NC Politics - as usual

[dweller]

Hyper-partisanship is hurting America. It also directly contributes to driving up costs for North Carolina families. Here’s just one example.

Last week, the North Carolina state legislature passed a bill that will exempt personal hygiene essentials - like tampons, soap, baby wipes and sunscreen - from the state sales tax. It’s not much, but it’ll make it just a little bit easier for all North Carolinians to access these goods. It’s just common sense good policy.

It’s such a good idea, it makes you ask - why didn’t we do this sooner?

Well, actually - some members of our state legislature tried. For the past 5 years running, Wake County Democratic Reps. Representative Julie von Haefen- NC House 36, Allison Dahle - NC House 11 and 10-20 others have co-sponsored a bill that would exempt essential hygiene products like these from sales tax.

There was just one problem: they are Democrats, and Republicans control our state legislature. So every single year, Republican leaders killed these bills without a vote. They didn’t even get a hearing.

Here’s their bill from 2021: https://www.ncleg.gov/BillLookUp/2021/h595
And 2023: https://www.ncleg.gov/BillLookUp/2023/h622
And today, in 2025: https://www.ncleg.gov/BillLookUp/2025/h510

Every one, shut down and ignored.

But in 2026, something changed.

Rep. Mike Schietzelt for N.C. House, a male Republican from northern Wake County, decided to copy their work. He filed a bill, HB 1200, with language that was virtually identical to the bills those women had proposed for years. He re-filed it as his own, with some other Republican co-sponsors.

Schietzelt never once credited Von Haefen, Dahle, or anyone else for their work.

And because Schietzelt is a male Republican, the leaders of his party finally permitted this bill to pass our State House. It passed unanimously. Not only did every single Democrat still vote for the bill, but every single Republican did too.

What Republicans once mocked as an "extreme left" joke from the Democrats had suddenly become a “common sense” policy everyone could get behind.

This kind of hyper-partisan politics in our state legislature kills lots of good ideas. Whether it’s raising teacher pay, expanding Medicaid, or eliminating sales taxes on tampons and bars of soap, the list of things first proposed by Democrats, and only later reluctantly adopted by Republicans, grows every year.

So you decide: should Republican Mike Schietzelt get credit for finally passing a good bill, even if it was originally another member’s work?





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