What made it into North Carolina’s budget? What policies and projects got left out?
North Carolina lawmakers in the House and Senate released their compromise budget Monday, marking the end of months of negotiations among legislative leaders as well as Gov. Roy Cooper.
State lawmakers planned to vote this week on the two-year budget totaling nearly $53 billion in state funds — and billions more in federal funds — and Cooper said Tuesday he’ll sign it.
What’s in the budget?
• 5% average raise over two years for public school teachers and state employees.
• 5% state and teacher retiree cost-of-living bonuses over two years.
• $1,000 bonuses for all state employees (including teachers).
• Additional $500 for all state employees (including teachers) making less than $75,000 as well as correctional workers.
• Additional $1,000 bonuses for teachers.
• Additional teacher supplemental assistance allotments for teachers in 95 counties (not Buncombe, Durham, Guilford, Mecklenburg and Wake), ranging from $490 to $4,250 per state-funded teacher.
• Cuts personal income tax from 5.25% to 3.99% over six years, including cutting to 4.99% beginning Jan. 1.
• Increases zero-tax bracket — the amount of income on which people pay no income tax — to $12,750 or $25,500 for married couples, up from $10,750 and $21,500.
• Increases child tax deduction by $500 per child.
• Eliminates state income tax on military pensions.
• Phases out the corporate income tax beginning in 2025, reaching zero by the end of the decade.
• Provides $15-per-hour minimum wage for all local employees of public schools and community colleges beginning in 2022-23.
• Provides $1 billion for broadband expansion.
• Extends Medicaid eligibility for pregnant women with incomes equal to or less than 196% of the federal poverty guidelines for 12 months postpartum.
• Allows a parent to retain Medicaid eligibility while their child is temporarily in foster care. Directs the state health department to seek approval from the federal government to implement it.
• $5.9 billion to build, repair and renovate state, university and other capital assets, including $878 million in capital projects for state agencies, $1 billion in capital projects for the UNC System and $400 million in capital projects for community colleges.
• Makes Fayetteville State University the fourth UNC System school in the NC Promise Tuition Plan, which reduces tuition to $500 per semester. Elizabeth City State University, UNC-Pembroke and Western Carolina University are in the program.
• Takes away the ability of state agencies and the attorney general’s office to settle lawsuits in certain cases and gives that power to the legislature instead. This stems from a settlement in a lawsuit before the 2020 election. Lawmakers passed a similar bill earlier in the session, but it was vetoed by Cooper.
• Sets new limits on the governor’s ability to extend a statewide emergency past 30 days. It would require a vote by the Council of State to extend the state of emergency beyond 30 days and action by the legislature to extend it beyond 60 days.
• Provides $46 million for infrastructure at motorsports facilities, including $9 million for Rockingham Speedway, $18 million for North Wilkesboro Speedway and $13 million for Concord for projects connected to Charlotte Motor Speedway.
• Allows out-of-state athletes to be considered in-state residents for tuition purposes, a proposal that passed the state House in 2019.
• Provides $283 million for deepening and expanding the Wilmington Harbor.
• Sets the state’s Savings Reserve (often known as rainy day fund) at $4.25 billion at the end of the 2022-2023 fiscal year.
• Creates a 2022 joint legislative study committee on health care access and Medicaid expansion.
• Expands eligibility for the Opportunity Scholarship Program.
• Creates a $500 million fund to disperse one-time grants to businesses impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic in the hospitality and entertainment sectors with priority to businesses who have not previously received an award.
• Gives $5 million to the North Carolina Trucking Association Foundation to address the truck driver shortage in the state.
• Provides $650,000 to North Carolina Freedom Park, the sculpture park being built between the Legislative Building and the Governor’s Mansion in downtown Raleigh to celebrate the African American experience in North Carolina.
• Funds hundreds of local projects at museums, laboratories, National Guard facilities, universities and community colleges, local courthouses, dams, hospitals, historic sites, small airports, athletic facilities at schools, trails, skate parks and parks across the state.
• Provides $10 million for esports facilities at N.C. State University, including $6 million for construction of an esports facility and $4 million for a new esports mobile arena truck. Also includes $2.4 million for the creation of an esports facility at UNC-Greensboro and $5 million in a fund to encourage esports events to be held in the state.
What did not make it?
• Comprehensive Medicaid expansion (a top priority for Cooper).
• A requirement that school districts with more than 400 students list online what instructional materials they used in the past school year.
• Restoration of master’s degree pay (which was included in the House budget passed earlier this year).
• Eight weeks of paid parental leave for new mothers (which was included in the House budget passed earlier this year).
• A delay in implementation of new social studies standards until the 2023-2024 school year and creation of a Standards Review Commission.
• Restricting the attorney general’s ability to sign onto political lawsuits.
For more North Carolina government and politics news, listen to the Under the Dome politics podcast from The News & Observer and the NC Insider. You can find it at link.chtbl.com/underthedomenc or wherever you get your podcasts.
This story was originally published November 15, 2021 at 5:05 PM with the headline "What made it into North Carolina’s budget? What policies and projects got left out?."