Welcome & Ballot Basics

Amanda Benbow Lunn 0:08

Hello friends, welcome back to the NC Deep Dive. I'm your host, Amanda Benbow Lunn, and this is another episode featuring our candidate conversations for the 2026 general election. By my best accounting, it looks like we have 18 contested races with 46 candidates in Southern Wake, specifically within Holly Springs and Fuquay Varina. There are a few other races that have only one candidate running, but we will not be including them in our candidate conversations for this election. Of course, the races on your particular ballot will vary based on your address and the specific districts your residence falls within. You can always find your jurisdictions and eventually your sample ballot by searching the NC Voter Search made available by the NC State Board of Elections. Once you get to the page, you'll fill out your information. It will populate with all of those who share your name or the information you provided. And you'll scroll until you find you, click on it, verify that your name and address are indeed correct, and then you can scroll down to see the appropriate sections for the jurisdiction and your sample ballot. Since there are so many races, your ballot will likely have a front and back, so be aware of that. And keep in mind if you're short on time, you can see each episode's transcripts at www.ncdeepdive.com, or you can search the episode's chapter titles for the particular questions we're going over, and you can choose the ones that most interest you. For this particular episode, we are delving into the North Carolina House of Representatives for District 36. There are two candidates running, and you will get to vote for one of them. The two candidates are Julie von Haefen running for the Democratic Party and Mary Insprucker running for the Republican Party. Without further ado, my friends, let's dive in.

Julie von Haefen: Intro, Why, & Experience

Amanda Benbow Lunn 2:05

On this episode, I'm honored to be speaking with Julie von Haefen, who is running for the North Carolina House of Representatives for District 36. Thank you so much for joining us today, Julie. You want to take a few moments to introduce yourself and lead into why you're running for this office and what experiences have prepared you to serve in this role.

Julie von Haefen 2:26

Yeah, great. Nice to see you, Amanda. Hi everyone, I'm Julie von Haefen. I currently serve as the state representative for House District 36, so I'm running for re-election this year. Um, this will be the fifth time that I've run for office. I've served as the state representative for House District 36 since 2018 when I was originally elected. I'm really running because I'm not finished with the work that I've been doing for the last eight years or so. I am a Democrat serving in the minority in the legislature. And so, unfortunately, in that role, I haven't been able to accomplish a lot of the things that I really am passionate about. And so I continue to run every two years because I feel that my voice matters, that I'm representing the interests of my constituents and the issues that matter to them. And I think it's really important to have somebody there speaking out for those things, you know, whether that's education or health care, whether that's child care affordability, whether that's affordable housing, you know, all the things that I hear from my constituents. I believe strongly that I'm a strong voice for them in the legislature. And I continue to, you know, speak out about those things, even if I'm not in a position to pass a lot of legislation and to get things accomplished. I still feel like I represent my constituents well. I do a lot of constituent services in the district, and I continue to be a conduit between our state government and the people of Apex, Cary, and Holly Springs. And so that's why I'm running for my fifth term serving as their state representative in the General Assembly.

Constituent Services Explained

Amanda Benbow Lunn 4:03

Excellent. And you mentioned constituent services. What is that?

Julie von Haefen 4:07

Yeah, I mean, a lot of people don't really know that constituent services are a huge part of a state legislator's job. It's something that you don't really hear a lot about in the press or in social media or anything like that. But you know, as a state legislator, we are a connection between our constituents and any state agencies that our constituents might have problems either getting a hold of or they need help figuring even out what state agency to go to for an issue that they might have. And so I am very fortunate to have a legislative assistant that works for me full-time. And he is kind of, you know, my eyes and ears. He's the one answering the phone, answering the emails that come into the office from my constituents who just need help, you know, whether that's say an unemployment benefits issue, especially during COVID and the pandemic, that was one of our primary jobs that we were helping people connect with benefits that they needed because, you know, their jobs shut down during the pandemic. You know, it could be things like, you know, reaching out to the attorney general's office about a business complaint, you know, or to the Secretary of State's office. I answer a lot of questions about transportation in the district. And I get a lot of questions about, you know, what's going on with this state road or this project. And so we can get all that information for our constituents, and it's a huge part of our job that you don't really hear a lot about, but it's very important. Perfect.

Biggest Issue in District 36

Amanda Benbow Lunn 5:35

What do you believe is the most important issue or challenge facing the people you would represent?

Julie von Haefen 5:40

You know, I think we are very fortunate to live in a prosperous area. Wake County, you know, is the biggest area by population in the state of North Carolina. We have great schools, great health care, great places to live, great parks, great amenities. And that's why people all want to move to Apex, Holly Springs, and Cary. But of course, that comes with a lot of challenges. And I think that, you know, from what I hear from people, those challenges include issues of affordability, whether that's affordable housing, whether that's figuring out how they're gonna pay for childcare for young families that live in our district, you know, whether that's the cost of electricity and our utilities that are going up every year. So I think those are the biggest challenges. I think also living in an area that has such great growth has its pros and its cons. You know, we're dealing with a lot of traffic issues in our area, schools being more crowded, all those kind of things. So, you know, there's good and bad, but I think the main challenge for the constituents in District 36 is probably that affordability issue. And I know that's a buzzword that we're hearing a lot this year, but I think it is real to the people that live in our area.

