6/20 letters: NC Legslative Building belongs to Barber, all North Carolinians

Regarding “After arrest, Barber gets banned” (June 18): It’s time to change the name of that Jones Street outfit. Any bunch of blokes who think they have the right to “ban” people from the N.C. Legislative Building aren’t in fact a General Assembly that represents North Carolina’s people.

On May 30, the Rev. William Barber and 31 others protested health care law changes by sitting peacefully on the marble floors by lawmakers’ doors. Capitol police charged them with trespassing. Now, word that Barber and friends are banished from the building comes officially from a Wake County magistrate and legislative police.

The ban is preapproved by state Senate leader Phil Berger and House Speaker Tim Moore. And police chief Martin Brock says he’ll request such bans for future protesters. But it’s not Brock’s building. Nor Berger’s. Nor Moore’s. Nor Legislative Services Director Paul Coble’s, who threatened other protesters with arrest.

That building belongs to the people of North Carolina. As long as they’re peaceful, those people have every right, as the state constitution says, to assemble there to “instruct their representatives” and seek “redress of grievances.” Those who care enough to do this deserve not arrest and banishment but a red carpet.

Program helps disabled children

My son turns 3 this summer. Doctors did not think he would survive birth; his lungs were severely underdeveloped. He defied the odds. It was 15 months before he left the hospital. He needs to remain connected to a ventilator at all times.

North Carolina has one of the most efficient Medicaid programs in the country. Its community-waiver program, CAP/C, allows families like ours to bring our medically fragile children home. Otherwise, he would have to be permanently hospitalized.

The CAP/C waiver was made possible by President Ronald Reagan. He saw that Medicaid could allow disabled children to live with their families for a fraction of the cost to the taxpayer. It not only preserved families, it also was the most fiscally responsible solution. Without programs like CAP/C, our son’s care would be beyond our means. With them, he stands the greatest chance of a full life while letting us contribute our share.

We met with U.S. Sen. Thom Tillis’ office to discuss our concerns. A reduction in Medicaid by the amount proposed by the House will definitely result in disabled children losing their care, despite the mathematically impossible promises of U.S. Rep. Mark Walker. We are hoping Sens. Tillis and Richard Burr do not make the same error.

This story was originally published June 19, 2017 at 6:00 PM with the headline "6/20 letters: NC Legslative Building belongs to Barber, all North Carolinians."