Governor Stein Signs State Budget Passed By Republican-Led Legislature
Today, North Carolina Governor Josh Stein officially signed into law the state budget passed by the Republican-led General Assembly. This is hardly a surprise since Republicans secured enough Democrat votes to easily override his veto.
About the budget Stein said, “North Carolinians expect their elected officials to come together across our differences to deliver for people. This budget delivers the largest starting teacher pay raise in nearly 50 years and overall teacher pay raise in fifteen years, fully funds Medicaid for the year, and provides historic salary increases to public safety officers who sacrifice to keep our communities and prisons safe. It reaffirms our commitment to western North Carolina’s full recovery and eliminates tax exemptions for data centers’ electricity use. The budget also makes meaningful investments in our community colleges, the DMV, child care, cybersecurity, a new veterans’ home, clean drinking water, and summer food programs for kids.”
He continued, “This budget has real flaws, however. The legislature slashed more than 1,000 state government positions, making it harder for us to keep people safe and healthy. It also includes a number of unconstitutional and wrong-headed provisions like those shifting power from the executive branch or those that are hostile to local governments, especially Charlotte.”
Senate Leader Phil Berger responded to the final passage of the budget saying, “For over 15 years, Republicans in the General Assembly have meticulously crafted budgets to rein in the runaway spending Democrats were dependent on. After decades of fiscal recklessness, Republicans right-sized state government and sent billions of dollars back to residents in the form of regular personal income tax cuts and reforms.
Berger continued, "Our fiscal policies resulted in an incredible decade of success and economic growth. Senate Republicans fought to secure a budget that would continue those efforts, and the budget Gov. Stein signed does just that. It continues to slash tax rates for all North Carolinians and prioritize the needs of our citizens, not bureaucrats.
