Extra private school voucher funding gets initial OK from North Carolina Senate

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — The North Carolina Senate took the first step in clearing the state’s waitlist for private school vouchers Monday after passing a supplemental spending plan that also includes more Medicaid money, rural broadband access and requirements for sheriffs to assist federal immigration agents.

The Senate reconvened after Republican chamber leaders announced last week that they reached a spending plan agreement that includes $463 million for the state’s Opportunity Scholarship. It passed the proposal, as well as veto overrides, largely along party lines. The House is expected to take up a vote Wednesday.

If the House passes the spending plan, it will go to Cooper for a likely veto. Senate leader Phil Berger said an override vote would be more likely to happen in November.

After the General Assembly removed income caps to qualify for the Opportunity Scholarship program last year, voucher applications soared. About 55,000 children were waitlisted because of a lack of funding, and Republican lawmakers’ inability to pass a budget readjustment bill in June before the legislative session ended only prolonged that issue.

Now, the new proposal — which outlines more spending through the early 2030s — offers waitlisted families the option to be retroactively reimbursed for their fall private schooling costs. About $377 million for Medicaid spending and $160 million to address enrollment growth for K-12 public schools and community colleges are also in the plan.

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