Neighbors on Call's Weekly Policy Update for 11/22/21

The State Budget

On Thursday Governor Cooper signed the delayed North Carolina state budget into law. The $25.9 billion budget passed the NC House earlier that day with a 101-10 vote and the NC Senate on Wednesday with a 41-7 vote. Key elements of the approved budget include the following:

• Education Policy

  • 5% (over two years) raises for teachers, UNC system faculty and staff, and state employees, along with a tiered bonus of $1500 for many state employees and up to $2800 for teachers

  • Phasing out of the state’s Innovative School District, a statewide experimental program created by Republican lawmakers that allowed outside operators to take over a low-performing public school for 5 years

  • Insufficient funds to fully cover the costs mandated in the Leandro court order charging the state to ensure a sound basic education for all

  • Increased investment in the Opportunity Scholarships private-school voucher program, including increased scholarship amounts, a raised eligibility income cap, and a mandated $15 million per year to the program (up from $10 million) regardless of demand

  • Expansion of NC Promise program, which guarantees $500 in-state tuition to certain UNC system schools

• Economic and Housing Policy

  • The largest tax cut in state history, with the personal income tax rate cut to 4.99% next year and the corporate income tax phased out entirely by 2030

• Health Care Policy

  • No Medicaid expansion but extends Medicaid eligibility to pregnant women (for up to 12 months postpartum) whose incomes are lower than or equal to 196% of the federal poverty line

  • Full funding of the state health plan

• Environment

  • $265 million for land conservation and flood prevention and resilience

• Criminal Justice

  • $25 million for sexual assault services and $10 million to address the state’s rape kit processing backlog

• Governance

  • Limits on executive branch power previously vetoed by Governor Cooper as separate laws, including limiting the governor’s emergency powers and shifting the power to settle lawsuits from the attorney general’s office to the legislature

• Other

  • Allocation of $2.8 million in federal election security funds that had been left out of previous budget drafts

  • $1 billion for broadband expansion

  • Funding for nearly 700 local projects

Voting Rights

• On Thursday Republicans in the NCGA passed two elections-focused laws with no Democratic support. SB 326 would prohibit the counting of absentee ballots received after election night, while SB 725 would ban private donations for elections administration. The bills now go to Governor Cooper, who is expected to veto them.