Of all the differences among the three budgets submitted for the upcoming two-year spending cycle, none is larger, and less likely to be negotiated, than the $4.4 billion Medicaid expansion Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper is pushing. Cooper contends the provision, which would add 624,000 people to the…
State Treasurer Dale Folwell said Friday he “will pursue all avenues of appeal” after Durham Superior Court Judge James Hardin ruled against the state in enforcing regulations against massive pension spiking by a select group of state employees. “My administration inherited this case and…
Politically charged debates over teacher pay are nothing new. This year is no exception, given that Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper holds power in the executive branch, while a Republican supermajority governs the General Assembly. Cooper wants to spend more, the legislature wants to spend less. For now, the…
The tough work on the state budget has just begun. The House early Friday morning passed Senate Bill 257, a $45.7 billion General Fund budget for the next two years. It spends nearly $350 million more than the Senate version of the General Fund budget passed three weeks ago.
No discussion. No debate. No drama. A lopsided vote. A couple of hours after slipping through a skeptical Senate Rules Committee, Senate Bill 155, aka the brunch bill, breezed through the full Senate Thursday by a 32-13 vote. Republicans were split, 22-12, and those divisions became apparent, mainly during…
Thirty-eight amendments consuming nearly eight hours of debate (including a few extended breaks) wound up changing few minds. The House late Thursday night passed its $22.9-billion General Fund budget for the 2017-18 fiscal year by an 82-34 vote. Twelve Democrats backed the budget’s initial passage. A single Republican, Rep. Jeff Collins,…
RALEIGH — The Republican-led N.C. General Assembly scored a victory in its ongoing legal war with Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper, as a three-judge panel rejected Cooper’s latest lawsuit against lawmakers. The judges ruled that they had no jurisdiction in the case. Cooper spokesman Ford Porter responded to the news. “The…
RALEIGH — Now that all budget proposals are on the table, the negotiations between North Carolina’s House and Senate leaders will get serious. Rep. Nelson Dollar, R-Wake, senior chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, sat down with Carolina Journal Thursday morning before…
Senate Bill 155 slid through the Senate Finance Committee on Wednesday and, slowed by only the usual dissenters, advanced to the Rules Committee with nary a soft grimace nor a lingering burn. The original bill was replaced during the hearing by a Proposed Committee Substitute.
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…
