BRANDON LOFTON: State budget without public input or meaningful negotiation

EDITOR'S NOTE: The following is the text of remarks delivered by state Rep. Brandon Lofton, D-Mecklenburg, during debate Thursday on the North Carolina budget in the state House Of Representatives.

We're now 83 days into the fiscal year and the most common question I get from constituents is 'when are you guys going to pass a budget?' I hear it from neighbors, coworkers, parents, principals and school board members.

For 83 days, we've kept them waiting. We kept them waiting while the budget was held behind closed doors. We kept them waiting while we played politics with casinos.

For 83 days, the people of our state have wondered when we were going to deliver for them.

So, I am frankly surprised that we are now voting on a budget, after 83 days of waiting, less than 24 hours after its release. We're voting on a 625 page bill and 786 page committee report less than 24 hours after receiving it.

We're making fundamental decisions about people's livelihoods, our schools and salaries. We're voting on the most important piece of legislation we will pass this session with no opportunity for meaningful public input and no meaningful opportunity to negotiate.

As I made my way through the 625 page conference bill and 786 page committee report last night; it became increasingly apparent that this budget is telling the people of our state that they have to wait even longer. The fact is, the people of our state are not waiting for a piece of paper-or even 1,411 pieces of paper -- they are waiting for help. They're waiting for us to do our job.

This budget fails them in critical ways.

Too many of our kids are sitting in classrooms without teachers. I shared with you-months ago-how my son Caleb and his classmates literally sat in their high school math class without a teacher. I shared how I visited a class of seniors who all had at least one class without a teacher during their high school career and how the teacher in that class, a veteran, shared that she could no longer afford to stay in the classroom.

We have seen headlines of staffing shortages across our state agencies; including shortages at the DMV, shortages of food inspectors and among correctional officers. We've heard from agency leaders that they need our help to attract and keep the people who are serving our constituents. And yet, instead of providing meaningful raises that take into account inflation, we're telling them they must continue to wait.

This budget only gives state employees a 7% raise over two years. This is especially deficient in light of the inflation we've seen over the last few years. It's especially deficient in light of the 15% raises (2 times the amount we're giving to state employees) the budget gives to Council of State politicians.

We're only giving teachers an average of 7% raises over two years and it's even lower for veteran teachers. Again, this is especially troubling in light of inflation and the amount of public school money we're spending on private schools.

We could double our teacher raises with the money we are spending on private school vouchers.

This budget not only fails to meet our needs today. It makes it harder for us to meet our needs in the future. It could cost us over $7.1 billion in revenue from our state in the next five years alone despite the fact that we're one of the fastest growing states in the nation.

So, I am voting against this budget because it fails to deliver the help our families and workers need. I'm voting against this budget because the people of this state have been waiting long enough and deserve better.

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