Name as it appears on the ballot: Marcia Morey

Age: 69

Party affiliation: Democrat

Campaign website: marciamorey.com

Occupation & employer:  Retired judge and current State House Representative

Years lived in North Carolina: 37 years

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 was appointed to the State House in 2017 and I believe I have been a strong voice for Durham’s interests and values.  My background as a judge for 18 years has given me a unique perspective on problems people face be it in family court matters and juvenile/criminal issues.  

My three biggest career accomplishments were: 1) Governor Hunt appointed me to be the Executive Director of the Commission on  Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention in 1997.  We successfully rewrote the NC Juvenile Code and reduced juvenile crime while providing more services to youth in need.  2)  Serving as Durham’s Chief District Court Judge and implementing the state’s first misdemeanor diversion court program, helping hundreds of teenagers avoid a criminal record for misdemeanor crimes.   3)  Serving currently as Governor Cooper’s Chair of the Juvenile Sentencing Review Board to review  clemency petitions of people sentenced to prison who were under the age of 18 and have served at least 20 years.  

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?

The top three issues facing the General Assembly are: 1) Gerrymandering of congressional and state legislative districts which has led to a Republican autocracy at our NC state legislature. 2) Lack of transparency in governmental proceedings and process. 3) The politicalization of our court system.  

Change is in the hand of voters.  We must educate voters about the need to change the direction of North Carolina which has swung dramatically to the extreme right with a supermajority Republican legislature.  (Despite having a Democrat Governor, every veto has been overridden by the Supermajority which also seeks to weaken the Governor’s powers.)  What was once the safeguard of “checks and balances” with the judiciary is now gone with a politicized Republican dominated judiciary.   It is my responsibility as a legislator to do all I can to educate voters about the dangers of the concentrated reigns of power in one political party to enact change.  The power of unaffiliated voters must be taken more into account in  the electoral process.  

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?

North Carolina is a “Dillon’s Rule” state, meaning the State legislature determines what powers local governments are granted.  I support much more local control over local issues like zoning, development-regulating ordinances, municipal election cycles, school calendars, building set backs, nonpartisan local elections, and allowing citizen review commissions.   For matters of state concerns like criminal justice reforms, that must be a statewide issue that has consistency from county to county. 

4. Do you support raising North Carolina’s minimum wage, and if so, by how much? 

Yes.  I was a proponent of $18 an hour.  Now I am proponent of $22 an hour and tied to inflation.  

5.  What, if anything, should the state legislature do to address the growing affordability crisis and support low-income families in North Carolina?

I fully support the ideas and concepts of VP Kamala Harris on housing affordability and small business incentives.  I support the earned income tax credit, child tax credit for qualified middle and low income workers.  

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?

We must increase public transit considering investments in light rail, commuter rail, electric buses, more bike lanes and sidewalks.   Car and truck congestion is becoming unbearable especially as it compounds CO2 pollution and accelerates climate change. 

7. Would you support an independent process for drawing new legislative and congressional districts?

Absolutely.  I have been a primary sponsor for an independent citizen’s commission on redistricting.  

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. 

No.  I do not support expanding funding for  taxpayer Opportunity Scholarships.  HB 10, which was vetoed by the Governor, would have provided more than $400 million additional funding to allow high income families to help pay tuition at private schools which can discriminate against students and staff for religious or sexual orientation beliefs.  Our public schools must be fully funded and the mandates of the Leandro decision should be enforced.  NC cannot afford to run a public and private school system.  If a family wants to enroll their child in  a private or religious  school, that’s fine, but it should not be subsidized with public taxpayer dollars.  

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?

North Carolina was once the “ public education state.”  We must stop the investments into private, religious  schools and adequately fund public education.  We should aspire to pay our teachers in the top 25% of the national average.  Bring back teacher assistants, give incentives for master degrees, improve our longevity pay, improve our public schools’ infrastructure.  Give honor to the most noble profession who teach our children.

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 introduced a bill for NC to codify Roe v Wade guidelines as soon as the US Supreme Court overturned Roe.  Women deserve privacy and choice.  We should return to the law that was in place for 50 years and not go back.  

11. Do you support reforming North Carolina’s marijuana laws? Do you support full legalization? Please explain your position. 

I support legalizing medical marijuana and decriminalizing marijuana.  I am not fully convinced we should support full legalization.  As a former judge, I am worried about the detrimental impact on youth.  

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. 

I have introduced more than 8 gun safety bills since 2018.  I have been the primary sponsor on safe storage, red flag laws, background checks, bans on semi-automatic weapons.   Not one of my common sense bills has ever received a committee hearing.  I will always be a common sense gun safety advocate.

13. Are there any issues this questionnaire has not addressed that you would like to address? 

1)We must address campaign finance reform.  Unlimited dark money pouring into campaigns is undemocratic.   2)We should pay our state legislators more than $13,800 a year so more people could afford to run for office.  3)Finally, climate change is real.  We must address the reality that our earth has changed and we must protect it.