NC Capitol Wrap

In addition to tax cuts and raises for teachers and state workers, the hundreds of pages of the Senate's proposed budget include plenty of policy changes. Meanwhile, a House lawmaker says local school districts, not state officials, should decide whether masks should be worn at school.

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The Senate has rolled out its $25.7 billion spending plan for the coming year, with an emphasis on cutting taxes rather than increasing pay for teachers and state workers.

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A plan to overhaul North Carolina's power generation landscape in the coming years immediately drew critics, including Gov. Roy Cooper. House lawmakers try yet again to get the outlawed literacy test to vote removed from the state constitution. And a measure that would allow charter buses to serve alcohol rolls on at the legislature.

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Economists for both the Cooper administration and the legislature agree that the state budget surplus continues to grow, but the governor and Republican lawmakers already disagree on what to do with the money. A bill backers say will cut greenhouse gas emissions in North Carolina by 60 percent over the next decade was rolled out by House members. And Wake County senators don't like Raleigh officials springing a plan to delay elections for a year on local voters.

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The legislature passed a measure that would bar abortions solely because of a prenatal diagnosis of Down syndrome. The Senate gave final approval to a massive tax cut package that will likely be written into the proposed state budget. And a key House member wants to use tax credits to attract large video-gaming conventions to North Carolina.

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Legislative leaders agree on how much to spend in the new state budget, while skipping past some of Gov. Roy Cooper's budget priorities. Lawmakers also advance bills that would make impersonating someone online a felony and would give raises to home health aides and nursing home staffers.

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It's been a busy week at the General Assembly with a pileup of action on unemployment benefits, abortion, a DEQ nominee and conversations on the state budget.

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Top Senate Republicans rolled out a proposal to cut individual and corporate tax rates by more than $1 billion a year, but it likely goes further than House GOP members are willing to go, let alone legislative Democrats.

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Gov. Roy Cooper laid out his plans to spend $5.7 billion in federal pandemic relief funds, including money for families, a major broadband expansion and help for struggling restaurants, bars and hotels. Meanwhile, a new bill that cleared a Senate committee would allow some North Carolina cities and towns to push their elections this fall back to next spring because of delays in census data. Finally, former Rep. David Lewis is set to be sentenced on federal charges that he used campaign funds to help his family farm, and it looks like he is probably going to get probation.

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The House ran another marathon session to clear dozens of bills before the legislature's "crossover" deadline, including one that would allow lawmakers and other elected state officials to carry guns in government buildings and another limiting how schools teach about U.S. racial history in schools. The Senate passed a number of bills on its own, including one to raise the legal age to marry in the state from 14 to 16.

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