NC Republicans reach deal to fund private school vouchers, require ICE cooperation

North Carolina lawmakers announced an agreement Friday on a bill that includes increased funding for private school vouchers and legislation that will require sheriffs to comply with federal immigration detainer requests.

The package comes several months after lawmakers failed to negotiate a budget adjustment bill before adjourning the legislative session at the end of June. Republicans said they will hold votes on the bill on Monday and Wednesday.

The “mini budget” GOP leaders have agreed on will provide an additional $463 million in voucher funding to clear the 55,000-student backlog of families waiting for an Opportunity Scholarship. The majority of families on the wait list would not have qualified for a private school voucher before the income limits were removed.

Depending on family income, families will get between $3,360 and $7,468 per child to cover private school costs.

The budget deal calls for providing funding to every new Opportunity Scholarship applicant who is attending a private school as of Oct. 1. Private schools would be required to reimburse the tuition previously paid by voucher recipients for the fall semester.

“As North Carolina families grapple with rising costs and economic uncertainty thanks to the failed policies of the Biden-Harris administration, it is our responsibility as lawmakers to remain committed to responsible spending and economic growth,” Republican House Speaker Tim Moore said Friday in a statement announcing the deal.

“This mini-budget agreement will fund our K-12 and community college enrollment growth, clear the Opportunity Scholarship waitlist to expand school choice to all NC families, will increase funding to keep our Medicaid system fully funded, and will authorize new rural broadband expansion across the state,” Moore said.

K-12 enrollment increases

The budget deal also provides an additional $95 million for K-12 public school enrollment growth. Just as with the community colleges, the state now funds public schools in arrears.

Funding had previously been based on the projected enrollment for the current school year. Since it’s now based on last year’s enrollment, money needs to be set aside to cover enrollment increases.

Earlier this summer, Moore told reporters that House Republicans wanted to include public education funding increases with any voucher spending increases. However, this bill does not fund additional raises for teachers and other school personnel. Lawmakers authorized raises for many public school employees earlier this summer, and state employees were already slated to receive additional raises this fiscal year.

The compromise is a win for Senate leader Phil Berger and other Senate Republicans, who wanted the voucher backlog cleared months ago.

“Families across North Carolina made it clear that they want a greater say in their child’s education. Whether you’re a single parent, a young family, or in a military household, educational freedom should be attainable for all,” Berger said in a statement, adding that the agreement “addresses the increased demand for Opportunity Scholarships and includes the necessary funding for public school enrollment increases.”

ICE cooperation

The crux of House Bill 10, a bill requiring sheriffs to cooperate with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement that has been a longstanding priority for Republicans, is also included in this bill.

State law already requires sheriffs to try to determine the legal status of people they arrest, and to inform ICE if they can’t do so. But they don’t have to honor immigration detainers from the federal agency — requests to hold someone who has been arrested and is believed to be in the country illegally, for up to 48 hours, to give ICE agents time to come and take custody.

That’s the main change HB 10 would make that is included in the new bill: requiring sheriffs to comply with those detainer requests.

House Bill 10 was the third iteration of legislation Republicans have been trying to pass since 2019, in response to sheriffs in largely Democratic counties coming into office in 2018 vowing to cut back or end cooperation with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Cooper, Democrats oppose voucher spending

On Thursday, Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper and Democratic lawmakers held a news conference to air their opposition to private school voucher funding as well as point out that they have been kept in the dark about the legislative process. Democrats did not know about the ICE portion of the bill, with some learning about it after reporters.

“I’ve heard this is not a budget. This is just a few funding items that they’re throwing into a bill that won’t even be allowed to be amended,” Cooper said on Thursday, before the deal was announced.

“And it’s going to be a surprise attack. And they haven’t even told these (Democratic lawmakers) they are coming back. And remember, we’ve been here, in the middle of the summer, and everybody’s gone everywhere — so (Republicans are) quietly telling their members to be here to do whatever is they’re going to do.”

“We feel pretty confident that it’s going to be expanding private school vouchers. We’re not quite sure what else going to be in the mix,” Cooper said.

Cooper’s tenure as governor has included Republicans having either a majority or supermajority in both the House and the Senate. Republicans currently hold a veto-proof supermajority in both chambers.

Community college funding

The deal also includes $64 million in recurring funds to support community colleges experiencing enrollment growth.

Community colleges and public universities in North Carolina are funded in arrears, meaning the amount of state funding they receive is tied to enrollment from the previous year. Nearly all of the state’s 58 community colleges experienced enrollment growth last year, creating a need for funding to support the additional students.

At Durham Technical Community College, for instance, enrollment last year was up 9% — the third-highest growth of any community college in the state. That growth translates into an additional need of more than $3.1 million for the current academic year.

But without a budget deal passed this summer, the community colleges are using the same level of funding provided in the two-year budget legislators passed last fall, without additional money for enrollment growth. That created a resource squeeze on campuses this fall, Durham Tech President JB Buxton told The N&O Thursday.

“We’re able to manage the budget right now by not investing in new equipment for classrooms, by really keeping supplies at a bare minimum, by not doing any new hires unless they’re in core instructional areas,” Buxton said.

The timing of the budget deal is fortunate for the colleges. With it likely to pass in September, the colleges will be able to plan for the spring semester knowing they have additional money coming in. Buxton said the situation would have been more dire if the deal did not come until November — as suggested in the legislature’s June adjournment resolution, which indicated budget bills would not be considered until Nov. 19.

“We know in September, then we can make good decisions for the spring,” Buxton said. “We know November, December, we’re now behind the eight ball, and we may have already decided not to offer certain sections, and then hope we can build those back later, which is a real challenge for students who are looking for certain courses to continue or finish.”

The budget deal does not include additional funding for the UNC System, which includes the state’s 16 public universities. Among other items, the university system had asked the legislature to provide more than $46 million in enrollment funding for its campuses, plus an additional $5 million to mitigate funding losses caused by enrollment declines at UNC Pembroke and Winston-Salem State University.

A UNC System spokesperson declined to comment on the budget deal Friday.

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