CJ’s Dan Way reports on the just-released budget by Gov. Pat McCrory:
Gov. Pat McCrory announced a no-tax-hike $51.7billion budget for 2015-17, with a general fund budget of $21.5 billion, at a press briefing this morning at the state Emergency Operations Center.
Some initial highlights include increasing spending on K-12 teacher salaries by more than $111.4 million in each of the two years to fulfill a pledge of raising starting salaries of public school teachers to $35,000.
It fully funds projected enrollment growth to support hiring more than 1,400 new teachers over the biennium.
The $235 million in additional K-12 funding is a 2.8 percent increase over the 2014-15 budget.
New spending totals $970 million in the first year of the biennium, of which 76 percent, or $741 million, will be allocated to education, Medicaid, and Health Choice.
The budget establishes a new Medicaid Risk Reserve fund of $175 million, and assumes the General Assembly will cut the state gasoline tax from 37.5 to 35 cents.
It includes $10 million per year for film incentives and would restore and reform the Historic Preservation Tax Credit which was sunset at the end of 2014.
McCrory’s budget allocates $8 million to the Brody School of Medicine at East Carolina University.
Health and Human Services will receive more than $10.8 billion over the two-year budget, which is more than 24 percent of the General Fund.
New funding for mental health and substance abuse services total $82 million.
The budget also adds $16 million in spending on the state court system.
Look for additional details later in the day. For real-time updates, follow Dan Way on Twitter.
