CBC editorial: Monday, April 29, 2024. #8926
The following is the opinion of Capitol Broadcasting Company.
Much like Cooper’s moderate ideological temperament, this is essentially a consensus-based recommendation that Republican and Democratic lawmakers can embrace, providing fodder for campaign “gotchas” and negative attacks. It accomplishes an important need that the majority of North Carolina voters accept while avoiding voting.
It is balanced, cuts some business taxes, and takes care of important areas of need, such as education, public safety, infrastructure, the environment, and economic development. perfection? of course not. But for those who can free themselves from the tricks and twists of reflexive partisanship and ideology, it’s not much of an effort, but it’s a budget that does what it takes to meet the nation’s needs.
Is there anything that needs immediate attention regarding the private school voucher situation, which is a highly controversial issue? Although there are certainly various concerns that need to be addressed, no matter where you stand on the issue. , waiting until after the election will not cause undue hardship.
Legislative leaders could refrain from painful and infuriating horse-trading and pork-barrel payoffs to gain support from reluctant members. They will quickly process the budget and address other local issues that must be addressed, including controversial issues such as voting restrictions, gambling/casino expansion, women’s health issues, gerrymandering, marijuana, and “DEI.” The debate could be left to the election campaign. “Diversity (diversity, inclusion of equity)” in schools, public universities, etc.
Cooper’s budget embraces the needs of consensus.
Regarding education, the main recommendations in his budget are:
- Much-needed pay increases for teachers and other public school employees – Increase starting salaries for teachers, raise teacher pay by an average of 8.5%, and provide most teachers with a $1,500 retention bonus.
- Provides 700 elementary school teacher assistants for grades K through 3rd grade.
- Authorizes a $2.5 billion school construction bond – which would only be imposed after a local referendum. Our state has a school backlog of $13 billion in new and renovation needs.
- Investing $34.7 million to expand Read to Achie to middle school students.
- $11 million to expand the pipeline of new teachers to enhance opportunities for more people to enter the teaching profession, including expanding the Teaching Fellows program
North Carolina is facing a child care crisis that threatens both child care providers, parents in need of services, and employers facing workforce challenges. Mr. Cooper’s budget provides for:
- $745 million to strengthen child care and early education for working families. This includes $200 million in child care stabilization grants and $128.5 million in grants to increase reimbursement rates in rural and low-wealth communities.
State governments face tough challenges in finding and attracting workers to provide the services residents expect. The state’s overall vacancy rate is 23%. Before the coronavirus pandemic, it was 13%. Turnover among first-year state employees is even more severe, at 33%, compared to 14% before the pandemic. Cooper attempts to address this as follows.
- It would be a 5% raise for all state employees, on top of the 3% already included in the budget passed last year.
- Appropriately increase paid annual leave for early-career state employees. For example, for employees with 1 to 5 years of service, the date will change from 14 days to 17 days.
- $195.8 million to help state agencies, universities, and community colleges flexibly fill hard-to-retain positions.
In addition to addressing the child care crisis that helps employers, Cooper’s budget will help grow the state’s economy by:
- $49 million will be cut from unemployment insurance taxes that employers with 500 or fewer workers must pay.
- $9 million to help small businesses obtain federal funding through One NC.
To address the key needs of the state’s communities along with health and the environment, Cooper’s budget proposes:
- Establish a $100 million fund for communities to clean water from contaminants such as per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS).
- Reissuance of state conservation tax credits incentivizes conservation of critical habitat.
- $20 million to reduce flooding through channel and drainage improvements;
- $5 million for new equipment to help the state Forest Service better respond to wildfires.
Cooper’s budget is basic and to the point. There are no dramatic initiatives, no attention-grabbing or controversial plans.
This is an approach worth emulating. Pass Cooper’s extra budget, focus on taking care of business, and keep “short” sessions short.
The sooner they do so, the sooner lawmakers can get on the campaign trail, exaggerate their rhetoric and ignite any controversy they choose.