Weekly Wrap: Mark Robinson, energy bill, budget waiting game

The budget is now more than three months late, and teachers and state workers are frustrated by the delay in getting promised raises. State retirees are even more frustrated, saying their pensions haven't gotten a significant boost in more than a decade, and it's not clear they will get much this year, either.

Medicaid expansion might not be as much of a sticking point in negotiations this time around as it has been the last two years, with Senate leaders more open to the idea, which has been a priority for Cooper for five years.

One point of agreement between Cooper and lawmakers was signed into law this week. A sweeping energy bill sets targets for cutting greenhouse gas emissions in North Carolina while allowing state regulators to set electric rates over three-year periods, which Duke Energy has pushed for for years.

Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson garnered most of the week's headlines, as homophobic comments he's made in recent months came to light. Robinson angrily said he called LGBT-themed books in school libraries "filth" and "garbage" and wasn't targeting people. But Democratic lawmakers and LGBT advocates said it's clear by listening to him and reading his quotes that he wasn't simply talking about books.