. Additionally, we need to make it easier for families to overcome housing and food insecurity by increasing access to affordable housing and healthy food as well as benefits like the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.
5. What, if anything, should the state legislature do to address the growing affordability crisis and support low-income families in North Carolina?
Every person deserves to have safe, affordable housing. We must prioritize improving housing affordability, increase housing inventory, and address homelessness. This includes fully funding the NC Housing Trust Fund, which provides avenues for homeownership, rental, supportive housing, new construction, rehabilitation and emergency repairs. We must also put in place rental assistance programs which help individuals who have a hardship and prevent them from becoming homeless.
6. What is your vision for transit in North Carolina? What kind of regional transit systems should the state work to implement and what kind of transit legislation would you support?
North Carolina should be doing all it can to support regional and local transit options for its residents, including light rail and rapid bus transit. Transit options help reduce our carbon footprint and contribute positively to our environment, and help ensure affordable options for individuals who are commuting to and from work and school. I will support legislation that increases transit options for our communities, and ensures that hard-working families have safe and affordable commuting options.
7. Would you support an independent process for drawing new legislative and congressional districts?
I support the creation of a non-partisan commission for the purpose of determining future state and Congressional district lines. Putting the redistricting process in the hands of a nonpartisan office will remove undue political influence from redistricting and lower the chances of gerrymandered districts that favor one group of people over another. An independent process would restore fairness in the political system and create more competitive districts to better serve the democratic process.
8. Do you support expanding funding for Opportunity Scholarships? Do you believe the legislature has a role in ensuring that private schools don’t further raise tuition on families and taxpayers with the infusion of hundreds of millions of dollars into the private school economy? Please explain your answer.
I oppose expanding tax-payer funded private school vouchers. Tax-payer funded private school vouchers pull much needed funds out of our public school system that are needed for our teachers and our students. Additionally, these tax-payer funded private school vouchers are going to the wealthiest in our state and there is no accountability on how those dollars are being spent. Additionally, we have pressing needs not just in our public schools, but across our state. There are nearly 18,000 families who are waiting for services for their children and loved ones with intellectual and developmental disabilities, some of whom have been on the waiting list for more than ten years. For the amount of money that the General Assembly appropriated to tax-payer funded private school vouchers, we could have gotten services for all 18,000 of those families who have been desperately waiting, and still have $200 million left over.
9. North Carolina is one of the lowest-paying states for teachers in the nation. Schools across the state are facing shortages of educators, support staff, and other key personnel. By what percentage should the next budget raise wages for teachers and school employees? What else can the General Assembly do to improve working conditions for teachers and make the teaching profession more attractive to potential future educators?
For far too long, North Carolina’s legislators have shirked their constitutionally mandated responsibility to invest in public education and ensure a sound, basic public education for all North Carolina children. Public education is the number one predictor of social and economic mobility and can be the first step in ending generational poverty. We must work to restore and increase funding for public education. Specifically, I will be working to ensure that all public educators and school personnel are respected and that all school personnel receive raises, bringing North Carolina up to at least the national average as a first step. We need to raise per-pupil spending and average teacher pay, which both lag far behind the national average, putting North Carolina in the bottom tier of states. We must restore advanced degree pay and end pay for performance based on test scores. Just as I have done during my first two terms, I will continue to introduce, advocate and support legislation that meets these priorities.
10. North Carolina bans abortion after 12 weeks’ gestation. Do you think abortion access in North Carolina should be expanded or further restricted, or do you support the current law?
I support restoring abortion rights in North Carolina and fully codifying Roe into law and have sponsored legislation to do that.
11. Do you support reforming North Carolina’s marijuana laws? Do you support full legalization? Please explain your position.
North Carolina is one of twelve states that has not legalized medical marijuana and I think it is time for North Carolina to follow the lead of more than 75% of the country.
12. Do you support strengthening gun safety regulations such as expanding background checks, banning bump stocks, and raising the age to buy or otherwise regulating the sales of assault-style weapons? Please explain.
At the current time, the North Carolina General Assembly does not have the right people in power that prioritize reducing gun violence. As a gun owner, I believe in common-sense gun laws that keep our communities safe. Step one in my plan is to ensure that we elect the right people who value life over the right to bear arms. Step two is to work with my colleagues and the community to develop a plan that does the following: background checks for every gun purchased, close the gun-show loophole for private sales regarding background checks, and do everything we can, including passing legislation, to ensure that guns are stored safely and properly so that they do not get into the hands of the wrong people.
13. Are there any issues this questionnaire has not addressed that you would like to address?