NC state budget stalled, leaving lawmakers operating on last year’s funding plan
BUNCOMBE COUNTY, N.C. (WLOS/WWAY) — North Carolina lawmakers have left Raleigh once again without passing a new state budget, more than three months after the July 1 deadline.
The impasse means teacher pay raises remain on hold, state employees are still waiting on promised adjustments, and local governments are left planning on last year’s numbers.
Despite holding veto-proof majorities in both chambers, Republican leaders in the General Assembly have not reached an agreement on a spending plan.
This morning, the Senate Rules Chairman returned four bills to the House of Representatives for violating the General Assembly’s agreed-upon adjournment resolution for the October session.
The bills include:
- Senate Bill 378: Align Medicaid Eligibility with Federal Law
- Senate Bill 405: Healthcare Investment Act
- Senate Bill 599: State/Teacher Pay & Local LEO Bonus
- House Bill 491: Medicaid Rebase Funding
“This stunt by the House is something we have never seen before – manipulating rules the House and Senate previously agreed to, instead of simply taking up eligible bills already passed by the Senate that would address the Medicaid rebase, defunding Planned Parenthood, and providing pay increases for law enforcement. Such gamesmanship is not a serious effort to solve the issues facing our state and should be viewed as such,” said Senate Rules Chairman Bill Rabon (R-Brunswick).
