Even in the face of a budget veto by Gov. Roy Cooper, the North Carolina General Assembly has passed more than 98 percent of the funding for this fiscal year.
“It took a little longer than usual, but the Senate's business has concluded,” Senator Majority Leader Phil Berger told The Center Square. “The final enacted budget, which includes the ‘mini-budget’ bills, totals 98.5 percent of the original budget.’”
Legislators have seemingly taken on a by-any-means necessary approach to getting the job done, passing more than a dozen parts of the $24 billion budget as piecemeal bills. In addition, Cooper recently signed off on measures that changed franchise tax rates, financed community colleges and provided hurricane relief.
Gov. Roy Cooper
| North Carolina Attorney General's Office
“The total general fund appropriations for the combined enacted budget is $23.62 billion,” Berger’s office told The Center Square.
The number does not include $700 million in debt service.
Cooper moved to veto the spending bill just before summer recess and almost two months to the day the House overwhelmingly (55-15) voted in favor of a veto.
The Senate is now in the process of trying to schedule a session to take up the measure, with a supermajority vote needed for a veto override.
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