NC Capitol Wrap

Republican lawmakers say they plan to vote on the overdue state budget, and Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper may actually sign it. One thing not in the spending package is the $1.7 billion a judge ordered moved from state reserves to boost public school funding as part of the long-running Leandro lawsuit. Finally, the new congressional and legislative maps have been out for only a week, and they're already shaking up state politics.

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The Republican majorities in the House and the Senate approved new congressional and legislative district maps that favor GOP candidates, and they're already being challenged in courts. There's still no state budget, and odds are there won't be one anytime soon. While no one will gamble on a budget, North Carolina residents could start betting on professional sports if a bill that has cleared the Senate can do so in the House.

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Republican Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson continues to elevate his profile before a possible run for governor in 2024. The SEC continues to investigate U.S. Sen. Richard Burr's stock sales during the early stages of the pandemic. And voters give Republican lawmakers a resounding Bronx cheer over their proposed congressional and legislative district maps.

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Longtime Democratic Congressman David Price won't seek re-election and will retire at the end of 2022, adding another wrinkle to the ongoing redistricting effort. There's still no state budget, but a bill lawmakers passed this week limiting the governor's emergency powers could become a bargaining chip in the negotiations.

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Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson says he's talking about LGBT-themed books in schools and not individuals when using words like "filth" and "garbage," but Democrats and LGBT advocates are buying that argument. There's still no state budget more than three months into the fiscal year. But lawmakers and Gov. Roy Cooper were able to agree on a sweeping energy bill, which is now law.

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Some House Republicans continue to believe 2020 election results were fraudulent, and they intend to prove it. A sweeping measure that addresses climate change and how utilities in North Carolina produce and get paid for their electricity is on its way to the governor. And lawmakers will soon start narrowing down which maps they prefer for new legislative and congressional districts.

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A major overhaul of North Carolina's energy sector is quickly moving through the General Assembly after months of secret negotiations. Redistricting isn't so secret, with open terminals where people can try to draw new legislative and congressional district maps. Trying to get out of jury duty by claiming you're not a citizen? A bill would require local court officials to send your name to state elections officials so it could be removed from voter rolls.

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Legislative leaders could soon start negotiating with Gov. Roy Cooper on the state budget. Hundreds of state workers have burned through the 80 hours of pandemic-related leave they were given, primarily by having to quarantine whenever they or someone close to them tested positive for coronavirus. And the conservative John Locke Foundation is going after the North Carolina Association of Educators in a new billboard campaign,

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Current and former senators gathered to honor longtime Senate President Pro Tem Marc Basnight, who died last winter. A Senate committee passed a measure that would allow driverless delivery vehicles to operate in North Carolina. State Department of Transportation officials say their long-range list of road construction projects is at least $7 billion over budget.

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Gov. Roy Cooper vetoed bills that would prohibit the teaching of critical race theory in North Carolina public schools and would increase the penalties for causing extensive property damage or injuring someone in a riot. But he did sign off on loosening a slew of the state's alcohol regulations. Meanwhile, a judge overseeing a long-running lawsuit over improving schools in impoverished districts gave lawmakers a deadline to properly fund schools.

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