Amanda Benbow Lunn 6:50

Okay. If

Priorities & Hopes for Accomplishment

Amanda Benbow Lunn 6:51

elected, what would you prioritize? And what specifically would you hope to accomplish during your term?

Julie von Haefen 6:56

Well, for me, the main reason that I ran for office, you know, eight years ago was to improve public education in North Carolina. Before I was in the legislature, I was the Wake County PTA president, and I have been deeply involved in our public schools for over a decade now as a parent volunteer, as a parent leader at my child's elementary school, and then becoming the county president and then serving on the state board for the North Carolina PTA. I saw, you know, what the Republican majority in our legislature had been doing to our public schools over the last 15 years. And I often call it death by a thousand cuts. They've done many, many things, whether it's policy choices or appropriating less and less money every year to our public schools and more and more money to private school voucher program that's really harmed, you know, very deeply our public schools. And to me, public education is the great equalizer. It's what makes all of our children have the opportunity to grow and be successful in our state. 85% of the students in North Carolina go to our public schools. And we have a legal obligation to fund our public schools according to our state constitution, and we are not doing that. Our state courts determined that over the last 30 years in the Leandro decisions, and we have continually failed to meet that obligation. So to me, my number one priority is to improve our public schools in North Carolina, to make sure that every child has access to what we call a sound and basic education, which is not happening right now, and to obviously increase pay and support our public school educators and our administrators who, you know, have been doing the Lord's work, you know, for the last 15 years without getting much of a raise and even taking honestly a pay cut over the years. If you look at the cost of living and inflation and the fact that our state healthcare premiums have increased. So, you know, all those things to me is my number one priority because education is the basis of everything. And if we don't have that public education system that's going to create those opportunities for our children, then our state is not going to be successful. Corporations and businesses come to our state. We often brag that we're the number one state for business, but businesses are not going to continue to come here if we don't provide the public education system that they desire and that they really want for their own families that are coming here to work for those businesses. So that's my number one priority, always has been and always will. And I'm going to continue to work on it if I get re-elected.

Infrastructure & Keeping Up with Growth

Amanda Benbow Lunn 9:38

Excellent. What should the state do to ensure that schools, roads, utilities, and other infrastructure keep pace with growth?

Julie von Haefen 9:45

Well, right now I would say that the way that our tax structure is set up in North Carolina, we are not, as a state government, bringing in enough revenue to make the investments that we need to in our infrastructure in North Carolina. And that's a symptom of, you know, our income tax structure and the continual cuts that we've made to income taxes and to corporate income taxes, especially. Like I just mentioned, corporations are coming to North Carolina. We often brag we're the number one state for business, but we're not requiring those corporations to pay their fair share toward investing and strengthening the infrastructure of North Carolina. By 2030, our corporate income tax is going to be zero. So all of these corporations and businesses that are coming to our state are not contributing their fair share to this rapid rise in population and all the things that we need to keep up with transportation and all the other things that we have to do as a state government. And so that is the most frustrating thing for me is that we say every year when we're doing our budget in the legislature, well, we don't really have enough money to do this. Or, you know, we ask about certain projects or different things, and they always say, Well, we don't have enough money, but we're not requiring the wealthy or corporations to really pay their fair share. And I don't know if we're going to talk about tax policy any more than that. But, you know, really that's resulted in a shift to burdening our local governments to kind of take up the slack. And I don't think that that is fair either, because really that's the job of our state government. And so I think that, you know, we just have a long way to go to kind of fix that structure. And the best thing that our state can do is reverse that course on defunding, curtailing and understaffing state resources. And that means that we have to start taxing corporations so that they can take up the slack.

Amanda Benbow Lunn 11:38

Okay. How

Housing Affordability in Rapidly Growing Communities

Amanda Benbow Lunn 11:39

should the state balance the interests of residents who want additional and or affordable housing and development with those concerned about the pace and character of growth?

Julie von Haefen 11:48

I think what I've seen in the legislature, unfortunately, is that the state often gets very, very intimately involved with local decisions. And we are a state, it's called a Dillon rule state, that basically means that the state government has to give permission to local municipalities, local governments to do the things that they want to do. But that also means that they can take away that authority. And unfortunately, I feel that the state government in North Carolina has really had their hands in a lot of decisions that they really shouldn't have their hands into. I strongly believe in local government. And I feel that, you know, people elect their local elected officials because those are the people that are closest to their towns and to their communities, and they know what's best for those communities. And unfortunately, the state legislature has gotten more and more involved in those very small decisions. And they've also passed laws that affect all communities in North Carolina equally, which doesn't really make sense either because, you know, we have huge urban areas and we have very, very small towns that are in rural areas. And each of those communities has different needs, has different wants. They have different community demands. And so I think that, you know, to me, letting local governments decide those things and what's best for affordable housing policies, you know, and all the things that that might come with it, I think is the best thing that we could do as a state legislature.

Amanda Benbow Lunn 13:16

Okay.

