Governor Stein Spotlights North Carolina’s Workforce at NC AFL-CIO Annual Convention

Today Governor Josh Stein joined the North Carolina AFL-CIO's Annual Convention to share his commitment to lowering costs for families and investing in the state's workforce. The North Carolina AFL-CIO represents more than 250 local unions and labor councils and nearly 150,000 North Carolina workers.

"North Carolina's economy is only as strong as the people who power it," said Governor Josh Stein. "By investing in workers, expanding workforce development, and lowering the cost of living, we will create real opportunity for every North Carolinian to succeed."

Governor Stein is committed to supporting and investing in North Carolina's working families. This includes lowering costs to make the state a more affordable place to live, work, and raise a family.

Governor Stein is working to lower the cost of living by:

• Increasing access to affordable housing opportunities. Earlier this year, Governor Stein signed an executive order that directs cabinet agencies to work together to increase housing supply, affordability, and access and to use technology to deliver data-driven solutions. Governor Stein recently signed into law two bills that will cut red tape and make it easier to build more types of housing, including by reducing burdensome parking requirements, paving the way for innovation in factory-built housing, and allowing accessory dwelling units and housing near jobs in more places across the state.
• Reining in surging health care costs. In June, Governor Stein established the Health Care Affordability Commission made up of experts from across the health care landscape, including medical providers, hospitals, insurers, researchers, and patient advocates to develop timely, concrete solutions to make health care more affordable for all North Carolinians. Additionally, he announced last year $6.5 billion in medical debt relief for 2.5 million North Carolinians - the largest medical debt relief effort in the nation's history.
• Protecting families' wallets by successfully pushing the legislature to end the sales tax exemption for data centers' electricity use and opposing Duke Energy's efforts to pass on utility costs to consumers. Through the Energy Saver NC program, now available in all 100 counties, families can save up to $1,000 in utility bills each year through rebates for home efficiency upgrades and high-efficiency electrical appliances.
• Stabilizing child care system. In July, Governor Stein signed into law a budget that invests more than $160 million in child care subsidies so more parents can find care for their child. The budget included a first-of-its-kind statewide subsidy reimbursement rate floor.

Governor Stein is committed to investing in the state's workforce by strengthening pathways that close skills gaps and meet evolving economic development needs. North Carolina has consistently ranked either the number 1 or number 2 State for Business for the past six years and continues to build a world-class workforce. Since taking office last year, Governor Stein has announced more than 46,000 jobs coming to North Carolina, and the state has enrolled nearly 6,000 new apprentices and pre-apprentices in high-demand industries, connecting people to good jobs with good wages that meet the state's workforce needs. Governor Stein signed into law a budget that strengthens Propel NC, helping community colleges prepare students for careers in high-demand fields, and expands ApprenticeshipNC, building more apprenticeships and youth apprenticeships across all industries.