North Carolina House budget gets initial OK as Senate unveils stripped-down plan

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — A North Carolina budget-adjustment measure penned by House Republicans received initial approval Wednesday in the chamber, legislation that covers a massive increase in private-school voucher demand, locates money for child care centers and raises worker and teacher pay further than already scheduled.

Four House Democrats joined all Republicans present to vote 73-36 for the bill, which makes changes to the second year of the two-year state government budget enacted last fall to reflect new fiscal demands and a nearly $1 billion bump in anticipated revenue collections.

A final House vote is expected Thursday, after which the future of the $31.7 billion spending plan dims in the Senate, where GOP leaders aren’t willing to spend that much money and use hundreds of millions of dollars from special reserves.

Senate leader Phil Berger has threatened to tell senators to go home if House counterparts don’t accept their preferred changes by the close of the current fiscal year, which ends June 30. Berger’s office late Wednesday released a significantly trimmed-down $31.4 billion spending plan.

But the House and Senate plans do agree on providing $487 million to programs that help K-12 students attend private schools and eliminate their waiting lists. Nearly all of the funds would go to the state’s Opportunity Scholarships to help end waiting lists of over 50,000 students who are qualified to receive scholarships this fall, and cover increased demand permanently. The program was greatly expanded last year when family income limits to receive a grant were eliminated.

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