As the North Carolina General Assembly gets ready to come back to Raleigh this week, Democratic Gov. Josh Stein agreed that while the budget framework the General Assembly created is a step in the right direction, he said he would like to see the actual budget go further when it comes to compensating public servants who “do the people’s business.”
At a press conference on Wednesday, he said the proposed increases for law enforcement and teachers in the budget framework is a step in the right direction, stating that the state is 49th in trooper pay and correctional officer pay and 46th for teacher pay. With the increases, Stein said that might bring the numbers up to possibly 42nd but that more needs to be done.
“So, yes, it’s progress, and yes, it’s letting these folks know that we value them,” Stein told reporters. “But the pay increase for state employees and their framework over a two-year period of time was 3%. Inflation probably 5%, and state employees are paying a higher amount on the State Health Plan today than they were two years ago. So, on a real basis we are asking state employees to do the same work for less money.”
But, the governor called the revenue amendments and future tax cuts fiscally irresponsible and will only hollow out critical public services that are desperately needed by the people of the state.
“Gov. Stein is right that public employees deserve competitive compensation, but those priorities must be balanced against the state’s long-term fiscal health,” Joseph Harris, fiscal policy analyst for the John Locke Foundation told Carolina Journal. “The budget framework appears to strike a reasonable compromise. It includes significant raises for teachers, law enforcement officers, and correctional officers while recognizing that the size and timing of future tax cuts and spending commitments matter. That balance can help protect the state’s fiscal position while continuing the pro-growth policies that have helped make North Carolina an attractive place to live, work, and invest.”
Stein said he has been in personal contact with the leadership in both chambers, including in the appropriations committees. He also referenced lawmakers 15.4% proposed increase for correctional officers in the framework but agreed with Leslie Cooley Dismukes, secretary of North Carolina Department of Adult Correction, who said that all corrections system employees should get the raise and not just the correctional officers themselves.
“I think the Secretary Dismukes comments about it’s not enough to give correctional officers themselves a pay increase if you don’t address the other people who work in the prisons because it creates all kinds of salary complications, and so that’s the kind of information we’re sharing with them,” Stein told reporters. “So that when they put pen to paper, then it just makes sense and it makes sense for state government, but ultimately that it makes sense for the people of North Carolina. “We are at go time this is the time for them to finalize the budget and we’re eager to partner with them to come up with the best budget possible for North Carolina.”
The governor added again that while he is encouraged anytime the legislature reaches out to his administration and briefs them on their discussions, “the proof will be in the pudding, in terms of what the final document actually says.”