'They can put their differences aside': Gov. Josh Stein calls on General Assembly to pass a budget
Mhm
Morning everybody
Thank you for being here
Today the General Assembly is returning to Raleigh
They have the opportunity to make a real difference in
the lives of people across North Carolina including some of
the people who are joining here joining us this morning
They can choose to put their differences aside and and
pass a budget that invests in the people of North
Carolina
Law enforcement officers teachers students state employees Medicaid patients DMV
customers and many many more people across the state who
are counting on this legislature to pass a sound budget
that is balanced yet there are a month late
State budget was due on June 30th 1 month ago
It is past time for this General Assembly to pass
a budget that puts the people of North Carolina first
First we need to pay our teachers better
Right now North Carolina starting teacher pay is among the
lowest in the entire Southeast lower than every one of
the states that border us
Just last week we found out that teachers in North
Carolina pay the 2nd most out of pocket for school
supplies in the entire nation
We need these investments
My proposed budget raises starting teacher pay to the highest
in the Southeast reinstates master pay and provides teachers a
school supply stipend
Over the past 2 years we've lost 1/10 of the
state's teachers
When we do not pay our teachers when we do
not respect our teachers when we make the teachers pay
for the students' school supplies out of their already low
earnings we make the teaching profession less appealing to our
best and brightest
Educators prepare the next generation and set them up for
success set our state up for success
Failing to properly value our teachers is bad for them
It is bad for our students it is bad for
our families and it is bad for the state of
North Carolina
Today I've invited North Carolina's 2025 Teacher of the Year
Rachel Cano so to speak
Rachel teaches middle school in Pitt County and is passionate
about making sure that our kids particularly those in rural
areas have every opportunity to succeed
Yet as she prepares to head back to school next
month she has no certainty that this General Assembly values
the hard work that she and all of her colleagues
across the state do every day for our kids
Rachel I want to thank you for being here and
sharing your story in a moment
We also have to pay our state and local law
enforcement officers better
We ask these officers to make tremendous sacrifices on our
behalf
We asked them to run toward danger danger that the
rest of us would flee
Time and time again they say yes to protect and
to serve
It is not an easy job yet too many state
agencies local governments across our state are facing shortages of
officers
We need more cops on the beat not fewer to
keep us safe
If we want to recruit and retain the best law
enforcement we have to show them how much we value
them and their work
My budget raises salaries for all state law enforcement officers
with a particular eye to correctional officers and youth counselors
which are facing above average vacancies
To bring more people into the profession the budget also
offered signing bonuses to basic law enforcement training graduates and
to out of state transfers who are hired here in
North Carolina
The legislature has the chance to put its money where
its mouth is and pay our law enforcement officers appropriately
Today we have Captain Kimberly Lane from the Durham Sheriff's
Office to address this issue
She spends her days working on recruiting and retaining deputies
and she'll share more about the urgent needs of these
kinds of support in a moment
Safe communities and strong schools are two reasons people love
living in North Carolina and we have to invest to
keep it that way
We also need to fix one of our state's major
pain points the DMV
People should not have to line up for hours at
the DMV or take days off work or sacrifice a
spring break vacation just to get a driver's license
Our DMV employees need better working conditions more support so
that they can effectively provide the high quality service to
all North Carolinians that everyone deserves
I agree with auditor Dave Bullock who said quote the
DMV isn't a partisan issue it is a North Carolina
issue
I also agree with him that we need to fund
more slots for DMV inspectors and examiners
It is simple math
With more employees we can see more North Carolinians
I applaud the General Assembly for recognizing there are significant
and urgent needs at the DMV and urge both chambers
to see their proposals for more examiners to the finish
line
Sarah Morgan a Durham resident has been to the DMV
6 times in the last 2 months to get her
real ID 6 times
She doesn't have time for that
No one does
We can and must do better
She will speak soon about just how badly the DMV
needs more funding more people
The DMV isn't the only place that's waiting on the
General Assembly for funding
Our Medicaid program is counting on funds
It needs additional funds
Today General Assembly has yet to fund the rebate that
is necessary to protect people's Medicaid coverage meaning that just
to provide the people who are on the system the
level of service that they have been guaranteed it costs
more money because of inflation from one year to the
next
They have not funded that
The cost of health care is increasing and if the
legislature doesn't keep fully funding the program the legislature will
cause painful cuts to people's health care
