On Monday, Gov. Roy Cooper signed twelve bills from the Republican-led state legislature into law including measures for childcare grants, teacher raises, Right-to-Try, and public safety.
Among the bills Cooper signed into law was the authorization for teacher pay raises that was passed in the General Assembly’s budget last year. In press comments after signing, Cooper called for higher teacher raises.
“The legislature should pay our teachers significantly more as North Carolina has already dropped to 38th in the country in teacher pay and invests nearly $5,000 less per student than the national average,” Cooper’s press release read. “Our state has the resources to make meaningful investments to help our public school students and now is the time to do it.”
Cooper also signed a bill spending $67.5 million in childcare stabilization grants. The grants would supplement the industry after $24 billion in one-time COVID-era grants in the federal American Rescue Plan expired in June.
In his own budget proposal, Cooper called to spend $1.5 billion in taxpayer money on childcare industry grants and subsidies.
“This legislation provides critical but limited grants to help keep childcare centers open for the next few months,” Cooper’s press release read. “However legislators need to do much more for parents, businesses and children by extending these grants through 2025, investing in our nationally recognized NC Pre-K and investing more in quality early childhood education. Our children’s future and our economy depend on it.”
The bills signed by the governor Monday include:
- Senate Bill 425: HHS Omnibus.
- Senate Bill 303: Various Court Changes.
- Senate Bill 565: Revise Automatic Expunction.
- House Bill 98: Right to Try Individualized Treatments.
- House Bill 591: Modernize Sex Crimes.
- House Bill 593: Various General Local Laws.
- Senate Bill 332: 2023 Appropriations Act Changes.
- Senate Bill 357: Adjustments to the 2023 Appropriations Act.
- Senate Bill 527: ABC Omnibus 2023-24.
- Senate Bill 559: Charter Schools/Pension/ESOP.
- House Bill 250: Public Safety/Other Changes
- Senate Bill 802: C-PACE Program.
The C-PACE Program would establish a statewide program to provide long-term financing options to businesses from private vendors to pay for improvements. North Carolina joins 30 states to offer a capital expenditure program for sustainable development and economic growth. It would enable property owners and qualifying commercial property to apply to the Economic Development Partnership of NC to be approved for long-term financing provided by private lenders.
Cooper also vetoed Senate Bill 445, which had passed the state legislature unanimously. The measure would “exempt any certified copy of a court-filed document from the formatting requirements applicable to paper documents presented for registration to a register of deeds.”
“This bill creates legal ambiguity regarding when eviction orders become effective and may harm low-income individuals by making it harder for them to appeal as indigent in small claims court,” Cooper said in a press release.
Cooper also allowed Senate Bill 607, Regulatory Reform Act of 2024, to become law without his signature.