Public Education: Balancing Needs, Funding, & School Options

Amanda Benbow Lunn 13:17

What should the General Assembly do about teacher pay, school funding, and the broader needs of Wake County public schools? And how should that be balanced with charter and private school options in regards to funding?

Julie von Haefen 13:30

Well, like I said before, I mean, I'm a huge supporter of our public schools. I think that, you know, we haven't invested nearly enough in our public schools over the last 15 years or so. Our teacher salaries are abysmally low. They our ranking in the national listing has dropped every single year. I think we are down at 48 or 50 every year. It's kind of hovering right there around the bottom. And it's really embarrassing. You know, I go to like uh national conferences to talk about education, and they talk about how North Carolina used to be kind of like the shining star on the hill around education, and it's just makes me so sad to see that our rankings have, you know, gone to the bottom. Like I said also before, you know, our public schools are our number one priority legally, not just, you know, my opinion, but under our state constitution, they should be the number one priority, and we have a legal obligation to fund them first. And so, you know, when it comes to private schools, I stand very strongly opposed to the private school voucher program. The fact that we are putting billions with A B, billions of dollars toward these private school vouchers at a time when we're told that we just don't have the money to give our teachers any more of a raise or we don't have enough money to increase per pupil spending is just not true. I mean, it is absolutely not true when we could be taking the billions of dollars that we're putting toward those vouchers and we could use that for our public schools. So that's to me, that's a simple fix, you know, that we should just eliminate those voucher programs and return that money where it rightfully and legally belongs, and that's in our public schools. I do believe, you know, that parents deserve a choice of where they send their children to school. We're really, really lucky here in Wake County to have amazing choices just within our own public school system. You know, we have year-round schools, we have magnet schools, we have early college schools, we have immersive language schools, we have all kinds of different options for our students, and we're incredibly lucky in that way. And so I think that we have a plethora of school choice here in our county, and it that includes our charter schools. Charter schools are public schools. A lot of people don't know that, but they are public schools. Now, I think that we should return the cap on charter schools. It used to be that we could only have a hundred charter schools in the entire state. The Republican legislature lifted that cap, and that's resulted in a lot of fly-by-night, for-profit charter schools coming into our state that are not even run by companies that are in North Carolina. And so I think that, you know, having a little bit more accountability and control over how many and what charter schools are coming into our state is good for our kids. And again, as far as the private schools, I fully support if you want to send your child to a private school, that's your decision. But I don't think that myself as a taxpayer should be helping you to pay that tuition, especially when we are underfunding our public schools.

Amanda Benbow Lunn 16:29

Okay. Do you feel that charter schools and private schools are held to the same state standards, regulations, or mandates that our public schools are held to?

Julie von Haefen 16:39

Absolutely not. I mean, that's a fact that they are not held to the same standard. Our private schools do not have to have licensed teachers. They don't have to give the same types of tests that they do in public school. They don't have to report what those test results are if they do give a test. They don't have to accept children, you know, with disabilities. So, you know, they're not held to the same standard or accountability that our public schools are. And charter schools as well, they have different rules as far as like who they have to accept into the school. They have different rules as far as like teacher licensure and testing as well. So if those schools are going to get taxpayer money, they should be held to the same standard and accountability as public schools are.

Amanda Benbow Lunn 17:22

Okay. What

Data Centers: Thoughts & State Role

Amanda Benbow Lunn 17:23

role do you believe the state should play in balancing the potential economic and technological opportunities of data centers with their potential costs and community impacts? And where should the authority of the state end and local control begin?

Julie von Haefen 17:37

Well, I mean, I was proud last year to kind of be involved a little bit in the community's successful effort to end the prospective data center that was coming to Apex. I stood very strongly against that with all the community members that were protesting and making their voices heard that they did not want that data center in their backyard. And we were happy to see that that project was ended. I do think that local governments are very important in this debate or this topic. But I do think that, you know, a statewide moratorium at this point is a good idea. I think that it would protect North Carolinians from the exploitive nature of corporate data centers, especially when there's a lot of communities in North Carolina who may not be as informed or knowledgeable about the topic. And so, you know, I think as a state legislature, it it might be a good thing for us to kind of step in, take a pause, and make sure that we understand the ramifications, you know, of bringing these types of industries to our state. Again, like I said in the other question, I do feel like local control is very, very important. And so I strongly support our local government's ability to place these moratoriums on data centers. But for me, I think that one of the biggest issues with data centers that I see is the demand on our electricity grid, something that we don't hear as much about because that doesn't maybe directly impact people, like the things that we hear about around water use and noise, light pollution, and all the things that I think people talk about when they a data center might go close to their home. But our electricity grid here in the United States in general and in North Carolina is very old and it needs to be upgraded significantly. And so what I really worry about is the enormous demand that data centers place on our electricity grid. They go up very, very quickly. They have ever-growing energy needs. When data centers first started, they were really for cloud storage, but now with AI, the AI is what's draining all this electricity and the power from our grid. And so they also run, you know, 24-7, 365 days a year. And so that is very, very worrisome to me because we are not able right even right now to keep up with our electricity demands. I'm sure you remember, like with different weather events over the last couple of years, there's often brownouts or blackouts even when our electricity grid goes down. And so just bringing these data centers into North Carolina is just gonna continue to cause this drain on our grid. And it's very, very concerning for me. And so I think that is one thing that I think we need to be talking about more and making sure that these corporations are paying their fair share again if they want to come to our state.

