Written by GARY D. ROBERTSON

The North Carolina General Assembly is two months late on finalizing a two-year budget, even as the state expects to take in billions of dollars more than it had earlier forecast.

Getting the state government’s spending plan enacted depends first on disentangling competing House and Senate proposals. The unexpected billions in tax collections, as well as unallocated COVID-19 stimulus money, have only made the process more difficult.

“It is a much more complex budget this time,” Rep. Donny Lambeth, a Forsyth County Republican and a senior House Appropriations Committee co-chairman, said this week.

Once Republican leaders have agreed to a joint plan, they’ll aim to reach a compromise with Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper that he’s able to sign into law.

But Cooper has never signed a traditional omnibus state budget bill into law — a reflection of the political parries between him and the GOP-controlled General Assembly since he was sworn in to office in 2017. As has happened before, there will likely be significant differences between Cooper and the GOP-controlled legislature over tax cuts, teacher and state employee pay and policy provisions that would weaken executive branch leaders.

A new budget was supposed to be in place by July 1. The governor’s office said this week that Republicans were needlessly slowing the process by debating a bill to weaken his emergency powers.

But Cooper tempered his critique to reporters, sounding optimistic that a final budget he could sign was still quite possible.

“We need to take whatever time we need to make the transformational changes that are going to be so important to this state,” Cooper said Thursday. “Yes, it’s a little more complicated. And we all have to come to an agreement on how this is going to work.”

There are enough Democrats in each chamber to uphold a Cooper budget veto if party members remain united. That happened in 2019, causing a budget stalemate with Republicans that never got fully resolved. But with several Democrats already voting earlier this year for preliminary versions of the budget, there’s no guarantee a veto would stand this time.

House and Senate Republican leaders took until early June to agree on spending caps for state funds — $25.7 billion this year and $26.7 billion for next year.

And with income tax deadlines delayed due to COVID-19, legislators didn’t learn until mid-June the state would take in $6.5 billion more in taxes and fees through mid-2023 than previously predicted. And that’s on top of $5.4 billion in federal funds earmarked for North Carolina in the federal COVID-19 aid package.

“We have an unprecedented amount of resources here,” Cooper said.

The Senate passed its plan in late June, and the House followed in early August. There was no threat of a state government shutdown because state law directs government to keep operating.

But the budget overtime delays projects and pay raises. While the House, Senate and Cooper all agree federal COVID-19 money should be spent on high-speed internet access and water and wastewater system projects, for example, that money can’t be spent until there’s an enacted law.

Legislators had made some progress by the week’s end.

House Speaker Tim Moore said Friday that he and Senate leader Phil Berger had resolved their differences on the remaining top-level issues they were negotiating — a tax package and capital spending amounts.

Moore declined for now to provide details about the tax agreement, saying he wants to share them first with House Republican colleagues. But he said Thursday’s agreement enables rank-and-file negotiators to begin meeting next week.

Berger had no immediate comment on Friday. Earlier in the week, Berger said a possible agreement with the governor was likely weeks away: “I don’t see us getting to the finish line before the end of September.”

 

Photo via Robert Willett/The News & Observer and the Associated Press.

 

Related Stories
‹
Budget Stalemate Reaches Key Moment in North Carolina Senate
A four-month stalemate over the North Carolina state budget may end if Senate Republicans get a little help from Democrats this week to override Gov. Roy Cooper’s veto of the bill. Senate GOP leaders have signaled an override vote could occur during Monday night’s floor session. An override already succeeded in the House during an […]
Final Showdown on North Carolina Budget Could Come Next Week
A final showdown on the vetoed North Carolina state budget could come next week. Senate Republicans on Friday filed the parliamentary notice necessary to give them the option to bring up the vetoed budget for an override vote on Monday. The House overrode Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper’s veto of the two-year budget bill during an […]
NC Senate gives Tentative Approval to Republican Budget
The North Carolina Senate tentatively agreed Thursday to a state spending plan for the next two years written by Republicans, who kept to their decade-old formula of budgets with tax cuts, tempered spending growth and money being parked in reserves. After four hours of debate, the chamber voted 29-18 for the measure, which GOP leaders […]
Senate Quickly Completes Its Part in Budget Vote
The North Carolina Senate has quickly completed its part approving state government budget adjustments for the next fiscal year. Senators voted 36-14 Thursday for the nearly $24 billion spending plan after essentially no debate. They talked for about 90 minutes Wednesday before the Republican-led chamber gave the plan initial approval with an identical nearly party-line […]
Biden: GOP Policies Would Surrender Tech Economy to China
Written by AAMER MADHANI President Joe Biden said Tuesday that Republicans’ ideas for cutting the budget could undermine U.S. manufacturing and help China dominate the world economy. Speaking at a semiconductor maker in North Carolina to highlight his own policies, Biden is trying to shape public sentiment as he faces off with House Speaker Kevin […]
N. Carolina Governor’s Big Budget Increase Scoffed at by GOP
Written by GARY D. ROBERTSON North Carolina’s Democratic governor released his state government spending plan on Wednesday that would increase spending by 20% over the next two years, double the increase favored by Republican majorities in the House and Senate. Gov. Roy Cooper says the massive surge in spending is necessary to prepare citizens for future employment […]
Cooper Details Mental Health Plan; GOP Sets Budget Limits
Written by GARY D. ROBERTSON North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper unveiled on Wednesday a $1 billion plan to address the state’s mental health and substance abuse needs, which have spiked amid increasing overdose deaths and spiraling rates of suicide among young people. The Democratic governor’s office said his initiatives, which will be outlined in his upcoming state budget […]
NC Gov. Cooper Says He’ll Sign 2-Year Budget Bill Into Law
Written by GARY D. ROBERTSON and BRYAN ANDERSON Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper announced on Tuesday that he would sign the legislature’s final two-year budget bill into law once it reaches his desk, saying the good contained inside the Republican-penned bill “outweighs the bad.” Holding a news conference at the same time the Senate prepared for […]
NC GOP Leaders Send New Budget-Bargaining Offer to Cooper
Written by GARY D. ROBERTSON Republican legislative leaders sent another negotiating offer to Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper on Tuesday as top government officials still attempt to enact a long-overdue two year budget. The offices of Senate leader Phil Berger and House Speaker Tim Moore told The Associated Press that the joint proposal was taken to […]
Late NC Budget To Take Longer as GOP, Cooper Seek Consensus
Written by GARY D. ROBERTSON The North Carolina General Assembly is two months late on finalizing a two-year budget, even as the state expects to take in billions of dollars more than it had earlier forecast. Getting the state government’s spending plan enacted depends first on disentangling competing House and Senate proposals. The unexpected billions […]
›