After years of backward motion, NC Republicans take a few steps forward | Opinion

North Carolina took a long-awaited step forward Thursday as Republican lawmakers announced a deal on Medicaid expansion that will extend health care coverage to hundreds of thousands of people across the state. Until now, North Carolina was one of just 11 states that have failed to expand Medicaid.

It’s a step that, even just a few years ago, seemed unthinkable with Republicans in control of the legislature. Medicaid expansion is something the GOP has fought for years, despite its obvious benefits, and it wasn’t clear a deal would happen in North Carolina until it finally did.

“This is something that we can all be very proud of,” House Speaker Tim Moore said at a news conference Thursday. “What a huge announcement this is for North Carolina.”

It is, and it’s not the only area in which North Carolina is showing signs of progress that has long felt impossible — or at least improbable. Republicans in the General Assembly are discussing many issues that they have long been reluctant to touch.

The North Carolina Senate this week passed a bill to legalize medical marijuana — legislation that, until recently, seemed unlikely to garner bipartisan support. A similar bill passed the Senate last year, but died in the House. This year, however, Moore has said the bill has “decent prospects of passage” because “attitudes [in the House] have changed.”

Lawmakers are also weighing legislation that would legalize happy hours, which, if passed, would be a major change to North Carolina’s antiquated liquor laws. The bill’s sponsor, a top House Republican, acknowledged the state is “terribly behind” when it comes to ABC regulations, especially compared to other states. Online sports betting is another item on the agenda this legislative session, after it failed by one vote in the House last summer. Lawmakers are optimistic it will pass.

Though it often feels as though North Carolina is moving backward, this legislative session is showing that progress - at least a little - is possible. But in some ways, it’s less moving forward than it is playing catch-up. Medicaid expansion is more than a decade overdue, and North Carolina has certainly paid the price for its inaction. In addition to leaving billions of dollars on the table, the state’s failure to expand Medicaid has caused unnecessary death and suffering.

Meanwhile, North Carolina is one of just 13 states where medical marijuana is not yet legal.

These steps forward aren’t perfect ones, either. North Carolina’s medical marijuana bill, for example, would be the strictest in the nation, excluding many debilitating medical conditions whose symptoms can be abated by medicinal cannabis. The Medicaid expansion bill isn’t perfect, either — it wouldn’t even take effect for a few months, until a budget is signed, giving Republicans significant leverage in negotiations.

Still, forward movement is a good thing. And if you had told North Carolinians a year or two ago that all of this would be happening just months after Republicans won a near-supermajority in the General Assembly, they probably would have laughed. Affordable health care? Weed? Gambling? In North Carolina?

Yet here we are.

Perhaps lawmakers are acknowledging that they can’t stonewall progress forever. Many of these issues aren’t as divisive as they once were, and as the electorate changes, enough Republicans are acknowledging they must change with it.

Such shifts are only happening on some fronts, however. On many social issues, Republicans still have one foot stuck in the past. Lawmakers are planning to pass new anti-abortion restrictions and other harmful legislation, including a “Don’t Say Gay”-style bill. The state still lags considerably on school funding and teacher pay, and it’s hard to see that changing anytime soon.

Of course, we once thought the same about Medicaid expansion and medical marijuana. We can only hope on these other issues, Republicans will slowly, but finally, get there.