Security & Oversight Versus Privacy & Due Process Rights

Amanda Benbow Lunn 20:19

North Carolina agencies and law enforcement increasingly have access to personal information through technology and government databases, including automated license plate readers like flock cameras, healthcare and benefits records, and voter registration information. Where do you believe the line should exist between legitimate government oversight, fraud prevention, and public safety, and an individual's rights to privacy and due process?

Julie von Haefen 20:46

I very strongly believe in every person's right to privacy, and I think that there's no reason that our government needs to be watching over where we're walking, where we're going to work, where we're driving. And, you know, that's why I voted against a bill that we had in the legislature in 2024, which would have expanded the use of these cameras on our state roads. I voted against the budget this year, which also included the expansion of ALPRs in North Carolina that was slipped into the budget as one of a very small piece of policy in a very, very large bill, which I absolutely disagree with. And I don't think that we should be putting these cameras on state roads either. There's very little restrictions on how they're using the data, which is very, very concerning. You know, and as far as the use of them for law enforcement and safety, I just disagree with that. I think that we have hardworking law enforcement officers in North Carolina who have been solving crimes in our state for as long as time has existed, right? Without the unconstitutional use of this mass surveillance. And I think that we all deserve to live in safe communities that are controlled by our law enforcement. I obviously support our law enforcement, but I don't think that we should have to give up our civil liberties in order for that to. happen.

Amanda Benbow Lunn 22:00

Okay. Do you believe that for some of this information it should require a warrant or other sort of authorization?

Julie von Haefen 22:08

Yes, absolutely. I think that we've seen abuses, you know, of the use of this data by people who had access to these cameras, whether they were police officers or other people. And so I just think that just having this unfettered use of data like that is just it's never a good idea. So yes, I do believe that a warrant should be required.

Amanda Benbow Lunn 22:27

Okay.

Approach to the Responsibilities and Decision-Making Authority of this Office

Amanda Benbow Lunn 22:28

How would you approach the responsibilities and decision-making authority of this particular office?

Julie von Haefen 22:33

Well, I mean since I've been in the office, I guess I would say that I'm gonna continue to do my job to the best of my ability. I feel that I've represented the district well for the last eight years. I feel that I am very accessible to my constituents. You know, I make myself available through different coffee hours, through town halls, I do a monthly newsletter that I send out to everyone kind of updating about what's going on in the legislature. I'm very active on social media. I try to share things that are going on in our state government and I hope that people have appreciated and that they'll continue to want me to serve as their state representative. And like I said before, even though I haven't been able to pass a lot of legislation because of my position in the minority party, I feel that I have again been a strong voice for the issues that my constituents care about. And I think that's really important, especially at this time when a lot of people don't feel represented and they don't feel that their elected officials are speaking out for them. That's really why I ran for office originally because the person who served in this office before I didn't feel was speaking up for me. And so you know I hope that I've done a good job and I will continue to do all those things and more if I'm reelected in November.

Reality of the Minority Party & Ideals Moving Forth

Amanda Benbow Lunn 23:50

Okay. And you mentioned being part of the minority party could you talk us through what that looks like are pieces of legislation being voted on or talked through bipartisanly like what does it really look like in the state legislature for this?

Julie von Haefen 24:06

You know, unfortunately I wish I could say that we do work on things bipartisanly, but there are certain issues that I think that are pretty non-controversial and you don't hear a lot about those things. A lot of the bills that we vote on, you know, when they come to the floor are voted on unanimously you know everybody agrees on them. But I will say that the issues that are coming for a vote, whether that's in committee or onto the floor of the House or the Senate, they are all Republican ideas. They are all ideas that are put forward by the majority party. Very rarely any of the bills that the Democrats and the minority file even get a committee hearing. They are basically just filed and then they they're set aside and nobody ever hears from them again. And that's the most frustrating thing for me serving in the minority is that I wish that at least all of our bills could be heard, you know, at least once. Let's have a discussion about them and if the majority wants to vote them down, that's fine. But it gets frustrating when like none of my ideas or none of our our ideas as a Democratic party are even allowed to have the light of the day. You know, they're never allowed to be discussed in a legislative committee. They're never allowed to have the public come in and weigh in on them and say yes, we actually agree with this idea. So most of the bills that I file and other people in the Democratic party file are never voted on and they're never considered. And I don't think that that's a really a very good bipartisan way of working. You know occasionally I've been on bills with the Republican but it's always the Republican's bill that they ask me to be on not the other way around. And so that it's just very frustrating and I don't think a lot of people realize that.

Amanda Benbow Lunn 25:47

And I guess speaking to constituents or voters listening what would you strive for the ideal to be if you found yourself in the majority party?

