Opinion: After a session of regression, the dust settles in Raleigh

It is finally over. The N.C. General Assembly closed its session on Wednesday. The town, the University and its community are no longer under deliberate and passive assault after a legislative onslaught in line with regressions in 2013.

The laws the legislature created this year are a direct reflection of its members, elected by our voting citizens. Consider the following legislation that was created, proposed or ignored during this session:

1. The “Protect North Carolina Workers Act” is better known as House Bill 318. It seeks to deport active members of immigrant communities regardless of their contributions to American society. It was presented to Gov. Pat McCrory on Wednesday.

The act would push undocumented North Carolinians further into the shadows.

In an interview with The Daily Tar Heel, Chapel Hill Mayor Mark Kleinschmidt said this bill would discourage undocumented immigrants from calling the police or engaging in the community, due to fear of being harassed or deported.

2. North Carolina is one of 19 states that has avoided expanding Medicaid to its citizens, a federal mandate under the Affordable Care Act, according to Families USA.

By failing to expand Medicaid the state is losing out on guaranteed federal dollars.

Instead, the legislature decided to privatize its Medicaid services. This action was taken despite the evidence that Community Care of N.C., the state’s Medicaid provider, won numerous awards and adequately serves its customers, according to the North Carolina Justice Center.

3. Cumulative budget cuts to the UNC system have totaled $500 million since 2011.

The relationship between the UNC system and the legislature has been contentious since the Republicans gained the majority in both houses.

4. In 2013, the legislature passed a bill that would require all voters to have photographic identification by 2016. This will create even more barriers to entry for prospective voters and should be considered a direct attack on voter’s rights.

However, in September, N.C. Superior Judge Michael Morgan placed a hold on the bill in response to an amendment that would allow voters to request permission to use nonpicture identification.

This hold will stand until after the primaries in March, and activists against the requirement of photographic voter identification ought to use this time to continue protesting the advancement of voter disenfranchisement.

5. North Carolina grew its economy with hundreds of millions of dollars of investment in the solar industry.

Unfortunately, the second most solarized state is losing the tax credit that was largely responsible for this economic expansion for ideological reasons.

Register yourself to vote. Inform yourself on the impact of the legislatures’ decisions on your life, your university and your town.

North Carolina’s voters cannot allow for Raleigh’s legislators to prevent the progress our state needs. Exercise your right to vote to rid our state of its regressive lawmakers in 2016.