A day of arm twisting, but no resolution on state budget, Medicaid

No override vote on the budget, no floor vote on Medicaid expansion, no path forward as Gov. Roy Cooper and Republican legislative leaders face off over billions.

Posted 9:41 p.m. Jul 9, 2019 — Updated 10:28 p.m. Jul 9, 2019

Travis Fain

, WRAL statehouse reporter

RALEIGH, N.C. — After a day of horse trading and high-pressure lobbying, the House adjourned Tuesday without attempting to pass a state budget over Gov. Roy Cooper's veto or passing a Medicaid expansion proposal.

House Speaker Tim Moore said after the day was abruptly cut short that Republicans were close to the numbers they need to override Cooper's week-and-a-half-old budget veto. He wouldn't give numbers, and Democratic leadership said throughout the day they felt confident their caucus would uphold the veto if Moore brought the issue to a vote.

However close Republicans were Tuesday, it wasn't enough, and the attempt was shelved.

Instead, the GOP majority plans to take up a stopgap budget measure Wednesday. Leadership described it as a short bill geared largely toward keeping federal funding running through the state budget. It will be discussed at a 9 a.m. Appropriations Committee meeting.

Without the override in hand, Republicans also held off on a Medicaid expansion proposal that addresses one of Cooper's top priorities and which moved through committee Tuesday morning. Moore, R-Cleveland, said he'd bring the Medicaid proposal to the House floor – where it has the votes to pass – only after there's a commitment to pass the budget.

Senate President Pro Tem Phil Berger has said repeatedly that the Medicaid bill doesn't have the votes to pass the Senate, though, so the House vote would leave Cooper well short of his goal. He and legislative Democrats are using the budget as $24 billion worth of leverage to force the issue.

Berger and Senate Majority Leader Harry Brown, key negotiators on any major issue at the General Assembly, headed to Germany Tuesday for a conference slated to run through July 14. It wasn't immediately clear how their absence would affect budget negotiations – to the extent negotiations were likely at all.

They're attended the Senate Presidents' Forum in Berlin, according to Berger's office, with a focus on how international issues will affect U.S. states.

Cooper rolled out a new proposal Tuesday morning, but Moore and Berger both dismissed it as a rehash of the governor's previous budget pitches without enough movement to be a serious effort at compromise. Both sides have criticized the other as unwilling to negotiate in good faith.

Cooper included Medicaid expansion in the proposal, without the work requirements and premiums Republicans baked into their own version of the program. The governor indicated he was willing to negotiate on those points, and Moore made it clear he'll have to if he wants something to pass.

"We will not pass blanket Medicaid expansion like the governor wants," the speaker said.

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