And what's coming out of Washington DC certainly is not
helping because of the reconciliation law that passed earlier this
month on the current path nearly 900,000 North Carolinians are
at risk of losing their health care coverage under Medicaid
Let me say that again
We're looking at almost 900,000 North Carolinians losing health insurance
Our entire Medicaid expansion program is at risk if the
state legislature does not pass a fix to pay for
new administratively burdensome work requirements
Since expansion began $8.3 million in prescriptions have been filled
for Medicaid expansion enrollees prescriptions for heart disease diabetes seizures
life saving medication
Meds that people needed before but they could not afford
Without a legislative fix in the budget that coverage could
be lost
People who can now finally afford to see a doctor
when they're sick or manage their chronic conditions they could
be losing health care just as quickly as they got
it
It is unacceptable and it is completely it is completely
avoidable
Passing Medicaid expansion into law was a bipartisan victory for
North Carolina
Saving it must be as well
The General Assembly must get to work now to fund
the traditional Medicaid program and to protect expansion
Joanna Parker is here with us today and despite being
consistently employed for the last decade she did not have
insurance until Medicaid expansion
With her insurance she was able to get her first
mammogram mammogram where a pre-cancerous mass was detected
We all shudder to think about her prognosis if she
had not gotten that screening
She's counting on us to protect expansion so that she
can keep receiving treatment
I'll leave it to Joanna to tell us more about
what losing healthcare would mean to her
Instead of taking action on all of these important issues
that will make a real difference in people's lives the
General Assembly is in town today to act on a
number of veto overrides including one that will raise folks'
power bills precisely when people are struggling with already high
bills
The legislation could increase residential power bills by $23 billion
over the next 25 years
That's nearly a billion dollars in more costs each year
on residential ratepayers
It will increase costs on regular people
It actually does this
It takes money raises it on regular people to lower
the cost of industrial users
Regular people pay more so that big corporations will pay
less
That is in the legislation
It will also undermine our strong clean energy sector potentially
costing us nearly $50 billion in lost investment and more
than 50,000 future good paying jobs
I'm joined by Miltrine Newell a resident of Lewisburg who's
on fixed income Social Security
She doesn't have the room in her budget for her
utility bills to go up and I'll leave it to
her to share her story in a moment
The legislature should prioritize making a real difference in the
lives of North Carolinians
That means they need to pass a sound budget to
do what the people of North Carolina sent us here
to do set our state up for success
Thank you
And I'll now turn it over to Rachel Candoso North
Carolina's 2025 Teacher of the year
Rachel
Thank you Governor Stein
Good morning
Again my name is Rachel Canasso and I serve as
the 2025 Boroughs Welcome Fund North Carolina Teacher of the
Year
I stand here today not just as one educator but
as a voice for over 100,000 public school teachers across
our state teachers who are preparing their classrooms welcoming students
and doing everything they can to make this school year
a success all while still waiting for our general assembly
to pass the state budget
I've written to members of the General Assembly over the
last few days urging them to bring the budget to
the agenda this week
But I'm here today so they can truly hear my
voice and the voices of those I represent
Right now many educators are starting the year without knowing
what their salary will be or whether their years of
service will be fully recognized
Inflation in North Carolina has risen nearly 20% over the
past 5 years yet our our salary schedule hasn't kept
up
Too many teachers are forced to take on 2nd or
3 jobs to make ends meet
Personally I'm one of them
I've always had to work a side job to support
myself especially as a single income educator
Last year I partnered with Teach for America to recruit
new teachers to North Carolina
I'm proud to say that 7 of those educators are
beginning their careers here this upcoming school year
I spoke with them yesterday and shared how impactful their
investment in our students is and how they made the
right choice in becoming a North Carolina educator
But that belief must be backed from our state leaders
I think of Lydia Sell the 2025 Western Regional Teacher
of the Year who is entering her seventh year in
Swain County
Like many rural communities Swain offers no local salary supplement
Without a past budget and without a meaningful raise educators
like Lydia are faced with the heartbreaking decision of whether
they can afford to stay in the profession they love
The reality is that in our rural communities where barriers
to recruitment and retention are already high
We are pushing great educators like Lydia out simply because
we have not financially prioritized them at a state level
Lydia is committed to her students to her home county
and to delivering a high quality education
But commitment alone does not pay the bills
This is not just about numbers on a page
It's about whether we truly value the people shaping North
Carolina's future
Whether we believe every child whether they are in Swain
