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The state House gave final approval to its budget proposal Thursday, with one of its lead authors predicting a hard road to passage of a final spending plan.
The budget passed with a bipartisan 86-20 vote. Some Democrats who spoke Thursday said they hoped House negotiators would be able to keep the items they liked in the final version in negotiations with Senate Republicans.
The House and Senate budgets are marked by glaring differences that must be resolved before both chambers vote on a compromise that will go to Democratic Gov. Josh Stein for his consideration.
The chambers are far apart on how much to raise teacher pay and on future cuts to individual income tax rates.
“Do we have a long road? Absolutely. We all know this is a process and this is a first step,” said Rep. Donny Lambeth (R-Forsyth), a House senior budget writer.
“We will not be intimidated,” he said. “We’re going to hold strong.”
The state’s 2023 budget built in up to three automatic personal income tax cuts in tax years 2027 to 2034 that depend on the state meeting revenue targets.
The House budget changes those revenue targets, meaning the state would need to bring in more money to trigger a reduction in the personal income tax rate, likely delaying a cut. The Senate budget goes in the opposite direction, adding more future cuts.
Talking with reporters Thursday, Senate leader Phil Berger (R-Rockingham) said it seems that the House wants to reopen negotiations on a tax policy that was settled in 2023.
“We had an understanding and an agreement in 2023 as to what the progression of tax policy would be over the years and the House budget goes in a completely different direction than that,” he said.
Earlier this week, the conservative Club for Growth threatened House members who voted for the budget, based on the tax changes. All House Republicans who were present voted for the budget.
Rep. Abe Jones (D-Wake) said he felt good voting for a budget with big teacher raises. The House budget proposes to increase new teacher pay from $41,000 a year to $48,000 for the next school year, and to $50,000 the following year.
Jones said he wanted to strengthen the House negotiators’ position when members sit down with senators.
“I wanted our team to go in with a strong hand,” he said. “Y’all defend what we’ve done here. I hope we can come out strong with most of what we have painfully, thoughtfully put in. It deserves to be defended.”
Meanwhile, Democrats who voted for the budget said it contained good ideas but could have been better.
Rep. Lindsey Prather (D-Buncombe) argued the House budget could be much better. (Photo: NCGA video stream)The sums Republicans have socked away to pay for private school vouchers continued to come in for pointed criticism.
Rep. Lindsey Prather (D-Buncombe), who voted for the budget, said the state could do more if it stopped prioritizing private schools and corporations instead of people.
The legislature is phasing out the corporate income tax. It will hit zero by 2030.
“I hope that this budget gets much, much better in conference,” she said.
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