House Budget Gimmick Plunges State into Deficit Spending
Ineligible bills violate joint budget agreement, exceed spending cap
Raleigh, N.C. – Last week, the N.C. House of Representatives forced the Senate to return four ineligible bills after nonpartisan staff attorneys determined they could not be considered under the General Assembly’s agreed-upon adjournment resolution. Beyond just being ineligible for consideration, the quartet of bills poses additional problems.
First, the House’s unprecedented budget gimmick plunges the state into deficit spending by appropriating more than $2 billion.
In total, the four bills would result in a nearly $600 million recurring deficit during this fiscal biennium.
Beyond the irresponsible spending, the House’s proposals break the joint budget agreement made between the two chambers back in April by exceeding the spending cap by hundreds of millions of dollars and exhausting the resources necessary to replenish our state’s Rainy Day Fund.
“It is our duty to pass a responsible, balanced budget. Bringing forth bills that cannot be considered and intentionally bust our state’s budget is nothing more than a political stunt,” Senate Appropriations Chairmen Brent Jackson (R-Sampson), Ralph Hise (R-Mitchell), and Michael Lee (R-New Hanover) said.
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Last week, during the General Assembly’s October session, the Senate sent the House a proposal to include House Bill 42, “Back the Blue Pay Act,” House Bill 192, “Defund Planned Parenthood,” and funding for the Medicaid rebase in Senate Bill 449. The full proposal given to the House was:
All Medicaid rebase funding included in House Bill 562, with the following changes: $52.5 million for N.C. Care (rural healthcare) and $51.8 million for N.C. Children’s. That is half of the funding previously committed to by the House. This is not new money and was included in the 2023 budget agreement.
“Back the Blue Pay Act” (House Bill 42) with these changes: add $2.8 million recurring to State Highway Patrol for civilian positions, add General Assembly Police (6.5%), about $500,00 recurring, and add DOI Law Enforcement (6.5%), about $370,000 recurring. These pay raises would be effective immediately.
Language ensuring funding for the Rural Health Transformation Program from the federal One Big Beautiful Bill Act can be appropriated by the General Assembly.
Instead of considering House Bill 42 and House Bill 192 — which were eligible under the adjournment resolution — the House opted to bring up new proposals. If the House had taken up the two Senate-authored bills, they could have been on Gov. Josh Stein's desk by the end of the week, and our hardworking law enforcement officers would have been immediately eligible for pay increases and bonuses.
Senate Rules Chairman Bill Rabon was forced to send the bills back to the House last week because they violated the adjournment resolution. The only bills eligible for consideration under the agreed-upon adjournment resolution set by both chambers include vetoed bills, redistricting, conference reports with previously appointed conferees, bills returned for concurrence on or before Sept. 25, and joint adjournment resolutions. None of the four bills sent to the Senate fit these criteria. The four bills are
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