North Carolina GOP leaders reach spending deal to clear private school voucher waitlist

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — North Carolina’s Republican House and Senate leaders said Friday that they have agreed with each other on a supplemental spending proposal that includes hundreds of millions of dollars to eliminate the state’s waitlist for private school vouchers.

The new proposal includes funding for Medicaid, broadband access and the implementation of a law that forces sheriffs to comply with federal immigration agents. Both chambers are scheduled to reconvene next week for a vote that will likely send the bill to Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper, whose expected veto can be overridden by the legislature’s GOP supermajorities.

The proposal sets aside an additional $463 million for this school year and next for the state’s Opportunity Scholarship Program largely to clear its waitlist, as a surge in applications occurred after the General Assembly eliminated income caps to qualify last year. Not enough money was initially earmarked to cover everyone, leaving about 55,000 children on the waitlist and many parents frustrated.

Lawmakers had failed to agree on a budget adjustment deal that included voucher funding before the legislative session ended in June.

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