McCrory signs long-awaited state budget

RALEIGH, NC (AP) — A North Carolina state budget that was supposed to reach Gov. Pat McCrory by July 1 is finally law.

McCrory’s office confirmed he signed the 429-page budget measure Friday morning hours after the General Assembly gave it final legislative approval with a post-midnight vote in the House. The Senate voted for the two-year spending bill earlier in the week.

House and Senate Republicans got mired in negotiations that lasted all summer, with some House leaders calling it the widest gulf they had ever seen in competing budget plans.

The delays required lawmakers to pass three temporary spending laws to direct government operations, the last of which expires late Friday night. McCrory said Thursday he would sign the bill before that deadline.

(Copyright 2015 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)