The state Senate approved its budget plan Monday night — legislation that's expected to now be ignored by the state House. The vote appears to be another step in a standoff over how, or if, to spend a $1 billion surplus.
Despite agreeing on many key issues to be funded in a potential new state budget, Republican lawmakers appear to have little appetite for resolving their lingering remaining differences. Last week the state House passed its budget plan, which is being ignored by the Senate.
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Republicans hold veto-proof supermajorities in both chambers, so they don't need any Democratic buy-in to pass laws including the budget despite Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper's veto threat. And on Monday GOP leaders shot down a number of proposed amendments to the budget from Democratic state Senators to boost funding for child care, schools, elections administration, state employee raises and more.
Democrats have proposed paying for those spending proposals by nixing the GOP's top priority this session, which is to boost private school tuition voucher funding by nearly half a billion dollars.
Despite needing no Democratic votes to pass a budget, however, Republican leaders have been unable to come to an agreement among themselves on how to address this year's budget tweaks.
So although the new fiscal year begins in just one week, it could be months before a new budget is approved — if one gets approved at all.
No government shutdown
Senate leader Phil Berger and House Speaker Tim Moore each plan to have their chambers work this week before leaving for the Fourth of July holiday — and what could be an extended break.
A return in September "would be fine with me," Moore said last week. "A lot of hot temperatures right now, maybe the best thing is a little time for things to cool down."
Unlike with the federal government, this stalemate won’t lead to a government shutdown in North Carolina. State lawmakers already approved a tentative spending plan for this coming year that will keep schools, prisons and the rest of state government open. But state leaders almost always make tweaks in these situations based on new needs that have come up.
In their dueling proposals, each chamber calls for spending more than $31 billion next year. And they largely align on big-ticket items such as funding private school vouchers, new child care aid and an expensive road project by the massive Toyota plant in Randolph County.
But they disagree on some tactics, such as whether to take money from the state’s substantial savings reserves that Republicans have been proud of building up since the recession in 2008 and 2009. Some would like to tap those reserves now; others are more skeptical.
The House has long been more aggressive in its spending plans than the Senate, and that's the case again this year. Berger said if it comes down to it, he'd rather spend none of the billion-dollar surplus rather than spend too much — even if it might threaten child care, vouchers and other topics that the two chambers do agree on.
"I don't think they're necessary to continue on a good trajectory," Berger said. "And we'll be back if they don't take it up. We will back after the first of the year."
Democratic opposition
Some Democrats have criticized Republicans for being unable to hammer out a budget deal — the top priority of this year’s legislative session. But Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper told WRAL on Friday that the GOP’s failure to write a budget isn’t necessarily the worst outcome as far as he’s concerned.
“Both of their proposals are horrible,” Cooper said. “I mean, they take $625 million just in one year, and put it in taxpayer funded private school vouchers. We could take that funding and provide an 8.5% pay raise for teachers, a $1,500 retention bonus for teachers, plus hire teacher assistants and counselors that they need in our schools and still have money left over.”
Republican lawmakers have already approved a boost to the state’s private school tuition voucher program, which supporters say is a needed school choice option, but they want to do even more.
Their new budget plans would each add nearly $500 million more to the program. That would eliminate a waitlist for the vouchers that was created last year, when a new GOP-backed law opened up the voucher program to wealthy families and others who hadn’t qualified before.
During the vote Monday, Senate Democrats used impassioned speeches lobby for their own priorities on education, infrastructure and more — before Republicans shot down each proposal without explanation or debate.
"North Carolinians deserve a budget that reflects their needs and priorities. Our amendments aimed to correct significant oversights in the Republican budget, including the impending child care cliff, education funding, and healthcare” Sen. Dan Blue, D-Wake, said. “The Republican Supermajority’s refusal to consider any of our amendments is a clear indication of their unwillingness to invest in the future of our state.