Julie von Haefen 25:56

Yeah I mean I think that for me if I was suddenly in the majority I would at least want to give people the chance to have their voices heard. I think that that's what democracy is all about that we hear all sides, we have a robust debate and one side wins. But you know right now it's one side is being silenced and not allowed to really say anything. And I don't think that that's the right way to run a government. I also get frustrated that the public is not really allowed to weigh in on what we're doing in the legislature and we are representatives. That is literally our title and so I do feel very strongly that the public needs to be more engaged and aware and participatory in the government. Right now the public is really basically shut out of what's going on in the legislature. You know I've been in committee hearings where there's public comment quote unquote but it each person is allowed to speak for one minute. I mean you can't really say much in a minute. I meet legislators from other states that they have eight hour committee hearings where they have hours and hours of people coming to give public testimony, you know, to weigh in on bills and they allow that time for the public to be involved. And if I was in charge I would that's what I would do. I would really much encourage people to come in, take the time to hear from them at committee hearings, to hear their testimony, because that is how people are going to be more engaged with their government, with democracy in general but when people feel shut out of the process it makes them not want to be engaged at all. And so I think that that is really important and something that I would be very focused on if we were in the majority.

Amanda Benbow Lunn 27:41

Okay.

Balancing Taxes, Obligations, Investments, & Fiscal Responsibility

Amanda Benbow Lunn 27:42

North Carolina has to balance keeping taxes and the cost of government reasonable with paying its obligations and investing in infrastructure, roads, public safety, schools and other services residents rely on. How do you balance that and what does fiscal responsibility mean to you?

Julie von Haefen 27:59

Well fiscal responsibility to me means that everybody pays their fair share. And right now in North Carolina I do not feel that everybody is paying their fair share and this goes back to what I was saying about the corporate income tax. The fact that our corporations are not going to be paying a dime in that tax is just very upsetting to me because I just feel that they're taking advantage of all the things that North Carolina is to offer but they're not contributing at all to you know our state and its revenue. And that's why our revenue is just dropping so quickly. We're starving our state services we're starving our state government because we're not able to fund them as robustly as we should be able to I mean we are one of the fastest growing states we're very successful. We have all these companies coming in but yet we're struggling to fix our roads we're struggling to pay our teachers it doesn't make any sense to me. And so fiscal responsibility to me means that you know we have a robust state government that's working for the people and right now we're not fulfilling that obligation to the people in North Carolina. And so I think that also fiscal responsibility means transparent budgeting. Right now our budgeting process is done completely behind closed doors in secret. We don't know who's writing the budget we don't know who is really getting involved in which appropriations it's all done in secret and then presented to the rest of the legislature as kind of a done deal and we don't really have any ability to weigh in on it. This year when we passed the budget which was a year overdue, we weren't allowed to file any amendments to the budget document and it was just we had to vote yes or no. And I just I think that's a completely horrible way to run a state with a multi-billion dollar budget. We all represent the exact same number of people in the legislature and we should all have the ability to weigh in on what goes in that budget document and at least know how it's written and who it's written by but right now we have no idea.

Amanda Benbow Lunn 29:59

Okay. And

Thoughts about Declining Corporate Taxes

Amanda Benbow Lunn 30:00

you mentioned the corporate taxes the plan is at this moment for that to go to zero percent by 2030 I believe. What are the states that surround us if we're to be competitive are we currently competitive? Do they have the competitive edge? What does that look like?

Julie von Haefen 30:17

I don't know all the numbers off the top of my head but I do know that we're already one of the lowest corporate income rates in the Southeast you know so I don't think that we would lose any edge if we even kept what our rate is at this point. I mean I don't think it's enough you know at this point but what I hear from the Department of Commerce, from the governor's office, from all these state agencies that work to bring companies into North Carolina, the corporate income tax rate is not why they're coming here. They're coming here because of our workforce. They're coming here because of our schools they're coming here because we have a wonderful place to live and you know it's all those other things that are the reasons that they're coming to North Carolina. What I've heard from multiple governors that I've served under is that the corporate income tax is not the first thing they ask about. It's not that is not why they're coming here. And so I don't think that requiring them to pay their fair share is is going to hurt our economy at all. And it's only going to help North Carolina by investing in all those things that they need. I mean I'll just give one example in um in District 36 we have an amazing biotechnology industry. You know Holly Springs has really invested in this um biopharmaceutical you know campuses and we have all these different companies coming in and one company you know is saying well we you know we we're really happy to be there and everything but we really need this road improvement you know to get to our facility and you know we're like well you know get on the list basically because the DOT has you know 10 years of projects you know lined up that we don't have the money to fund. I live in the Apex Office 64 and they've been talking about redoing the 64 I you know the Highway 64 corridor through Apex for 15 years now and it just keeps getting pushed off because the DOT doesn't have enough money to do all the things that they need to do. And so that corporation you know in Holly Springs was like we really need this this road improvement and they can't get it. So you would think that they would want to contribute to you know our state um revenue and help you know fund the things that they need to make their businesses better as well.

Amanda Benbow Lunn 32:34

Mm-hmm

Thoughts on Constitutional Amendments

Amanda Benbow Lunn 32:35

and while we're on this topic what are your thoughts about the amendments that will be on the ballot so there's the property tax amendment along with the income tax one.

