Gov. Roy Cooper and Republican legislative leaders seemed to be discussing two different documents when they spoke to reporters this week about the General Assembly’s budget conference report. Cooper lashed out at legislative Republicans on Tuesday, calling their compromise $23 billion spending plan possibly “the most fiscally irresponsible budget I…
The $23 billion House and Senate budget compromise will include a 3.1 percent increase in spending in the 2017-18 budget year, which is higher than the two chambers agreed to several months ago when budget writing began. (Committee report here. Table of Contents for Senate Bill 527 here.
Former Republican Gov. Pat McCrory says Roy Cooper, his Democratic successor, is repaying his trial lawyer campaign contributors by hiring them for expensive, politically motivated lawsuits against the GOP-led General Assembly. In a wide-ranging interview with Carolina Journal, McCrory also accused Cooper of massive firings of people hired during McCrory’s…
State senators fear a new Megaproject Fund could erode a key 2013 transportation reform.
The House budget includes more than $3 billion in transportation funding each year of the biennium, in addition to the General Fund appropriations for other state operations. In 2017-18 the House budgets $2.26 billion in transportation-related taxes and fees to the Highway Fund, which pays for…
Once clear message from the 2017 budget discussion: School choice remains a priority for the General Assembly. Both the House and Senate have included funding increases for Opportunity Scholarships in their respective budgets, with a few key differences. • The House…
RALEIGH — N.C. House budget writers’ decision to mirror the Senate’s overall goal of $22.9 billion in General Fund spending next year should pave the way for relatively quick agreement between the House and Senate on budget details. Both the House and Senate would spend substantially less than Gov. Roy Cooper…
After roughly two hours of debate, Thursday evening the Republican-led Senate passed a $22.9 billion General Fund budget for the 2017-19 fiscal cycle by an initial 34-15 party-line vote, more than the 30 votes that would be needed to override a veto by Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper. Discussions of…
UPDATE: Links to budget below. RALEIGH — Two numbers not mentioned during Tuesday’s press conference rolling out the Senate budget for the next two fiscal years may be the most important: 30 and 72. Sure, the $22.9 billion in General Fund spending, the $1 billion in tax cuts, and…
A bill to increase penalties for people driving slow in the fast lane has passed the House transportation committee and continues along the jammed-packed legislative highway. A driver deemed as impeding the flow of traffic would face a fine of $200. The House version would also set…
