The North Carolina General Assembly’s 2025 legislative session started on Jan. 8 and Cumberland County state legislators are heading into the new year with a slate of health topics to tackle, ranging from access to care to water pollution to sexual assault.
Despite differences in focus areas, N.C. Senate District 19 Rep. Val Applewhite and N.C. House District 44 and District 42 Reps. Charles Smith and Mike Colvin each look to improve county health from their seats in Raleigh.
“By working together with the county, health care providers and advocacy groups, we can address these pressing health issues and improve the quality of life for all Cumberland County residents,” Applewhite told CityView.
CityView queried the county’s representatives in the General Assembly on a handful of health topics. Below is a compilation of some of their responses.
Note: CityView asked all representatives the same questions. N.C. Senate District 21 Rep. Tom McInnis and N.C. House District 45 and District 43 Reps. Frances Vinell Jackson and Diane Wheatley did not respond to CityView’s multiple inquiries before publication. Information on these officials’ health stances and more can be found on CityView’s elections page.
Supporting Cumberland County’s health needs
Applewhite, a Democrat, said the Cumberland County Board of Commissioners plays the central role in resolving county health issues. In Raleigh, she sees herself as a collaborator in the board’s work.
“At the state level, my role is to support and collaborate on policies and funding that empower local efforts,” Applewhite said. She is also a former member of the Fayetteville City Council, serving from 2007 to 2013.
From his state seat, Colvin, also a Democrat, looks to increase access to health care. He plans to advocate for policies and funding to help recruit and retain medical providers and health care workers in the county.
Cumberland County has one primary care physician for every 1,420 residents, slightly fewer than the state average. It also has fewer health care workers specializing in pregnancy and birth, like OB-GYNs, than the state average. CityView previously reported on the county’s low mental health care capacity.
While campaigning, Smith, a Democrat, said he heard from residents, particularly those in more rural parts of the county, about the need for telehealth options. The need comes as Smith spent part of his last term in the statehouse working to expand broadband access for North Carolinians.
Smith also heard from residents requesting mobile health options. Both requests follow the most recent county Community Health Needs Assessment, which described transportation, and its cost, as a possible barrier to health care.
Decreasing PFAS and 1,4-dioxane exposure
Last year, the state gave $30 million to the Fayetteville Public Works Commission to build a PFAS water treatment facility. The funding comes as the Environmental Protection Agency under the Biden administration began regulating PFAS levels in drinking water in 2024.
The EPA’s PFAS exposure limits depend on the specific chemical, and range from four to 10 parts per trillion. Colvin plans to hold entities to these limits by establishing routine monitoring policies for PFAS levels in Cumberland County’s soil and water. PWC already measures PFAS levels at its plants, which can be found on the commission’s website.
PFAS have also been found in produce grown near Chemours’ Fayetteville Works plant off NC-87, according to a study published in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry.
Applewhite is concerned about how support for PFAS and other environmental policies will change under President-elect Donald Trump’s administration and newly-elected Congress.
“Local and county governments lead the charge on implementing water policy, but they need robust state and federal backing to succeed,” Applewhite said. “I will keep advocating for Cumberland County and all North Carolinians, ensuring that protecting our water remains a top priority in the General Assembly.”
Smith said the issue of PFAS-free water transcends party lines. He said the state legislature will meet with PWC sometime during the long session to discuss the $111.2 million it needs to build the filter plant and its $12 million annual plant maintenance costs. He hopes that the state can offset the costs of PFAS contamination treatment so PWC customers don’t see rate increases.
“I think that’s, at the state level, what our number one priority should be and maybe the main method of improving water quality in this area,” Smith said.
Securing consistent child care funding
The end of pandemic-era funding threatened child care across the state. A report from the North Carolina Child Care Resource and Referral Council found that almost 3 in 10 programs had expected to close following the end of the funding in June 2024 without additional state funding. Between January and August 2024, 191 child care facilities in the state closed.
In December, the N.C. House overrode Governor Roy Cooper’s veto to ratify Senate Bill 382. The controversial bill’s 132 pages, among many other things, includes $33.75 million in child care funding. The dollars should support child care providers until the long legislative session begins in March, Rep. Donny Lambeth of Winston-Salem told NC Health News in November.
“What is truly needed is predictable, stable and recurring funding to ensure the sustainability of this essential service,” Applewhite said.
Applewhite supports the state’s Tri-Share Child Care Pilot Program, piloting in Cumberland County and 14 other counties. The program shares the cost of child care between employers, employees and the state.
Smith said the program highlights the buy-in from the business community, and now the state needs to do its part.
“The real area where the state government can help is just offsetting the loss of those federal dollars,” Smith said.
Some of that money could come from maintaining North Carolina’s corporate income tax, Smith said. The 2021 Appropriations Act instituted a gradual phase-out of the tax, decreasing it to 0% after 2029. However, Smith said the state’s 2025 2.25% corporate tax rate already makes North Carolina attractive to businesses. CNBC ranked North Carolina as the second most business-friendly state in 2024.
Smith explained that eliminating state corporate income tax would reduce state revenues by $2 billion — which is money needed for services like child care and other programs.
Protecting NC Medicaid expansion
In December 2024, CityView reported how possible federal cuts to Medicaid funding would impact Cumberland County. The N.C. Medicaid expansion law states that, if the federal government decreased funding for expansion populations below 90%, the state would stop covering the expanded population “as expeditiously as possible.”
No cuts to Medicaid are currently slotted. However, Trump’s new Department of Government Efficiency has proposed a $2 trillion cut to federal spending with the most likely target being Medicaid, according to Larry Levitt, executive vice president for health policy for health information organization KFF.
Smith believes maintaining a corporate tax could also help supply the increased state dollars needed to keep the state’s Medicaid expansion if the federal government cuts its funding share.
Applewhite said it is too early to speculate on whether the incoming federal legislature will cut Medicaid funding and what that would do to N.C. Medicaid expansion. However, she recognized the state faces large economic pressures, from Hurricane Helene relief to public education to health care.
“I believe challenging economic times lie ahead, making it essential to take a collaborative and measured approach to our state’s future,” Applewhite said. “Whatever steps are necessary, we must ensure that affordable, accessible and quality health care remains a cornerstone of our priorities for North Carolinians.”
To address their health priorities, N.C. legislators have until May 8 to pass any of their bills for them to remain eligible for consideration. For any new local bills to be considered for this session in the Senate, they must be introduced by Feb. 27. State representatives have until March 6 to introduce their local bills in the House.
CityView Reporter Morgan Casey is a corps member with Report for America, a national service program that places journalists into local newsrooms. Morgan’s reporting focuses on health care issues in and around Cumberland County and can be supported through the CityView News Fund.
