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<br /> <br />wetlands. Agricultural land easements protect the long-term <br />viability of the nation’s food supply by preventing conversion of <br />productive working lands to non-agricultural uses, and provide <br />additional public benefits, including environmental quality, historic <br />preservation, wildlife habitat and protection of open space. North <br />Carolina counties urge Congress to establish a dedicated funding <br />source to support ACEP; <br /> <br />2) Support Prohibiting Discrimination on the Basis of Sexual <br />Orientation or Gender Identity – Currently, the actual or <br />perceived sexual orientation or gender identity of an individual can <br />be used to limit, segregate, or classify an individual and adversely <br />affect an individual's status. An employer can also fail or refuse to <br />hire, can discharge, or can otherwise discriminate with respect to <br />the compensation, terms, conditions, or privileges of employment <br />of such an individual. Legislation is needed to prohibit such <br />practices that would adversely affect individuals based on such <br />actual or perceived orientation or identity; <br /> <br />3) Support Federal Minimum Wage Increase to $15 per Hour – <br />Support legislation to raise the minimum wage to $15 per hour for <br />all public and private sector employees to enhance people’s <br />economic security, improve access to safe and secure housing, <br />boost the economy with increased spending, decrease <br />dependence on government assistance programs, and improve <br />the lives of families; <br /> <br />4) Support the Creation and Implementation of a “Marshall Plan” <br />to Mitigate Climate Change – The world’s leading climate <br />scientists warned in a 2018 landmark report by the United Nations <br />Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) that urgent <br />and unprecedented changes are needed for global warming to be <br />kept to a maximum of 1.5C, which they say is affordable and <br />feasible although it lies at the most ambitious end of the Paris <br />Agreement pledge to keep temperatures between 1.5C and 2C. <br /> <br />The United States must respond to this existential threat by rapidly <br />implementing the equivalent of a “Marshall Plan” to address the <br />climate change crisis which has already begun to disrupt <br />communities and natural systems around the globe; <br /> <br />5) Support Federal Legalization of Marijuana – Ten states have <br />already legalized marijuana for recreational use, and 30 states <br />have legalized marijuana for medical use. Federal legalization of <br />marijuana will end the unnecessary waste of law enforcement <br />resources used to enforce the failed policy of prohibition, and <br />correspondingly allow for regulation and taxation generating