Julie von Haefen 32:46

I'm very much opposed to all three of the amendments um the the voter ID amendment is unnecessary we already have voter ID in the Constitution um it's other already the law so I don't really understand you know why we have to pass this additional amendment other than to kind of appease you know the the Republican majority at this point. The other two amendments are can are going to be extremely harmful for North Carolina. I would say first of all the um the property tax amendment is really just smoke and mirrors in my opinion um the legislature could pass a bill today that would restrict local governments and what they can collect in property taxes. They could have done that months ago years ago and they've chosen not to do that. So instead they decided to put this this constitutional amendment on the ballot basically which we already have the authority to do what it says. So it's really just in my opinion kind of red meat for the base so to speak you know to get people to come out to say well yeah we don't like our property taxes so we're gonna vote for this amendment. The legislature has the authority to do that already and so it's really unnecessary. Also like I've kind of talked about on this interview the reason that local governments are increasing their property taxes is because the state has continued to shift the burden of paying for all the things that the state should be paying paying for onto our local governments. And property taxes are the only way that local governments can raise revenue. And so you know again they it all kind of goes back to the way that our state government is collecting revenue. Again we need to be collecting more revenue from corporations that are coming to the state and the wealthy so that they pay their fair share and not shifting the burden onto our local governments especially when it comes to schools because our our local governments have taken over so much of the school funding which is not what is we is not legally what they should be doing under our state law. The legislature pays for state employee salaries and per people spending and all our local governments should be paying for is infrastructure of our school buildings and and and as you know and as you've seen all of our local governments are now having to give salary supplements to hire teachers they're having to give more and more money for per pupil spending so you know again they're just trying to take up the slack for the state legislature not paying for all those things. Finally the constitutional amendment around income tax is extremely worrisome because it would limit any future legislatures from raising our income tax. So what happens if we have another Hurricane Helene? What happens if we have another recession we don't know what's going to happen in the future and this would hamstring every single future legislature legislative body from raising income tax. Again, in my opinion this is just the way for the Republican majority to institute their policies for eternity and not allow the voters to decide if they want a different body different party to control the legislature that new legislature is not going to have the ability to raise revenue for our state a growing state of 11 million people that has a lot of needs. And so it's very very worrisome and very dangerous to put this in the constitution I will finally say that the Republican majority has continued to legislate by constitutional amendment. That is not a way to run a state constitutions are not documents that are supposed to be like for laws like they're they're more like overseeing documents and the way that the Republican majority has run is that they've continued to put all these constitutional amendments on the ballot kind of governed by constitution rather than governing by legislative law. And so to me that's just not a good way to run a state is by continuing to change our constitution all the time. You pass a law you put the law into effect and that's what we should be doing not continually changing our constitution.

Amanda Benbow Lunn 37:07

And has the I'm not sure what the technical name of it is but the budget office, the nonpartisan budget office have they weighed in on kind of the state of affairs if the income tax goes down, if the corporate tax goes down like what the state of our government is?

Julie von Haefen 37:25

I don't think they weighed in on the amendments and what the result of those amendments would be but every you know year or every six months I don't remember exactly the time period but they issue revenue forecasts for the state and when we were discussing the budget last year I mean they showed that we are hitting what we call a fiscal cliff meaning that we're not going to be able to bring in enough revenue to pay all of our bills and to keep up with the growth of North Carolina that's a cliff meaning that we're hitting that spot where we don't have enough to do all the things that we need to pay for. And so that is why in my opinion that is why there was a budget standoff for a year because the House Republicans actually realized when they saw these documents that the triggers that were happening which we're gonna lower our income taxes and our corporate income taxes over the next five to 10 years that if we continued with these triggers, we were going to hit that fiscal cliff and we were not going to have enough money to run the state. And so they kind of put their foot down to the Senate Republicans and said, we have to stop these triggers. We can't continue to keep lowering our taxes because we're not going to have enough money to pay our bills and that that's really the crux of why we had a budget standoff for a year because the Senate Republicans wanted to continue with these tax triggers and continue to lower our taxes and the House Republicans saw the writing on the wall and they said maybe we should stop these for a while and make sure that we have enough money to pay. So I think that it's pretty clear you know from like you said from that nonpartisan state office that we are hitting this fiscal cliff and we're just not going to have enough money to pay for what we need if we don't continue to raise revenue through taxes.

