RALEIGH, N.C. — North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper announced he will sign the proposed state budget put forth by lawmakers. It will be the first working budget for North Carolina in almost three years.
“I will sign this budget because on balance the good outweighs the bad,” Cooper said.
The Republican majority has been working on the budget outline for several weeks and has been in contact with Cooper on almost all aspects of it. The final parts of the budget were not known by the Governor so it was unclear if he would sign it.
Cooper said the budget moves North Carolina forward in many ways as we emerge from the pandemic but also made it clear he felt Republican lawmakers missed several opportunities.
“Most obviously this budget fails to extend healthcare to hundreds of thousands of people be expanding Medicaid,” Cooper said.
The budget does include establishing a committee to look at the expansion of Medicaid in the future.
The bulk of the budget will go to infrastructure, including $800 million for school construction. North Carolina teachers will get a slight pay increase although it is not as much as the Governor was hoping for.
“We need to do more for our public schools and teachers, more than this budget, however, teachers will see an average 5-percent raise over the next two years,” Cooper said.
The budget also calls for the lowering of the personal income tax to 3.99% and eliminating the corporate tax income rate.
“I do not support tax cuts to corporations, (North Carolina) does not need it, I don’t support it or (tax cuts) for the wealthiest in North Carolina,” Cooper said.
The bill is expected to make its way to Cooper’s desk for his signature before the week is over. Cooper reiterated he plans to sign it saying he fears if he vetoed the budget Republic lawmakers would walk away without getting a budget completed.