Sunday Forum

Letters to the editor of the Editorial Page

What's up at the legislature, besides the budget?

Across the board

It's that time of year again. Flowers are in bloom, vegetable gardens are growing and the legislature is in session, divvying up piles of money among the various state agencies.

Another annual event is also in full swing -- the shafting of some state employees. Mind you, nothing is set in stone yet; we've only heard proposals from the governor's mansion and the Senate, but it's very apparent which group of state workers is the favorite (teachers/university staff/community college staff) and which group isn't (everybody else who gets a paycheck from Raleigh).

Once again it is clear that our elected officials (with a few exceptions) have no regard for the work done by thousands of people in dozens of agencies every day that keeps this state running.

The House of Representatives has yet to speak, although an early recommendation was for 7 percent raises across the board. Now there's a novel idea: give the same amount to everyone! Show that you value everyone's contribution, not just the chosen few.

Hopefully the legislature will adopt that mind-set. Right now the Honorables are creating a caste system of the haves and have-nots.

Michael Thompson

Burgaw

Uplifting pay

Wages are a bedrock moral issue. Do we view workers as just another cost of business, or as human beings with dignity?

The May 15 rally in front of the Legislative Building featured Treasurer Richard Moore, former Sen. John Edwards and Rev. Dr. William Barber of the NAACP (among others), all insisting that raising the minimum wage is fundamentally a moral concern. While we appreciate the media coverage of this event, we want to reinforce the important moral component of the push for fair wages.

The religious voice is strong in each of the states considering raising their minimum wage. In Arkansas, Rev. Steve Copley, a United Methodist minister, chair of the coalition Give Arkansas a Raise Now and organizer for the Let Justice Roll Living Wage Campaign, was the key leader in convincing the legislature to raise Arkansas' minimum wage by $1.

Let Justice Roll, the North Carolinians for Fair Wages Coalition and the N.C. Council of Churches all agree on this basic moral statement: A job should lift you out of poverty, not keep you in it.

Jason R. Jenkins

Raleigh

(The writer is a program associate with the N.C. Council of Churches and North Carolina organizer of the Let Justice Roll Living Wage Campaign.)

A plus for vision

Kudos to Barry Saunders for his May 23 column about the vision care bill that's getting so much attention in the legislature.

For now, I'll not quibble with the column's shortcomings, such as the misguided implication that the bill's genesis resulted from quid pro quo politics. Instead, I want to credit Saunders for saying what others have refused to say -- that we can do better by North Carolina's children.

The notion that it's acceptable for a few children to slip through the vision screening system we now have in place is preposterous. Since when is it OK to sacrifice the well-being of a few simply because it's inconvenient -- or politically unpopular -- to help them?

Our society is making great strides toward solving the mysteries of medical afflictions that have baffled scientists for decades. Fortunately, amblyopia (commonly known as lazy eye) is no mystery at all. We can fix it. We can help preserve the vision of many North Carolinians. Isn't it time we put politics aside and get focused on that?

Dr. Max Raynor

President-Elect