DOT Funding And Waste Claims

Amanda Benbow Lunn 39:08

And I know we were talking about the DOT and you had mentioned them not having enough money or funding to fund all of the needs that we have what are your thoughts for the DOT and more broadly about fraud and waste what checks and balances might we have in place do you think that there is exorbitant fraud and waste because I I feel like that's where a lot of people feel that we're overspending and they don't necessarily realize how much things cost and what are your thoughts in that way

Julie von Haefen 39:39

That's kind of two different questions. I guess I'll start with the DOT question because there's so many needs here in our district and then you know just across the state in transportation needs. Fortunately and unfortunately because of the gas efficiency of vehicles and electric vehicles which is all great things. So you know fortunately we're having vehicles that are not using as much gas but the unfortunate part of that is that we pay for our roads through our gas tax. And so if cars are not you know using as much gas, we have electric cars, the revenue going to our DOT is dropping. And so I think that there's been studies over the years that we need to revise how we're funding the DOT and I strongly agree that we need to either move to a different system like a miles traveled there's different economic policy ideas that you were how you can fund roads and move away from a gas tax. So I think that's one thing that we need to look at. Now as far as the waste and abuse question which I think is broader than just the DOT I think the waste fraud and abuse issue is kind of a smokescreen to cover for the fact that we're not funding our state agencies the way that we should and so then we start blaming the people that are dedicated to working there. I mean our state employees are some of the most hardworking dedicated people in the state they're working there they're not getting paid a lot and they continue in these jobs despite all the challenges that they have fiscally and otherwise and that goes for our teachers too you know we've seen that they've been attacked for not doing their job or for school administrators getting paid way too much and all these kinds of things but every study basically shows that you know like say for example like our central office in Wake County public schools there was a study done there's not a lot of fat that they could cut there. You know they're they're doing their best with a very slim margin. And so I just don't agree that there's you know there's always going to be some kind of waste in government I mean I think that's just part of life but I don't agree that that is what's causing all of our fiscal issues.

Deciding What Takes Precedence

Amanda Benbow Lunn 41:43

When priorities compete or resources are limited how would you decide what takes precedence?

Julie von Haefen 41:49

Well I mean right now we do have limited resources in the state government we've been talking about that a lot. You know I think that one I would say you know I wish that I could be in these rooms where we're deciding which things we're going to cut and which things we're not and just you know making those decisions about what is something that we need to invest in and what's something that we shouldn't. I think there's a lot of things that I see like in our state budget that we give money to that we have absolutely no evidence that it's actually doing anything to help the people of North Carolina. That's one of the most frustrating things for me when I see what we tend to call pork, the things that you know all these kind of directed appropriations to different organizations and different agencies across North Carolina. And I'm sure some of them are doing amazing work. I'm not criticizing that they're not helping people but I know for a fact that there's organizations that are getting money that are not really very efficient and they're not really doing the things they don't have any evidence to show that my taxpayer money is producing results. And I think as a state elected official that is my job to make sure that I'm using the people's money the most effectively and efficiently that I can. And so we do need to have more oversight over some of those directed appropriations. The one thing of course I just want to mention that I speak out a lot about is reproductive rights. And the one thing that we spend a lot of money on in the state is money to these pregnancy resource centers or crisis pregnancy centers. We give millions of dollars to these organizations and we have absolutely no evidence that they're improving maternal health in North Carolina. But yet we have evidence-based programs that will improve maternal health that have data to show that they are but for example this year one of those programs was completely eliminated in our state budget but yet we decided to give tens of millions of dollars to these unproven organizations that we don't know what they're doing with the money. And so that's a perfect example of you know when you talked about waste fraud and abuse I'm not saying that they're fraudulent but it's just I want to make sure as an elected official that we're using our money the best way that we can. And there's so many things that our state budget that we have no evidence that is happening.

Amanda Benbow Lunn 44:03

Okay.

Accountability: What & How

Amanda Benbow Lunn 44:04

Well what should voters hold you accountable for if you're elected and how?

Julie von Haefen 44:08

I mean for me, I think it does matter, I think whether I serve in the majority or the minority party. I I hope that people understand that. And I think that podcasts like this, I hope that it helps people understand my role serving in the minority. I get some criticism, oh well you didn't bring money back to the district or you didn't do this or that. And I'm like, well I would love to do that if I had the opportunity to do that. But unfortunately you have to be in the majority party to do that. And so I think that holding me accountable if I serve in the minority looks a little different than if I served in the majority. So let's start if I'm still in the minority and I get reelected this year and I serve in the minority again next session. I would say that I hope that my constituents hold me accountable for again continuing to stay strong and be that strong voice for the issues that they care about. I hope that they hold me accountable for being a communicator and making sure that I am communicating what's happening in the legislature to them. And I hope that they hold me accountable for helping them. Like we talked about at the beginning of the interview the constituent services that I'm very proud to provide to them that I hope that I continue to do that. And so I think that's what it looks like in the minority. If I'm in the majority I hope to do a lot more things and I would be very happy to be held accountable to you know reach all those goals that I've been talking about for the last eight years and actually push and hopefully get some of those things passed.

Federal Cuts And Local Government Burdens

Amanda Benbow Lunn 45:32

And to go back just a little bit about the financial bit, what does it look like right now from the federal space? Is the funding from federal the same as it has been over the years? Is it gone up? Is it going down? What does that look like and how is that contributing to the state being able to fund their obligations?

