Let the annual state budget battle begin.
Gov. Roy Cooper rolled out his $25.2 billion proposed budget, including 9.1 percent teacher raises over two years, smaller raises for state workers, Medicaid expansion and a $3.9 billion bond proposal for school construction and local infrastructure projects.
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Republican legislative leaders pretty quickly turned his budget book into office doorstops, saying Cooper was playing politics with teacher salaries and was looking to ladle too much debt on state taxpayers. Cooper noted in a news conference, however, that the GOP no longer holds a veto-proof majority in the legislature, so he wants some give and take in the coming months to reach a compromise spending plan.
The House passed two bills designed to improve school safety and gave preliminary approval to a third.
The House also approved designating ice cream as North Carolina's "official frozen treat" and put the wheels in motion to start online streaming floor debates and studying whether UNC-TV could broadcast all sessions in the future.