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Primary Sponsor

Last Action

Ref To Com On Rules, Calendar, and Operations of the House2025-03-31

Vote Breakdown

No floor votes recorded.

Plain Language Summary

This bill appropriates $200,000 per fiscal year to the Department of Commerce to conduct biannual analyses measuring North Carolina's economic progress and well-being. The department must report findings to the General Assembly every odd-numbered year, measuring metrics like poverty rates, job quality, household cost burdens, and education affordability across the state and each county.

Arguments in Favor

• •Supporters argue this bill creates a comprehensive way to assess whether state policies actually improve people's lives beyond just economic growth statistics.
• •They contend that tracking metrics like living wages, cost burdens, and poverty helps policymakers understand real impacts on North Carolinians and identify which communities need support, enabling more targeted and effective economic policies.

Arguments Against

• •Opponents may question whether $200,000 biannually is the best use of state funds when existing data sources already track many of these metrics through federal programs like the Census Bureau and Bureau of Labor Statistics.
• •Some argue the bill's focus on measuring well-being rather than market productivity reflects a particular policy philosophy, and that subjective interview components could introduce bias into what should be objective economic analysis.