Dear Jack,

Welcome to the Friday Five! Every Friday we share our top five articles, stories, and quotes for you to read and share with your friends and church families.

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1. AP: North Carolina Gov. Stein Signs Stopgap Bill and Vetoes Opt-in Bill Helping School

"North Carolina Gov. Josh Stein signed into law on Wednesday a stopgap spending measure while lawmakers remain in a state budget impasse. But he vetoed legislation that would direct state participation in a yet-implemented federal tax credit program to boost school-choice options, suggesting state Republicans acted hastily.

The Democratic governor had already said this week he would sign the ‘mini-budget’ that the GOP-controlled General Assembly sent him last week. But he called it a poor substitution for a full two-year budget that House and Senate negotiators were unable to finalize before the new fiscal year began July 1."

Read more: https://apnews.com/article/north-carolina-budget-governor-scholarships-veto-2a1ba469804d1060bf3bcf731fa944d5

2. NEWS & OBSERVER: NC GOP Wants to Override 5 More Vetoes. What Are They, and When Could They Happen?

"Republican state lawmakers managed to override Democratic Gov. Josh Stein’s vetoes of eight bills last week, and took the first step toward overriding four more.

In total, there are five vetoed bills that GOP lawmakers could still decide to take up and try to enact over Stein’s objections."

Read more: https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/nc-gop-wants-override-5-093000733.html

3. CAROLINA JOURNAL: Three Policy Trends Work Against Democrats

"On education, many of the same folks resisted what proved to be a steady expansion of parental choice and school competition. Again they predicted doom and were mistaken. Choice-friendly states such as Florida, Indiana, and Louisiana currently boast some of America’s top-performing public schools. According to several recent studies, states with more school competition tend to post higher test scores and other educational outcomes, not lower ones.

And on social policy, Democrats in North Carolina and elsewhere spent decades defending pervasive racial discrimination by colleges and universities in admissions and employment. Such abuses of the concept of “affirmative action” were never popular — and in the case of hiring practices, were never even arguably legal. It shouldn’t have taken litigation to restore equal protection under the law."

Read more: https://www.carolinajournal.com/opinion/three-policy-trends-work-against-democrats/

4. CAROLINA JOURNAL: Republicans Set the Tone for NC’s post-Cooper Era

"The General Assembly’s rapid-fire overrides of Gov. Josh Stein’s recent vetoes send a clear message: The Republican-led legislature intends to lead, and lean into, the post-Cooper era.

This isn’t just business as usual — it’s a coordinated show of force, and it carries deep political significance heading into the 2026 election cycle."

Read more: https://www.carolinajournal.com/opinion/republicans-set-the-tone-for-ncs-post-cooper-era/

5. CAROLINA JOURNAL: NC’s Map is Not Partisan Gerrymander; It’s Geography

"As Texas becomes the flashpoint in a national redistricting war, where Republican legislators aim to redraw congressional districts mid‑decade and Democratic lawmakers flee the state to deny a quorum, the debate over North Carolina’s map deserves a sharper, more principled view. A recent commentary by a Democratic columnist blamed North Carolina’s own tangle with redistricting lawsuits, saying that our state served as the catalyst for the current chaos.

It actually began much earlier, when former President Barack Obama and his Attorney General Eric Holder launched the National Democratic Redistricting Committee in 2017, ahead of the 2020 census. The goal was to organize aggressive, state‑by‑state efforts to redraw maps in Democrats’ favor. The frontline of that fight has been in courtrooms in places like North Carolina. The fight continues after, in 2023, the party called Obama back into action amid an emerging state-by-state battle for congressional seats."

Read more: https://www.carolinajournal.com/opinion/reality-check-ncs-map-is-not-partisan-gerrymander-its-geography/

Weekly Prayer: Freedom

LORD, you have blessed us with a spiritual liberty that is so wonderful and beyond description, that it can only be understood through experiencing a life-giving relationship with Christ. However, we also recognize that in your grace, you have blessed our country with a political liberty that enables us to openly proclaim the experience of a life lived in the freedom of the Gospel.

LORD, as individuals and as a nation, may we never take the inalienable right of religious freedom for granted. Right now our country has faced a rapid increase in the number of attacks made against this cherished right. We have seen groups across our public arena increase in boldness and frequency their smears against religious liberty. They claim it is bigotry, when we know it is the security of the greatest of all possible loves.

Be with your people and our country as it continues to protect the constitutional right protected by our nation’s Founders. Be with legislators and the Supreme Court, as they determine through their actions the protection of this particular and fundamental freedom. 

“It was for freedom that Christ set us free; therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery.” (Galatians 5:1)

“For you were called to freedom, brethren; only do not turn your freedom into an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.” (Galatians 5:13)

“Act as free men, and do not use your freedom as a covering for evil, but use it as bondslaves of God.” (1 Peter 2:16)

Amen

Sincerely,

Tami & Team

NC Values