One week ago, when North Carolina Gov. Josh Stein signed his first comprehensive budget into law, he said he approved the Republican-crafted legislation because it “delivers for North Carolinians in important ways” thanks to the inclusion of his administrative priorities.
But during the fast-tracking by the General Assembly to approve of the bill just days before, all three of Orange County’s state representatives disagreed. And in the days following Stein signing the budget into law, each still harbored several reservations and said they believe it both does not deliver enough for residents while making concerning changes.
North Carolina Sen. Jonah Garson as well as Rep. Renée Price and Rep. Allen Buansi all voted against the bill, saying the parts they disagree with hold more influence over the good the updated budget will bring. Speaking with 97.9 The Hill, all three acknowledged the need for a budget, with the Republican majority more than a year overdue from producing one. But Democrats and the public alike were shut out of the negotiation process and learned of the 634-page package only hours before the first votes took place, Price said.
“The process, in my opinion, was quite flawed,” the rural Orange, Caswell and Person counties representative said in an interview. “Because we were allowed no opportunity to make amendments. It was a conference report, a joint report…so, all we could do was vote it up or down. And while there were some good points in there – and thank goodness we do have a budget so the state can operate – there were a lot of provisions in there that I could not agree with.”
Price and Buansi pointed to the marginal pay increases for most state employees as a major area where the $34 billion budget falls short. Not only are the raises a one-time change and are not retroactive to last year when a budget was meant to be enacted, but they lag well behind the inflation rate and don’t match the cost of living. The two House representatives also shared their concerns about needing more public education funding, with veteran teachers not seeing the same investments made into starting teacher pay.
Thousands of North Carolina public school teachers rallied and marched in Raleigh on May 1 to advocate for more public education spending from the state government and less benefits granted to corporations. While the latest budget improves starting teacher pay by $7,000 a year, more veteran teachers saw much smaller raises. The average increase in the budget is 8%. (Photo via Ayven Hard/Chapel Hill Media Group.)
“I’m also disappointed,” Price added, “with the way we’re trying to raise money now that we’re still refusing to make corporations pay their taxes, while also decreasing the property tax and income tax. That’s being made up for in [increasing residents’] fees.
“For example,” she said, “there is now an increase in fees for a divorce. [The budget assigns] divorce filing fees to generate an additional $1.3 million recurring for the State Domestic Violence grant.”
Garson – who is in his first weeks in the legislature after working as a civil rights attorney and state Democratic Party leader – agreed that he believes the bad outweighs the good of the budget, with the increasing of legal fees being a sticking point for him. The District 23 senator said the significant changes further entrenches the justice system to where only the wealthy can navigate it without being set behind, regardless of outcome.
“Jacking up court fees at a time when the cost of everything across the board is already going up, and we’re making it harder for most North Carolinians…it’s cruel,” Garson told 97.9 The Hill. “We’re going to saddle more folks than the one out of 12 currently saddled with legal debt.”
That access to justice is also impacted by cuts to the state’s Legal Aid program to help residents in civil cases. Garson said it’s clear among legislators that funding cuts to the initiative was a “personal” goal of House Leader Rep. Destin Hall, who is an attorney himself. Another carve-out that concerns Garson is for prediction markets like Kalshi, which has restrictions so loose that he said he believes the company’s lobbyist basically wrote the provision.
“Whereas there was insistence from Republican legislative leadership that we have a highly regulated sports betting infrastructure,” Garson said, “and that the funding from sports betting goes to support the athletic programs in our system schools, no such regulatory framework exists for these betting markets. And their tax treatment is much, much, much lighter.”
All three Orange County-based legislators said they supported Gov. Stein’s “big-ticket” item of fully funded Medicaid support, as well as the improvement to starting teacher pay. Garson also said he was happy that the budget creates a $10 million fund for Tropical Storm Chantal relief and ends the sales tax exemption for electricity purchased by data centers.
But even those elements have drawbacks, the state senator said. He shared skepticism of $10 million being enough when divided between the storm-impacted areas and said he has questions around the data centers’ tax bill.
“Instead of some of the money that comes through these sales taxes on data centers,” Garson said, “[and] instead of that staying with counties that are actually bearing the brunt of data center costs, that’s all going to the state. So, [it’s] not the normal sales tax breakdown. And I have questions about why.”
Ultimately, Price described her reasoning for voting against the budget as coming down to the bill’s flawed approach and construction.
“It’s a budget that has too much policy and a lot of priorities in it,” she said, “rather than looking at finances and how we finance governance.”
Buansi agreed, saying he believes the most productive way to craft a budget would be to publicly debate and compromise – with constituents and Democrats involved instead of Republicans operating behind closed doors. And while an update was overdue, the District 56 representative also warned about the erosion to governance that’s now established in law.
“This budget does not just fall short; it narrows what future legislatures will be able to do,” Buansi wrote to Chapelboro. “Its revenue and reserve choices make it harder to fund public education, health care, housing, childcare, courts, public safety, and core services in future cycles. A budget that underfunds public systems today and restricts fiscal capacity tomorrow is not a responsible long-term plan.”
After passing the budget, both chambers of the North Carolina General Assembly went into a recess. Legislators are set to return for a session on Monday, July 27.
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Corporate Tax Cuts, Prediction Market Leeway, and Underfunding Education: Why Orange County’s Legislators Voted Against NC’s Budget Chapelboro.com.
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