Republicans may send Gov. Stein a budget by June. Will it have Democratic votes?
North Carolina Gov. Josh Stein has shown he has a different approach to being governor than his predecessor, former Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper, when it comes to working with Republicans.
Much of Cooper’s time in office was defined by his budget battles with the legislature, which dragged out the process to the point that one year, in 2019, there was no state budget at all.
And when the governor wasn’t a factor, the House and Senate, both controlled by Republicans, fought over the budget.
The era of a budget becoming law several months late could be over. All to be determined, of course. But there are a few important things to know.
Good morning and welcome to the governor edition of our Under the Dome newsletter. I’m Capitol Bureau Chief Dawn Vaughan.
The Senate passed its budget. The next step is the House’s version, and then a final version that will go to Stein’s desk.
I asked President Pro Tempore Phil Berger on Thursday if negotiating with the House over the budget will be different this year with House Speaker Destin Hall, rather than his predecessor, speaker-turned U.S. Rep. Tim Moore.
“I would say it’s different. I don’t know that it’s moving along better or worse or anything. I think the ultimate question is, are we going to be able to get the budget finished, agreed to between the House and the Senate, and enacted into law before the end of June. I still feel pretty confident that we’ll be able to do that,” Berger said.
That would mean the General Assembly would need to send Stein a final budget bill by June 20, to give the governor the full 10 days Stein has to sign, veto or let it become law without his signature. If Stein vetoes the budget, both the House and Senate would have to hold override votes to overturn his veto, so that’s at least another day or two longer.
I asked Berger if their goal is a budget bill that Stein will sign, and his answer included a vote count of swing Democrats.
“I’m hopeful that we’ll be able to put together a budget package that that he would sign. I’m guardedly optimistic, that we’ll be able to, in the Senate, get some Democratic votes,” Berger said.
As we’ve previously reported, four Democratic senators voted for the Senate budget, including a very high-profile vote from former minority leader Dan Blue, who’s now the swing vote to watch.
Senate Republicans have a supermajority anyway, and if every senator is in attendance, could override a veto 30-20. So that means eyes will be on the House, where Republicans are one vote short of a supermajority. Like in the Senate, several Democrats there are swing votes.
“I feel, based on the comments I’ve heard from Rep. Hall and what we’ve seen in the past, I feel like they’ll probably be in a position over there where they’ll have some Democratic votes as well. Whether or not there will be enough Democratic votes to convince the governor to sign it or to let it become law — I’m hopeful that we will see him sign the bill,” Berger said Thursday.
One of those Senate swing votes was from Democratic Sen. Gladys Robinson, who wants funding restored for a small agency that helps minority-owned businesses compete for state contracts.
Berger would not say if the four swing voters — Blue, Robinson, Sen. Paul Lowe and Sen. Joyce Waddell — would be members of the committee that negotiates the final budget bill. Berger said he hasn’t made a decision yet, and will wait until senators see the House budget and figure out what the issues will be.
Stein brought up HUB funding during his speech on Wednesday to the Divine 9. HUB is the Office of Historically Underutilized Businesses at the Department of Administration, an agency Stein controls.
Stein speaks at Divine 9 Legislative Day
The Divine 9 are historic Black sororities and fraternities, which held their advocacy day Wednesday, including an event on Bicentennial Plaza across from the Legislative Building in downtown Raleigh. Stein gave a welcoming speech, and brought up the budget.
Here’s what Stein told the crowd:
▪ On education funding: “Instead of hollowing out our public schools and then wondering why they’re struggling, I say, let’s invest in them to set them up for success. And friends, it is long past time we gave teachers a real pay raise in North Carolina.”
“Let’s make our schools safer and modernize our school buildings, which is why I am calling for a $4 billion public school bond. And to make sure that every child is ready to learn sitting in that classroom, let’s provide a free school breakfast to every North Carolina public school student,” Stein said.
▪ On HUB and the economy: “We need more good paying jobs in every corner of our state, from our small towns to our big cities. So let’s support small business owners who are powering this economy. By strengthening minority businesses, we help revitalize North Carolina communities.”
“What we don’t need to do, is to eliminate the HUB office, as the state Senate budget calls for,” Stein said.
This coming week is the self-imposed legislative deadline known as “crossover,” when a bill needs to pass at least one chamber in order to be considered by the other chamber this session. So that means after the May 8 crossover, bills will begin to be voted out of the General Assembly and sent to Stein.
Then the final work of lawmaking begins, when Stein decides whether to veto or sign bills into law.
Thanks for reading. You may contact me at dvaughan@newsobserver.com. Not a newsletter subscriber? Sign up on our website to receive Under the Dome in your inbox daily. And listen to our Under the Dome podcast, which is published every Tuesday morning on all podcast platforms and is previewed in your Tuesday Under the Dome newsletter.
This story was originally published May 4, 2025 at 5:00 AM with the headline "Republicans may send Gov. Stein a budget by June. Will it have Democratic votes?."
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