FAQ

Chris Bishopp is the Democratic candidate for North Carolina House District 82 in Cabarrus County. He spent seven years as an officer in the United States Navy and 31 years as a federal air traffic controller with the FAA, work that made him directly responsible for the safety of thousands of air passengers every day. He believes Cabarrus County deserves a representative whose top priority is doing right by the people rather than big business or special interests, and he points to cuts to school funding, low teacher pay, restricted healthcare access, and gerrymandering as reasons he decided to run.

Chris sees his role as an elected official first and foremost as a public servant, responsible for listening to the people he represents, understanding the challenges facing their communities, and supporting, fighting for, and enacting policies that improve the lives of all North Carolinians. He believes every person deserves to have their voice heard regardless of race, religion, gender, ZIP code, or economic status, and plans a regular newsletter and community listening sessions. As a retiree, he sees serving as his full-time commitment.

Chris's top priority is funding public education. He points out that North Carolina ranks last in funding effort and near the bottom in per-pupil funding, calls public schools the great equalizer, and points to the state constitution's guarantee of a uniform system of free public education. Healthcare and Affordability are also top priorities for Chris.

Chris Bishopp sees public education as the foundation society builds upon and believes it should be the great equalizer, regardless of a student's income or ZIP code. He points to the state constitution's demand that government provide a uniform system of free public education, and notes that North Carolina ranks last in the nation in funding effort and near the bottom on several other measures of public school funding. Strengthening public schools is his top priority in the General Assembly.

Chris supports raising starting pay and fixing the pay scale that currently keeps pay flat between years 15 and 24 with no base step increases. He wants to restore master's pay and retiree health benefits, including for new hires, and believes cost-of-living increases should be guaranteed rather than left to the legislature's discretion. He has said teacher salaries should be competitive with neighboring states and the rest of the South.

Chris opposes the program in its current form. He believes it was originally meant to give low-income families a choice if they felt their public school wasn't meeting their child's needs, but that a 2023 expansion removing income limits turned it into a way to divert hundreds of millions of public dollars away from public schools. He supports rolling back or eliminating the voucher program, and believes that if it continues in any form, private schools receiving the money should be held accountable to the same standards as public schools.

Chris supports a permanent moratorium on new for-profit charter schools and at least a temporary moratorium on new non-profit charter schools until public schools are fully funded. He believes any charter school should be held to the same standards and reporting requirements as public schools.

Chris supports legislation to provide free meals to public school students, pointing to federal SNAP cuts that are making it harder for families to afford food.

Chris supports increasing per-pupil spending and believes the state should better fund programs for students with special needs, which he notes cost schools more per pupil than average without the state properly funding that difference.

Chris believes student well-being and mental health should be treated as an integral part of public education, and supports fully funding counselor, psychologist, social worker, and nurse positions, which he says are understaffed compared to nationally recommended ratios. He has also said the state needs to evaluate pay for classified staff such as nutritionists, school nurses, speech therapists, and counselors, so that short-staffing in those roles doesn't fall on classroom teachers to cover.

Chris supports funding to expand school capacity and relieve overcrowding in growing communities like Cabarrus County.

Chris will be voting for the Cabarrus County Education Bonds and urges everyone else to do the same.

Chris supports career and technical education partnerships that reflect the workforce needs of communities like Cabarrus County, and believes expanding access to apprenticeships and job training helps build the workforce of the future.

Chris Bishopp believes access to quality healthcare shouldn't be predicated on ZIP code, and that the state should expand access and bring down costs together. He notes that when access increases, costs come down because people can get treated early, before a problem becomes serious enough for the emergency room.

Chris supports fully maintaining Medicaid expansion. He believes North Carolina must fully support it, and notes that the 2023 expansion gave 800,000 North Carolinians access to comprehensive health care while helping keep rural hospitals open.

Chris supports investing in health care workforce training to expand access, and bringing down prescription drug costs through strict oversight of pharmacy middlemen. He has also said the state needs more funding for community health clinics, not less.

