NC Republicans say they finally have a budget deal, but Democrats are skeptical
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Agreement includes an 8% average raise for teachers and 3% for most state employees.
- Democrats are skeptical, said the deal is little more than a verbal agreement.
- Republicans plan to release a full conference report next month.
Good morning, and welcome to Under the Dome, your daily roundup of North Carolina politics news. I’m democracy reporter Kyle Ingram.
It would have been difficult to miss this week’s flashy announcement of a budget deal between House and Senate Republicans — a pronouncement that came complete with an image of white smoke billowing from the legislative building and an impromptu press conference with each chamber’s leaders.
The toplines of the agreement are an 8% average pay raise for teachers, 3% raise for most state employees and a gradual reduction of the state income tax.
However, the proposed deal — which comes nearly a year after the state budget was due — is little more than a verbal agreement at this point, and Democrats are skeptical that the nitty-gritty of actually drafting and passing it will be as simple as Republicans claim.
Asked if he supported the deal, House Democratic leader Robert Reives told reporters on Tuesday “I can’t oppose anything I haven’t seen.”
“I’m not telling (Democrats) to oppose the air — and right now all I’ve seen is air.”
Sydney Batch, the Democratic leader in the Senate, was even more blunt, calling the agreement a “fake budget” and a “distraction.”
“(Republicans) know that their polling is (expletive) and their policies are (expletive),” she told reporters on Wednesday. “The reason why we’re in this situation right now is because they are absolutely terrified that they’re going to lose in the elections.”
Republican leaders themselves have acknowledged that the deal is preliminary, with Senate leader Phil Berger calling it a “starting point” during Tuesday’s press conference.
“There’s still a lot that will need to be decided and discussed between the two chambers,” he said. “But this agreement sets out a good framework for us to move forward.”
This year’s deal is a departure from recent precedent for legislative Republicans, who have waited to announce deals in the past until they were able to release a full budget document to the public.
Republicans have typically released the final budget as a conference report — a type of bill which can be debated but cannot be amended.
Berger said the plan is still to release a full conference report sometime next month, but demurred when asked if there was a document solidifying the toplines of the House and Senate’s budget agreement.
“We’ve exchanged things back and forth, but not to the extent at this point that we’re intending,” he said. “We’ll have a conversation, but we haven’t released anything.”
Even if the eventual budget stays true to the agreement Republicans announced, Democrats aren’t exactly thrilled about the proposals therein.
Reives and Batch both criticized the proposed 3% raise for most state employees, noting that the current inflation rate is 3.8%.
They also took issue with the proposed constitutional amendment to cap the state’s income tax at 3.5%, a change they said could put future lawmakers in a tight spot.
“State employees aren’t getting a meaningful raise,” Reives said. “... What we’re saying in our answer to that is to make sure that we cut revenue for future legislatures so that they can’t do anything about it either.”
Republicans have a veto-proof supermajority in the Senate, but are one member short of that margin in the House.
If Democratic Gov. Josh Stein were to veto whatever budget they pass, Republicans would need at least one Democrat or unaffiliated House member to vote with them to override the veto.
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This story was originally published May 15, 2026 at 5:00 AM with the headline "NC Republicans say they finally have a budget deal, but Democrats are skeptical."
