North Carolina’s state government will soon have a new comprehensive spending plan for the first time in more than 1,000 days. Gov. Josh Stein said Tuesday he plans to sign a $34 billion state budget that Republican legislative leaders finalized last week after roughly a year of negotiations.
Key Provisions
The plan includes 3% raises for all state employees — including raises averaging 8% for teachers and raises of up to 17% for some law enforcement officials — while reducing the personal income tax rate from 3.99% this year to 3.49% next year. However, Democrats have criticized other parts of the 600-page document, such as a provision that would ban the North Carolina State Bar from giving money to civil legal groups.
Stein praised the plan for making “meaningful investments in our community colleges, the DMV, childcare, and summer food programs for our kids.” He also noted that the legislature is slashing more than 1,000 state government positions, which could make it harder to meet the people’s health and safety needs.
The budget also contains hundreds of millions of dollars for big-ticket projects, such as a new children’s hospital in Apex, UNC-Chapel Hill’s Carolina North campus, and Poe Hall on N.C. State University’s campus. Additionally, it spends an extra $151 million on Hurricane Helene recovery and $10.7 million on Tropical Storm Chantal recovery.
Original reporting: WRAL Raleigh — read the source article.
