NC House passes $30 billion state budget with raises, tax cuts, controversial policy changes

The North Carolina House voted to pass a new, $30 billion state budget Thursday — the first vote needed in a series of approvals that are expected to soon wrap up months of negotiations on the budget, most of it done in secret. The vote passed 69-40 mostly along party lines, with a handful of Democrats joining the chamber’s Republican supermajority. GOP leaders defended the budget for balancing tax cuts with moderate raises for state employees, additional health care funding, millions added to savings, and billions spent on construction and infrastructure projects. Democrats in the House spent hours objecting to the budget Thursday, attacking decisions such as the GOP-backed choice to spend hundreds of millions of dollars more on private school tuition vouchers rather than paying higher raises to teachers or state workers. READ MORE: https://www.wcnc.com/article/news/pol...