NC Gov. Cooper proposes more raises for state employees and teachers
North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper called for Medicaid expansion and more money for state employees and teachers this year in his budget proposal ahead of the legislature’s spring session.
The state passed a two-year budget in 2021, but the General Assembly may pass additional spending bills during its short session, which begins on May 18.
The Republican-controlled legislature is unlikely to model those bills on the Democratic governor’s recommendation, but they will have to negotiate with Cooper to avoid a veto of their priorities.
Cooper presented his proposal to reporters Wednesday afternoon with State Budget Director Charlie Perusse.
“Families experienced tremendous stress through the COVID-19 pandemic but have emerged to find that they still struggle accessing affordable health care, housing, and childcare,” Cooper wrote in a letter to Senate leader Phil Berger and House Speaker Tim Moore.
“This budget recommendation addresses those needs by expanding health care access to more than 600,000 working North Carolinians, making housing more affordable through down payment assistance and construction of additional rental housing, and investing in the early childhood educator workforce,” Cooper said.
Perusse said that discussions between the governor’s staff and legislative staff have been ongoing for the past month, and they’ll meet again this week and when lawmakers return to Raleigh next week. A spokesperson for Berger’s office said they are reviewing the proposal and Berger intends to address the budget in the short session.
Here are highlights of Cooper’s proposal:
▪ Additional 2.5% raises for state employees, who are already set to get a 2.5% raise this year. The proposal, if passed, would mean 5% raises for most state employees this year.
▪ Adjust the salary schedule for teachers so they receive at least a 7.5% increase between this past year and the upcoming fiscal year, same as state employees.
▪ $25 million to ensure that state contractors make a minimum of $15 an hour, as state employees do.
▪ Retention bonuses for state employees, teachers and local education employees — $2,000 for state and local employees who make less than $75,000 a year, including school employees; and $1,500 bonuses to employees who make more than $75,000; and an additional $1,000 bonus for educators and school-based administrators.
▪ $4 million to the Department of Natural and Cultural Resources for the long-planned African American monument on the Capitol grounds. Funding would go to the African American Heritage Commission to finish planning, design and construction of the monument.
▪ Restore master’s degree pay for teachers.
▪ Medicaid expansion. This has been part of budget negotiations for the past few years, with House Republicans the most recent holdout on expansion. But a study committee earlier this year and plans for potential bipartisan legislation later this year have already shown signs of expansion being a possibility.
▪ $20 million to the Department of Public Instruction for school safety and mental health training grants.
▪ $50 million for first-time homebuyer down-payment assistance, including for many public school teachers, non-volunteer firefighters, emergency medical services personnel and sworn law enforcement officers.
▪ 1% recurring cost-of-living adjustments for retired state employees, and a 1% bonus for retirees.
▪ $2.5 million to the Division of Juvenile Justice to start a new grant program for youth violence prevention.
▪ $6.9 million to demolish the Bath Building on Lane Street in the state government complex, replacing it with green space. The Bath Building is the large, square building across from the future NC Freedom Park. The proposal also seeks $90,000 for a park manager for Freedom Park when it opens in early 2023.
Billions in extra NC revenue
Asked about potential budget negotiations with Republican leadership this year, Cooper said, “It’s clear that we want to invest more than they do.”
He said there was “a lot” in the budget signed into law six months ago.
“So hopefully we can make these important adjustments, not do anything radical, but get Medicaid expanded, get some additional investment into the things that we need to do, and hopefully go home,” Cooper said about the upcoming legislative session.
A state revenue forecast released this week by the legislature’s Fiscal Research Division and Office of State Budget and Management shows billions more in revenue than had been expected.
Teachers, state employees react
The North Carolina Association of Educators said it fully supports Cooper’s proposed budget, pointing among other things to the money to address the long-running Leandro lawsuit over whether the state is fully funding basic education.
“Among the highlights of Gov. Cooper’s budget proposal are much-needed salary increases and adjustments for educators, as well as a commitment to fund Leandro in its third year while providing $180 million in support to at-risk and low-income students. Given the latest state revenue projections, we feel confident that these are achievable goals,” said NCAE President Tamika Walker Kelly in a statement.
The State Employees Association of North Carolina, however, does not think it goes far enough.
“State government has problems that can’t be solved without a significant investment in its workers,” said SEANC Executive Director Ardis Watkins in a statement.
“State government must recruit and retain employees to provide vital public services for taxpayers,” she said. SEANC wants higher raises and COLA increases for retirees.
Brian Balfour, of the conservative John Locke Foundation, said Cooper’s proposed raises are “largely in response to the increasing price inflation courtesy of the Biden administration, but fail to provide needed reform to teacher pay.”
Balfour, who is Locke’s senior vice president of research, also said that Medicaid expansion “remains a bad deal for North Carolina” and that K-12 students and families would be better served by expanding school choice instead of Cooper’s proposal.
Alexandra Forter Sirota, executive director of the NC Budget & Tax Center, a left-leaning group that focuses on poverty and racial equity, called Cooper’s proposed investments in early childhood education, the environment and housing a “good step” but said addressing the previous budget’s individual and corporate income tax cuts would do more in the long run.
Working families are struggling, Sirota told the N&O, and an earned-income tax credit would help, among other things.
For more North Carolina government and politics news, listen to the Under the Dome politics podcast from The News & Observer and the NC Insider. You can find it at https://campsite.bio/underthedome or wherever you get your podcasts.
This story was originally published May 11, 2022 at 1:37 PM with the headline "NC Gov. Cooper proposes more raises for state employees and teachers."
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