Video courtesy of the Civitas Institute

RALEIGH -- Progress North Carolina today called on NC House Speaker Thom Tillis to reimburse the state for money paid to two former staffers who resigned in disgrace after admitting to inappropriate romantic relationships with lobbyists. It is an improper use of taxpayers' money to give an extra month's salary for no work, when both employees could have been fired for cause.

"Thom Tillis has betrayed the taxpayers' trust once again," said Gerrick Brenner, Executive Director of Progress NC. "This time Tillis has used state funds to give seed money for Charles Thomas' new lobbying firm. Speaker Tillis ought to reimburse the state out of his own pocket for this egregious abuse of the taxpayers' money."

This is not the first time Tillis has been caught with his hand in the cookie jar. Last summer, Tillis handed out fat raises to a number of people on his staff - including the two disgraced employees - all while state employees and teachers have gone years without a salary bump. Ex-Chief of Staff Charles Thomas, in particular, got a lavish 25%, $30,000 raise.

"State lawmakers are staring at a gaping three-quarters of a billion dollar hole in our K-12 schools. They need to fill that hole completely to strengthen our schools. We applaud Gov. Perdue's for acknowledging the stark reality and presenting a pragmatic plan to deal with it. Her proposal goes a long way, but it does not fill the entire budget hole in public schools.

Legislators in the General Assembly need to stop pretending their cuts are not harming our schools. They need to listen to the warnings of their own local public school superintendents. Parents and families deserve straight talk from politicians about the challenges and their commitment to public education in North Carolina."

- Gerrick Brenner, Executive Director of Progress North Carolina

BACKGROUND: Gov. Perdue's budget calls for the elimination of LEA Adjustments or "reversions" worth $503 million. However, the Governor's budget doesn't replace the $258 million in EduJobs funds that are running out this year.

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You may have heard it called the Defense of Marriage Act, the anti-gay marriage bill or simply Amendment One. All of these names refer to the one amendment you will be asked to vote on when you cast your ballot for candidates on May 8. It will look like what you see to the left. If you are not sure if you should vote for or against it, one thing you can do is look over this list of some of the people and organizations recommending that you vote AGAINST the amendment. If you see a person or group whose judgment you trust on this list and want to take their advice, you should fill in the AGAINST box on your ballot.

BUSINESS LEADERS AGAINST THE AMENDMENT: Over 100 CEO's and other business leaders from all parts of the state have spoken out as individuals against the amendment, including Jim Rogers of Duke Energy Corp, Bob Page, CEO, Replacements, Ltd.; Catherine Bessant, Bank of America Global Technology and Operations Executive; Martin Eakes, CEO of Self Help and the Center for Responsible Lending; Barbara Goodmon, president of the A.J. Fletcher Foundation; Andy and Barbara Rotchschild, principals of Scientific Properties; Scott Custer, CEO of Piedmont Community Bank; Joseh DeSimone, founder of Liquidia Technologies; Ken Eudy, CEO, Capstrat ; Shelly Green, CEO, Durham's Convention and Visitors Bureau; Gary Kueber, CEO, Scientific Properties; Kel Landis, Partner, Plexus Capital and former CEO, RBC Centura Bank; Easter Maynard, Head of Charitable Giving, Golden Corral; Aaron Nelson, President and CEO, Chapel Hill-Carrboro Chamber of Commerce; and many more.

PROFESSIONAL LEADERS & ASSOCIATIONS AGAINST THE AMENDMENT: Law experts at every school of law in North Carolina; North Carolina Association of Women Attorneys; National Association of Social Workers NC; The North Carolina Psychological Association;  the North Carolina Pediatric Society; the North Carolina Psychological Association, the North Carolina Psychiatric Association; National Association of Social Workers; North Carolina Chapter and the Carolinas Chapter of the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists; Council for Entrepreneurial Development (CED);  and more.

RELIGIOUS LEADERS & GROUPS AGAINST THE AMENDMENT: North Carolina Council of Churches;  Episcopal Diocese of NC; the Association of Welcoming and Affirming Baptists;  The Rt. Rev. Michael B. Curry, Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of North Carolina; plus over 500 pastors, reverends, priests, chaplins and  rabbis leading Baptist, Presbyterian, United Church of Christ, Episcopal, Methodist, AME, Lutheran, Metropolitan, Unitarian Universalist, Jewish,  Quaker, Buddist and inter-faith communities across North Carolina. You can see a more complete list of religious groups opposing the amendment at www.protectncfamilies.org/faith.