Julie von Haefen 45:52

Yeah that's a great question. You know, under the Biden administration with the IRA, the inflation reduction act, you know, we had a lot of great funding coming into North Carolina to do infrastructure projects and other things like that. But then of course when Trump got elected, you know, a lot of that stopped and what's really worrisome is that under the big beautiful bill, quote unquote HR1 that was passed, you know, there's going to be a lot of cuts coming after this midterm election. And conveniently a lot of the things that were in that bill were not going to go into effect until January of 2027 after the election is over. And then I think people are really going to start feeling the effects of that bill and the cuts that are going to be coming to North Carolina. A couple of the major things that are going to happen are cuts to Medicaid. We worked so hard for over a decade to get Medicaid expanded in North Carolina and now is going to be cut. There's going to be work requirements that are going to be going into effect for people on Medicaid, which is going to cause a huge strain on our Department of Health and Human Services and our local health departments and our local social services departments at the county level. And again going back to all the money that the county has been spending on things that the state should have been taking care of, they are going to be even more burdened with Medicaid work requirements and all the administrative costs that that's going to involve and the cuts to SNAP. That is going to really affect our local governments. They are going to be caught between you know either having to make up for the loss of federal funding or literally cutting people off of food benefits. It's very scary and it's this is all happening like as we speak all the changes that are happening in our county social services departments and our county health departments are getting ready for all these changes to go into effect and it's going to put a huge strain on our local governments. And again going back to the constitutional amendment to limit our county governments from raising those property taxes just think about I'm so glad you brought this up think about all the additional federal burdens that are going to be passed on to our local governments and please think about whether we want to hamstring them even more by passing this constitutional amendment.

Amanda Benbow Lunn 48:11

And as

Last Thoughts & Where to Learn More

Amanda Benbow Lunn 48:12

we wrap up any last thoughts is there anything we haven't discussed that you would like voters to know or anything from our conversation that you'd like to expand upon or clarify?

Julie von Haefen 48:21

I would just say you know that I have been super proud and you know happy to represent District 36 for the last eight years. Everyone says this has been the honor of my life literally I never thought that I would do this kind of job. I was a mom, you know I'm a lawyer I was an advocate for my kids and you know it's really what led me to be in this position and I've been really proud with my service that I've been there and just I hope that the voters have been happy with my representation and that they'll continue to send me to Raleigh just down the road to continue to represent them. And you know if you want to learn more about me you can go to my website which is Julie4nc.com. We can read more about all my different platforms on different topics. We didn't go into every topic that I work on. I do a lot around the environment around reproductive rights women's equality issues so I hope that you'll go and read a lot about the things that I've done in those spaces as well. And yeah just thanks for having me on and I hope everyone goes out and votes this year. It's so important.

Amanda Benbow Lunn 49:25

Excellent and you said your website it's Julie4 F O R or is it the number four? F O R. Perfect well thanks so much Julie for hopping on and taking some time out of your very very busy schedule to talk with voters directly. I appreciate you putting your trust in me to do this for you and I wish you the best of luck with your campaign.

Julie von Haefen 49:43

Thanks Amanda.

Closing Reflections & Voting Info

Amanda Benbow Lunn 49:45

Democracy is built on participation. Politics can sometimes feel distant or abstract but the decisions made by our elected officials at the county, state and federal levels have a profound effect on the communities we call home and the way we live our lives from the roads we drive on and the schools our children attend to public safety, parks and recreation, housing, healthcare, taxes, the economy, and the many other services and amenities that make up our communities, government plays a role in shaping both our everyday experience and our future. That makes taking the time to understand the choices on your ballot and the people asking for your vote an important part of being an engaged member of your community. Early voting for the 2026 midterm election begins October 15th and runs through October 31st. In southern Wake County there will be early voting locations at the Hunt Center in Holly Springs, the Hilltop Needmore Town Park Clubhouse in Fuquay Varina, Beech Bluff County Park, and Southern Wake Tech Campus close by. Election Day is November 3rd. A general reminder that you will need a valid photo ID to vote, the regular voter registration deadline is October 9th, although you may still register when you vote during the early voting period. Please note that you cannot register to vote on Election Day itself and that that day you will absolutely have to vote at your designated precinct location to have access to your full ballot. And because there are so many races and ballot measures this year, your ballot will likely be double-sided. It can be helpful to start on the back so that you don't accidentally overlook anything. You'll vote for the races that apply to your jurisdiction along with statewide amendments and for Southern Wake County voters local Wake County bond referenda. Voting is one of the ways we take part in the communities we share. You don't have to agree with your neighbors or even with the candidates you've heard here to recognize that our communities are shaped by the people who show up, ask questions, learn about the choices before them, and cast their ballots. So please take the time to get informed, make your voice heard, and encourage the people around you to do the same. Your vote matters your voice matters and you absolutely matter, my friend. And with that this episode of the NC Deep Dive has come to an end. Please feel free to check out this episode's show notes at ncdeepdive.com for further information and relevant links for this candidate along with general election information. As always if you have any topics or thoughts you'd like to share you can find us on social media or email us at ncdeepdive at gmail.com. If you found value in this episode, I'd love for you to subscribe, rate and share it so that others may more easily be informed. Please make sure to stay tuned for all the relevant candidate amendment and referenda episodes for the 2026 midterm election by visiting ncdeepdive . com, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Audible, or wherever you currently listen to your podcast. Until next time my friends Namaste: the love and light in me sees and honors the love and light in you.