County or at Harker's Island in our eastern side of
the state deserve a fully supported high quality educator
So today I join educators across the state in calling
on our legislators to pass a budget that honors our
work
Invest in our teachers invest in our 1.5 million students
Invest in North Carolina's future
Thank you
Good morning
I would like to take this opportunity to thank Governor
Stein for allowing me to speak today and offer my
support for his proposed budget
I'm not just here as a representative of the Durham
County Sheriff's Office
I am here to be a voice for all local
and state law enforcement agencies that struggle to recruit and
hire the best officers we can find
Collectively we need to be aggressive in our efforts to
entice those within the state of North Carolina and nationally
to seek us out
We need a voice that extends beyond local politics we
need a state budget that addresses and recognizes that modern
law enforcement cannot evolve without the help from all levels
of government
I think everyone agrees that people want to feel safe
in their homes in their cars in their businesses and
in everything they do to not compromise on that level
of safety officers do more with fewer resources often to
the detriment of their own health
This has been the norm for several years now and
I fear this methodology cannot sustain itself
This is not meant to be a scare tactic
It is merely a wake up call and a reality
check
We are now confronted with a self-perpetuating problem in which
officers want to leave if they work in an understaffed
environment
As a state we need to ask ourselves what our
priorities are
Governor Stein is showing us that law enforcement is a
priority by offering common sense financial measures to encourage anyone
entering the job force
To consider law enforcement
My agency has worked tirelessly to recruit and bring in
qualified individuals that want to put their life on the
line to serve their community yet our efforts are often
in vain as retirements and natural attrition leave vacancies that
cannot be filled at the same rate as which they
occur
How do we fix it even as we continue to
restore the the image of this profession by weeding out
those that have tarnished it we still struggle to let
people know it is a profession that can pay the
bills
We find that people are still wanting to do this
job but if they have doubts about their income
We often lose in a cost benefit analysis
Within the last year two very qualified deputies left our
agency to pursue other careers one in nursing and the
other to operate his own landscaping business
And even as we wish them well in their endeavors
I thought to myself wow what a shame those guys
are no longer serving
Every position in our agency is valued
Every position is important and any loss is a loss
to us our county and our profession
Not only do we need to get applicants in the
door but we also need them to stay and this
budget is a step in the right direction by encouraging
them to come through that door
Thank you for allowing me to speak today
I hope my words matter because this budget matters to
all of us
Thank you
Yeah
Good morning
My name is Sarah Morgan and I'm currently a resident
of Durham
When I arrived in North Carolina in 2008 as a
newly separated grad student with two small children I went
to the DMV to update my license and I was
able to get it done within my 1 hour lunch
break
When I remarried in 2016 I went to the DMV
to update my new name and address
I went on a Wednesday afternoon and I was in
and out in about 2 hours
My husband and I now after sending 4 kids to
college and saving for almost 10 years finally bought our
first home in November
And I still have not been able to update my
address or to upgrade to my real ID
I cannot get an appointment online
Every time I go to the website all I see
is location after location with no appointments available on more
than one occasion I have visited one of the greater
Raleigh Durham area offices and I've been turned away after
waiting because walk-ins were not welcome after a certain time
or because there wasn't enough staff there to help or
for some other reason
I travel for work and while I can use my
passport to fly it feels risky and unnecessary for travel
within the US
Meanwhile my children COVID kids who had their high school
years upended who didn't get driver's licenses because of the
backlog who had to wait until 18 to get their
licenses they also struggled to get appointments and when they
did they arrived at the DMV to public servants who
were unnecessarily stern rude and unhelpful
I'm sure that this is largely due
To burn out and stress from dealing with understaffing and
unrelenting long lines day after day that they know they
will run out of time
And resources to help
Just 4 days ago I arrived to one of our
offices with my son to take his road test
We got there at 5 a.m. And stood in line
outside the building until it opened at 8 hoping that
he would get a testing spot
At 9 a.m. he was finally told that he would
be granted the last testing spot of the day and
5 hours after that he finally tested and thank goodness
he passed
However I was made to sit in the car and
wait for him because he's not a minor anymore and
there's no seating for people who are not being seen
if they are not there with a minor
We're in a heat wave and by 11 a.m. I
was out of water
And becoming overwhelmed by the temperatures
Thankfully my other son was close by and he could
come get me
And as I took my waiting son the keys to
the car I could see the line still halfway around
