Carolina Journal’s Dan Way wrote a story this week on the current status of the N.C. Budget negotiations. According to the story:
Senate leader Phil Berger, R-Rockingham, and House Speaker Tim Moore, R-Cleveland, are refusing to release a state budget prepared by negotiators from both chambers until the Democratic governor presents a counter offer.
This follows last week’s sit-down meeting between the governor and Republican legislative leaders over the budget proposal. Berger and Moore stated that they have requested a specific compromise proposal for two weeks but have not yet been provided with one.
According to Way:
The fiscal year ends Friday. If the biennial budget for 2019-20 and 2020-21 isn’t passed by then, the government won’t shut down but would continue to operate under the same funding levels in the current budget. That means state pay raises, program funding increases, some policy matters, and other items that would have gone into effect would be put on hold.
The governor’s office has stated Cooper will not sign the budget without a provision for Medicaid Expansion, but, according to Way, Republicans are not likely to compromise on this issue.
Read the full story here. Learn more about the budgeting in North Carolina here.
