After hours of floor debate on the Senate budget proposal, with pushback from Democrats, the North Carolina Senate has passed the 2025-2027 budget bill through the chamber, initiating the negotiation process with the House.

In less than one week, the North Carolina Senate introduced and passed its $66 billion biennium budget proposal in a 30-15 vote, with four Democrats joining Republicans in approving the bill. The mid-April passage puts the General Assembly on a quicker-than-normal schedule, leaving a window of opportunity for the budget to be settled by the end of June, a goal that typically proves unsuccessful.

“North Carolina’s economy is stronger than ever before,” Senate Leader Phil Berger, R-Rockingham, said. “We have an incredible opportunity to build on the last 14 years of successes with this budget by providing additional tax relief, supporting teachers and state employees, and continuing our hurricane recovery efforts. And we can do all of that while taking on unnecessary bureaucratic bloat.”

About 50 amendment proposals were offered on the Senate floor from both Democrats and Republicans. Democrats criticized the bill’s effort to cut taxes, including the income and franchise tax, while allegedly not providing enough funding for other areas like state employee pay.

“This is a cheapskate budget. We are not a cheapskate state,” state Sen. Greg Meyer, D-Wake, said on the Senate floor. “We could be doing so much more for North Carolina.”

As outlined in a press release from Berger’s office, top items in the bill include:

  • Funding to replenish the Rainy Day fund to $4.75 billion, putting it back to what it was prior to Hurricane Helene.
  • Setting aside $700 million for Hurricane Helene Recovery needs, plus $633 million in temporary and permanent repurposing of funds within the Department of Transportation to support recovery.
  • An across-the-board 1.25% pay increase in the first year of the biennium for most state employees, plus a $3,000 bonus over the biennium. 
  • Teachers will receive an average 2.3% pay increase in FY 25-26 and an average increase of 3.3% over the biennium, plus a $3,000 bonus over the biennium.
  •  On average, teachers will receive additional compensation of 8.9% over the biennium.
  • A $3,000 bonus over the biennium for local law enforcement officers across the state.
  • Initiating guaranteed tax relief for all North Carolinians by cutting the personal income tax rate to 3.49% in 2027 and 2.99% in 2028.
  • Adjusting the tax rate revenue triggers to reach a 1.99% personal income tax rate.
  • Increasing support for NC Children’s, a partnership between the UNC and Duke health systems to build the state’s first and only freestanding children’s hospital, by $638.5 million and exempting it from certificate of need reviews, for a total of $855 million in state support.

SEE MORE: Senate Republicans unveil $66 billion budget plan for 2025–27