the building people of all ages sitting in the boiling
sun hoping to be seen
As I reached the door one of the DMV staff
came outside and made people who were gathered under an
awning rearranged themselves into a straight line pushing several of
them from shaded spots out into the sun then told
them that they had little hope of being seen before
the office closed for the day and it's all just
maddening and very sad
And I hear the people who say just go to
another county or you had years to get this done
but the DMV has been like this for years
In 2018 I took my mother who had relocated from
New Jersey and is in her seventies to get a
state ID and we waited 5 hours without food or
water only to be turned away because of a missing
document that was not indicated as required on the state
website
And I like many other North Carolinians have a job
where I cannot just take days off in a row
to spend hours at the DMV on the chance that
I might be seen and might get my issue resolved
and I like many other North Carolinians cannot just drive
an hour or more away to visit an office that
might be less busy and might be able to help
me
This problem with our DMV is a crisis
It's as serious as any other issue that's happening right
now in our state
It has an impact on our citizens' ability to drive
safely and compliantly to travel and to vote within their
correct districts without disruption
It has gone on too long
The staff at the DMVs are burnt out
They too are citizens of our state and they too
deserve better support
Governor Stein has created a plan and a budget that
will solve this crisis and we need our state representatives
to pass this budget and activate this plan
North Carolinians need and deserve a better experience at our
DMV to be straightforward and effective
Our staff at the DMV deserve to have a healthy
work environment that's appropriately staffed and it doesn't feel like
going into battle making impossible choices every day
We need the help of our legislature to make this
happen
We all need this budget passed so we can move
forward to making our great state even greater so we
can fully embrace and benefit from all the growth and
development that we want to come
I thank Governor Stein and his amazing staff for inviting
me here today to share my story and I ask
again for the support of the legislature in passing this
budget
Thank you
Good morning everyone
Thank you for inviting me to speak
I am truly honored to be here
My name is Joanna Parker and I live in Garner
North Carolina
I thought I might share a little bit of my
story and health healthcare journey with you all today to
explain how Medicaid expansion changed my life
I was diagnosed with degenerative disc disease in my spine
about 2 years before Medicaid expansion was enacted in North
Carolina
This is a condition where the discs in my back
can rub together and at times press on the nerves
and cause terrible pain and weakness
When I got the diagnosis I did not have healthcare
and had not been able to afford adequate healthcare for
years
For a case like mine surgery is not recommended but
it can be managed better with medication and therapy
Some days the pain was debilitating but out of pocket
expenses for physical therapy and doctor's visits were not manageable
One visit to urgent care alone could cost upwards of
$900
I had to cut back my hours at work and
eventually had to leave my job
Then in December 2023 I was one of more than
270,000 people in North Carolina to automatically be enrolled in
Medicaid expansion and suddenly my world changed
I was able to go to the doctor regularly go
to physical therapy appointments and get the necessary X-rays and
receive medications that allowed me to return to work full
time
Recently I received my first mammogram and got news that
no one wants to hear
More testing was needed
They had found something called atypical ductal hyperplasia
Thankfully Medicaid covered the additional testing that was needed
Many times people have to pay for this out of
pocket or completely forgo it
Luckily I was able to get the imaging needed and
so far this is not cancerous
It does however mean an increased risk of developing breast
cancer and I have to see a specialist and we'll
need more biopsies and a surgery to make sure everything
is OK for now
Medicaid expansion allows me to receive the care I need
to remain healthy and be with my friends and family
and I am grateful and I am afraid to see
how drastically my health and life will change without Medicaid
I hope North Carolina lawmakers do what is right so
the more than 670,000 people like me continue to receive
this life saving health care
Thank you
Good morning
My name is Miltre Newell and I'm from Lewisburg North
Carolina
That is in Franklin County
I belong to down home North Carolina
We are a member led organization and we deal with
the economics health care and housing education in Franklin County
For those who don't know Frank um down home North
Carolina is a community-led service organization
My personal story is why I'm here today is about
my utility bill
My monthly budget is supported only by my fixed income
Each month my expenses were pretty consistent but from May
to the current bill my Duke Energy bill has risen
considerably
I have a bill here started off and I have
the other ones and um May
$252.22
Now I don't know what happened in between in between
May and now but I have a $765 light bill
On a fixed income
That would be devastating for me
It is devastating for me and that's why I'm here
today because people on fixed income cannot pay these expensive
