From Family to Fiscal Reform: North Carolina Rep. Brian Echevarria at the ALEC Annual Meeting

Some people stumble into politics for ambition or opportunity. For North Carolina State Rep. Brian Echevarria, it was a moment of clarity that turned into a calling.

In 2019, his parents – both 100% disabled veterans – moved from North Carolina to South Carolina. Not for jobs or lifestyle, but for policy. South Carolina exempts disabled veterans from property taxes. North Carolina doesn’t.

“That was the first time my eyes were open to the impact of government on my household,” Echevarria recalls. “The government just broke up my family. So that turned my gaze towards government.”

Rather than leave him discouraged, the experience lit a fire. Married 22 years with three children, Echevarria had built a “big, beautiful bubble” for his family right outside of Charlotte in Harrisburg. But that bubble wasn’t going to last forever. He realized that if government could have this kind of impact on his family, it could affect others too. That’s what pushed him toward public service. And he wasn’t going to arrive empty-handed.

When he entered the North Carolina General Assembly this year as a new lawmaker (fresh out of the grass as he says), he carried with him House Bill 432 – a proposal to reform property taxes.

“The government shouldn’t be the reason people lose their homes,” he says. “I don’t care if you’re left or right. I don’t care if you have purple hair, red hair, blue hair. No one should lose their home to property taxes.”

At first, he was unsure about his bill – until he discovered that ALEC already had a model policy consistent with his in its library. That provided him the certainty to push forward.

“I’m far more confident now after seeing that ALEC has similar legislation,” said Echevarria. “You come in and you find out that what’s important to you was important to someone else already. And that just made it a lot easier.”

Still, it’s a lot to take in for a first-year legislator. Learning the process and procedures while balancing family life can be tricky, but it’s been made easier thanks to his caucus and the central staff.

“Our caucus is full of some of the greatest humans and personalities,” he said with a smile. And the central staff? They were “a breath of fresh air” that “made the job so much easier.”

That support has given Echevarria the freedom to focus on what matters most to him: why policy exists in the first place. No matter whether it’s a “big beautiful bill” in Washington or a dog ordinance in town, the question for him will always be how will this law affect the life you’re trying to build for the people you love?

Once you answer that question, he believes, the rest will simply fall into place.