CIVIC & COMMUNITY GROUPS AGAINST THE AMENDMENT: NC NAACP; ACLU-NC; Advocates for Justice; Self-Help; Action NC; ARC of NC; Covenant with North Carolina's Children; Democracy North Carolina; Disability Rights North Carolina; El Pueblo; Institute for Southern Studies; Latin American Coalition; Lillian's List of NC; NARAL Pro-Choice NC; North Carolina National Organization for Women; A. Philip Randolph Institute; North Carolina Coalition Against Domestic Violence; North Carolina Coalition Against Sexual Assault; North Carolina Justice Center; North Carolina Policy Watch; Planned Parenthood Health Systems; Planned Parenthood of Central NC; Southern Coalition for Social Justice; TrustWomenNC; and many  more.

POLITICAL LEADERS & GROUPS AGAINST THE AMENDMENT: President  Barack Obama; Sen. Kay Hagan (Dem.); Congresswoman Renee Ellmers (GOP); Gov. Bev Purdue; John Hood, President of the conservative John Locke Foundation; Bob Orr, former justice of the N.C. Supreme Court; Charlotte's former Mayor Harvey Gantt (Dem.);  Charlotte's former Mayor Richard Vinroot (Repub.); Raleigh City Council; Durham City Council ; City of Greenville, NC;  Asheville City Council ; Greensboro City Council; Chapel Hill Town Council; Orange County Board of Commissioners; NC  Democratic Party; Libertarian Party of NC; Log Cabin Republicans; College Democrats of NC; Young Democrats of NC; Progressive Democrats of NC; Not Right NC (Republicans Against Amendment One); North Carolina Alliance of Black Elected Officials; and many more.

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"Plummeting approval ratings and protests against an 'Out of Control' legislature must be getting to Speaker Tillis, because he did not even bother to show up for today's special session," said Gerrick Brenner, Executive Director of Progress North Carolina. "Last session, he kicked out citizen demonstrators from the General Assembly. Then he spent the next two months refusing to meet with opponents. Today he decided to just stay home rather than face the people."

Today was a culmination of a disastrous 2012 for NC House Republicans. Consider:

• On January 5, Tillis ran an unethical and unconstitutional midnight session to strip teachers of their political voice. Tillis and the House Republicans were roundly criticized from all corners of the state.

• Later, Tillis strangely blamed the media on his Facebook page for his public relations problems.

• On February 16, Tillis had citizen demonstrators removed from the second floor of the General Assembly, while letting lobbyists roam free. His overreaction was again roundly criticized.

• Later in February, Tillis is exposed for failing to disclose key information about his campaign donors - especially those with ties to the consumer loan industry. And again Tillis faces harsh criticism.

• In March, a House Committee attempts to severely restrict access to NC Pre-K until Rep. George Cleveland opens his mouth and claims there's no extreme poverty in North Carolina. The Speaker's staff moves quickly to shut down the meeting.

• Later in March, Speaker Tillis says publicly that he thinks Amendment One will be overturned within 20 years - setting off a round of head-scratching as to why North Carolina must deal with a divisive constitutional amendment that won't even last two decades.

And today, after all that, Tillis must have decided it would be better to stay home, rather than attend another do-nothing session and public relations fiasco.

When: Monday, April 23, 2012 @ 11:00 AM until approx. 12:30 PM

Where: NC General Assembly Building Front Lawn, 16 W. Jones Street,  Raleigh, NC  27601

RSVP here

We hope to see you there!

It's a simple sentence, but its legal impact on our state could be enormous: "Marriage between one man and one woman is the only  domestic legal union that shall be valid or recognized in this state." Be sure to review the facts about how this amendment to North Carolina's Constitution could affect your friends, neighbors and family members before you make up your mind on whether to vote for it or against it. These facts are based on existing NC laws as well as court rulings in other states, where the legal fall-out from similarly-worded amendments has been profound. Learn the facts now. 

Progress North Carolina fights to preserve many things that make NC unique. But no issue has been more important to us then the battle to save public education in our state. Under the guise of fiscal responsibility, the far right has attacked our public schools by ramming through devastating budget cuts and turning our teachers into public villains. In doing so, they have attacked the heart of what makes North Carolina great. And we have responded by fighting back on-the-ground, in the media, online and in the halls of state government. Why do we fight so hard? We'd like to tell you why.