NC Legislative Update

By Cady Thomas

Bills and Legislation

Budget Deal

NCGA Leadership is hopeful they will reach a compromise with Governor Roy Cooper as early as this week. Expected in the final bill are raises for teachers and other state employees, larger education funding, tax cuts, and a large number of capital projects with a focus on broadband and DOT projects. The bill will also spend roughly half of the money allotted to NC from the federal COVID-19 relief funding bills.

What you will not see in the budget – medicaid expansion. This is because Speaker Moore does not believe he has the votes in his chamber to pass a budget that includes increased medicaid spending.

Healthcare Options

Governor Cooper signed S228 which will allow small employers to offer employees access to exclusive provider organizations. These are insurance plans that limit a choice of health care providers to a predetermined set of doctors and hospitals. The hope is it will bring down costs for small businesses who want to provide employees with healthcare options but cannot afford traditional insurance plans.

COVID

Numbers as of October 31:

• 1,477,514 total cases

• 18,050 deaths

• 1,335 currently hospitalized

• 4.4% percentage of positive tests each day

• 67% of adult population fully vaccinated

Other Important Items

Redistricting

Last week the House and Senate filed potential redistricting maps for the 14 US Congressional seats and the 170 state legislative seats. The legislature is expected to vote on the maps over the next two weeks. The maps are not subject to a governor’s veto. However, less than 2 hours after the maps were filed as bills, the NAACP and Common Cause announced they had filed a lawsuit asking the courts to intervene in the process.

Cady Thomas