Chris Bishopp says the cost of living in Cabarrus County is rising faster than most families' paychecks. Gas, groceries, rent, and housing prices have stayed high, and even with the county's higher-than-average income, many residents are struggling to keep up. His test for any tax or spending decision is whether it improves economic opportunity for everyday residents or just shifts costs onto them. He supports lowering or eliminating the state tax on groceries, opposes the property tax revenue cap on the November ballot, and will fight Duke Energy's requested rate increase.

Chris opposes the amendment. He believes decisions about property taxes are best made by local governments that understand their own communities' economies and needs, noting that the state's 100 counties are all very different and that the amendment offers no specifics about how the limits would actually be implemented. He feels that asking residents to simply trust lawmakers on the details isn't a policy anyone should be comfortable with.

Chris believes those cuts shouldn't happen unless the state can demonstrate that the remaining revenue would still be adequate to cover ever-increasing expenditures. He has also said North Carolina doesn't need a zero-percent corporate tax rate to stay competitive.

Chris is in favor of reducing or even abolishing a state sales tax on groceries until we get a handle on the current inflation rate.

Chris believes the state needs to keep looking at ways to address the childcare issue, and points to higher provider reimbursements, expanded subsidy eligibility, increased investment in the early-childhood workforce, and employer tax credits as solutions worth exploring. He considers investments that make childcare more affordable smart investments that help parents stay in the workforce.

Chris supports state and local cooperation to fund infrastructure ahead of new housing growth, with development paying its fair share of its direct impacts so current residents aren't left covering the cost. He wants to expand homeownership programs, including down-payment assistance through the NC Housing Finance Agency, especially for teachers, first responders, health care workers, and veterans, and supports building more smaller-lot homes, townhomes, and duplexes.

Chris believes the state must preserve the affordable housing that already exists and address the pressures that can displace longtime residents. He supports partnerships and incentives that encourage the development and preservation of affordable housing, while protecting taxpayers and ensuring public resources are used responsibly.

Chris supports pausing new data center construction until the impact on water resources, the electric grid, and local communities is understood. He wants legislation with clear standards to protect natural resources and ensure local communities aren't forced to shoulder the burden through higher electricity rates or environmental harm, and supports ending sales and usage tax incentives for data centers.

Chris opposes letting data centers raise household electric bills. He has pointed to the NC Attorney General's proposal for a separate utility rate class for data centers and other large energy users, which would make them pay their fair share of grid infrastructure costs and prevent price hikes for residential customers, and says he agrees with that approach.

Chris is critical of Duke Energy's standing as a regulated monopoly and supports more competition for the utility. He supports North Carolina's transition to 100% clean energy and is fully in favor of developing offshore wind. He has solar panels on his own home, which he says helps with his bill and which he views as the right thing to do for the environment.

Chris supports requiring background checks for every firearm sale, with a clear process for lawful purchases, and opposes Senate Bill 50, which would allow permitless concealed carry for people 18 and older. He supports creating an extreme-risk protection order system that would let judges temporarily remove firearms from someone found to pose a serious danger, with due process protections, and supports strengthening firearm restrictions for people convicted of domestic violence.

Chris is strongly opposed to how legislative maps have been drawn, believing lawmakers in Raleigh have gerrymandered congressional districts four times in recent years against the state constitution, which he considers criminal, and that the same applies to state House and Senate districts. He supports independent redistricting, fair and expanded ballot access, and reducing the influence of big money in politics, pointing to measures like Hawaii's corporate-spending law as a model.

Yes. Chris notes that his own party voted in favor of the latest state budget, and while he felt it included strong provisions, he also saw it as carrying unnecessary pork spending, largely benefiting Republicans heading into an election. He has said he'd have a hard time supporting a bill that does that while still falling short of addressing the state's needs.

Visit chrisforcabarrus.com, email chris@chrisforcabarrus.com, or follow the campaign on Facebook, Instagram, and Bluesky (@chrisforcabarrus).