Spending plan without extra raises passes NC Senate, as budget deal eludes GOP
With a budget agreement remaining elusive, Republicans in the North Carolina Senate approved their own spending proposal on Monday.
The GOP-controlled General Assembly convened for the short session in April, and one of the items on the legislative agenda was an adjustment bill to make any changes needed to spending in the second year of the two-year state budget that Republicans enacted in October.
Over the last few weeks, however, talks between House and Senate Republicans have broken down. Last week, House Republicans released and voted on their own version of a budget. Neither chamber is willing to take up the other’s bill, and GOP leaders are running out of time to reach an agreement, with the House and Senate planning to go home at the end of this week.
That isn’t necessarily a bad thing, House Speaker Tim Moore, Senate leader Phil Berger, and other top Republicans have said, since there’s already a two-year spending plan in place. If an agreement on making adjustments isn’t reached, spending for the second year will go in effect as passed.
The Senate convened Monday evening to take up its spending plan and seven other bills, including a bill that would legalize the use of marijuana to treat certain ailments like cancer and ALS. The chamber approved its spending plan in a 27-18 vote, sending the proposal to the House.
Berger has said that there remains a wide gulf between the Senate and House, and that the two chambers have yet to get close on agreeing on even an overall spending number.
Moore said last week that the chambers “were only $30 million apart on a $32 billion budget,” while Berger put the difference at $312 million in “new net general fund spending,” and $523.8 million in total spending.
“Might need to buy a calculator,” Berger told reporters last week.
The Senate’s proposal doesn’t contain any additional raises on top of the raises that were passed for the coming fiscal year in last year’s budget. Most state employees will get a 3% raise under the second year of the budget in place. The House’s proposal would add an additional 1% raise, giving most state employees 4% this year.
Both the House and Senate plans would provide millions to clear a backlog of more than 55,000 students who applied for private school vouchers this year. Demand for the Opportunity Scholarship program surged after Republicans removed income eligibility limits last year.
The two proposals also provide similar amounts of funding — around $135 million — for child care, to address the expiration of federal COVID-19 pandemic relief grants on June 30. Child care advocates have said the state needs $300 million to prevent the widespread closure of child care centers.
During Monday’s debate, Sen. Brent Jackson of Sampson County, one of the Senate’s budget chairs, said that even if the Senate isn’t able to reach an agreement with the House, he was “confident” the state would continue to “be in good shape.”
Another top GOP budget writer, Sen. Ralph Hise of Mitchell County, said that there was “nothing” in the Senate’s proposal that he had heard that the House was opposed to.
Republicans voted down a number of amendments filed by Democrats, including proposals to increase teacher pay and provide money to improve and modernize election administration.
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