Budget 2017 Coverage

40 state education staffers laid off, 21 vacant positions eliminated

State Superintendent Mark Johnson announced Friday that the Department of Public Instruction is eliminating 61 positions - 40 employees and 21 vacant positions. The layoffs are in response to $5.1 million in budget cuts lawmakers made to the agency.

Kelly Hinchcliffe, WRAL education reporter

NC superintendent: Lawmakers should delay $5.1M cut to education agency

North Carolina's superintendent of public schools is asking lawmakers to delay a planned $5.1 million cut to the state education agency's operating budget for the 2018-19 school year, saying his agency needs the money to be more efficient and effective.

Kelly Hinchcliffe, WRAL education reporter

Year 1 in the books for Cooper with mixed results

With the limits a governor faces when the other party holds super majorities in both the House and Senate, WRAL approached his one year review with two primary questions in mind.

Travis Fain

Push to limit waivers of court fees will require at least 615 mailed notices monthly

The state's judicial system has rolled out a workaround for a potential logistical nightmare that legislators dropped into the latest state budget.

Travis Fain

Complaint questions legality of state aquarium project

A state budget line item for an aquarium at a private development triggered a formal complaint this week from a Democrat who questions the appropriation's legality.

Travis Fain

Cooper vetoes judicial bill, signs budget corrections bill

Gov. Roy Cooper vetoed legislation Monday that would have canceled next year's judicial primary elections, saying he saw it as a precursor to a Republican push to appoint judges instead of having the public elect them.

Travis Fain

Some say state-financed aquarium planned for private development a bit fishy

Little seems to be written down beyond a few sentences in the state budget setting aside six figures in taxpayer money to get the project rolling.

Travis Fain

Slur painted on Raleigh council candidate's sign

An ethnic slur was spray-painted on a campaign sign for Raleigh City Council candidate Zainab Baloch.

AG's Office contests GOP budget claims

GOP legislative leaders are planning to require the state Attorney General to continue to handle all criminal appeals despite cutting $10 million from its budget in June. They say the agency can handle the work despite the personnel cuts. But the Attorney General's office says that's not the case.

Laura Leslie

Stein, DAs, law enforcement: Cuts to DOJ budget will harm public safety

State Attorney General Josh Stein and other law enforcement leaders are calling on lawmakers to restore funding cuts in the Attorney General's Office, but 45 positions have already been eliminated in the first round of cuts, including some expert attorneys.

Laura Leslie

Four bills become law without Cooper's signature

Gov. Roy Cooper didn't take any action on four pieces of legislation by Sunday night, meaning all four became laws Monday without his signature.

Matthew Burns

Budget cuts legal aid for poor, but no explanation given

Legislators took a bite this past session out of taxpayer funding for poor people caught up in the courts system, and it's unclear why.

Travis Fain

AG calls Republican budget cuts 'political spite'

More than 100 lawyers who work for the state may soon be out of work because Republican lawmakers made deep cuts to the personnel budget of the Attorney General's Office.

Laura Leslie

Lawmakers leave federal military money on table

Legislative leaders talked often this session about the importance of protecting the state's military bases. But their final budget appears to have omitted matching funds for a $9.2 million federal grant for that purpose.

Laura Leslie

Who killed the dinosaurs? A state budget mystery

Once, major funding to expand the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences' popular dinosaur exhibit roamed the pages of North Carolina's newest state budget.

Travis Fain

Pork, the other budget meat

However you slice, chop or pull it, legislators tied up millions of dollars in the state budget with highly specific purse strings.

Travis Fain

NC's strong bond ratings confirmed

The three major bond rating agencies re-affirmed North Carolina's triple-A bond rating.

Travis Fain

RIP, Caldwell County bookmobile

Well, the Caldwell County bookmobile no longer gets $100,000 from the state.

Travis Fain

Legislative session filled with hits, misses

State lawmakers left Raleigh early Friday after a 93-day legislative session in which they fulfilled their constitutional obligation to pass a budget for the coming year and accomplished several other goals on the Republican majority's agenda.

Matthew Burns

Budget veto speedily defeated

For just the third time in state history, North Carolina lawmakers have voted to override a governor's veto of their budget. The House cast the final vote Wednesday morning.

Laura Leslie

Bill makes sure: Goldsboro veterans cemetery will not close

Whatever snafu temporarily threatened the Eastern Carolina State Veterans Cemetery in Goldsboro, it has been addressed by a legislative amendment that makes it clear the cemetery will remain open.

Travis Fain

Senate quickly overrides Cooper's budget veto

The vote was 34-14, with three of four Democrats who initially voted for the Republican majority's budget backing their governor's veto.

Travis Fain

State budget has no funds for Goldsboro veterans' cemetery

In planning the $23 billion state budget, lawmakers left out money for maintenance and jobs at the new Eastern Carolina State Veterans Cemetery in Goldsboro. The omission could force the state's newest resting place for veterans to close, and the state may have to pay back the $5 million federal grant used to build the facility.

Cooper to veto 'small minded' state budget

Gov. Roy Cooper said Monday that he plans to veto the $23 billion state budget that lawmakers passed last week, calling it "short sighted and small minded."

Matthew Burns

Budget language targets court fee waivers for poor defendants

A new paragraph in the General Assembly's just-approved budget would make it harder for judges to waive court fees for indigent defendants, requiring a new hearing that could involve more than 15 government agencies.

Travis Fain