electric bills
In Franklin County a 25% of families pay more than
$250 a month for their electric bills and my lowest
one was $250 something dollars
But The last thing we can afford is for the
general assembly to pass this bill that is going to
skyrocket the costs in the future
And Senate Bill 266 would do just that
It will let many big businesses pay less for fuel
Instead families would have to cover the cost of the
money that the businesses saved
The bill will also allow Duke Energy to make us
pay in advance
For the building of these new energy bills and some
of them have not even been built
Why is it our job to fit this bill As
Governor Stein has said the bill will cost North Carolina's
taxpayers $223 billion over the next 25 years
That is billions of dollars
This is an expensive mistake
That we cannot
We cannot just afford together and we will also it's
also costly for it to pass
The people like me and you that's who will have
to support this bill
Is that right No
The last thing I can the last thing that I
can afford is for the general assembly to pass this
bill that's going to sky skyrocket the cost in the
future
So I am here today to urge the General Assembly
to vote on Senate Bill 266 vote no on raising
utility bills
Instead let's focus on helping people succeed in North Carolina
I want to thank Governor Stein
For being attentive to those important issues
And I turn it back to you sir
Thank you
All my mess out here
Thank you
As you can see there are a lot of important
issues that need addressing by the General Assembly
They're here today have been off work for nearly a
month
They've not yet passed a budget and they're passing a
lot of other bills that are divisive
It's the wrong priorities for North Carolina
The people deserve better
You can ask questions of any of the speakers
Yes there's talk of some sort of smaller
Is that something that you've been in discussion um with
lawmakers about as far as what if they haven't reached
a larger deal yet if it's something like rebates or
of There have we have had those discussions
I'm aware that that's what the General Assembly is considering
We have a lot of issues in North Carolina
We have education we have public safety
We have health care
We have customer service like the DMV
These are issues some of which may be included in
a mini budget but not everything will be
We need to take care of all of the state's
government
I urge the General Assembly
Let's set aside our differences
Let's come together on a budget that is sound balanced
and in the interest of the people
Is there can you say anything about what's being considered
now even if they don't have
No
Yes Gary
You tell me your predecessors granted a well a while
back easily and Purdue took matters into their own hands
when uh budget couldn't be reached
I'm pretty sure it was Purdue definitely easily um citing
either Leandro or an emergency or anything like that
Do you foresee a time where If they don't pass
something to your liking by the end of the summer
that you make
Take some action to address some of the needs you
considered high priority
I I I surely hope that is not necessary
I I have confidence that we can work together to
do what is in the interest of the people of
the state and so I'm focusing on trying to be
part of the solution
On the veto overrides today um voters have made it
clear that they want stricter immigration laws um and you've
vetoed 22 of those bills
Is there any flexibility on your part anything that you
would support The um Legislature passes some good bills
I've signed a number of them and they passed some
bad bills and I've vetoed a number of them
There's one bill that matters to every North Carolinian and
that is the budget bill
Uh they could do nothing
But pass the budget and set the state up for
continued success
I urge the General Assembly to focus on what matters
helping us hire more good teachers helping us hire more
talented public spirited law enforcement officers making sure that Medicaid
covers our North Carolinian people who are desperate for health
care fixing the DMV
These are things that a budget can solve
I urge the General Assembly let's put aside the divisive
stuff
Let's focus on what matters to the people of North
Carolina
The House just put forward a proposal to put together
this North Carolina Commission of Preparedness and Recovery
Uh we're studying that bill
Um yeah we we'll have to study it
Uh I'm aware of an earlier incarnation
I think there I certainly appreciate the spirit with which
it has been introduced
We want to make sure that when we do recovery
after a storm or we're preparing for a storm that
we're ready to handle them
I'm not sure that the solution is the right one
but I certainly appreciate the spirit with which it is
being introduced
Um two questions but one what do you think it
says when lawmakers are here focused on overrides rather than
passing a budget um and then second question if you
can maybe write some comments on uh former Governor Cooper
The um The General Assembly by focusing on divisive bills
that do not move this state forward in some instances
make our state less safe like allowing teenagers to carry
concealed weapons without any training whatsoever that is the wrong
priority when you have not figured out how we're going
to pay our teachers when you've not figured out how
we're going to assure people on Medicaid continue to have
the health care that they need when you have not
figured out how we're going to pay law enforcement to
make that profession more attractive
When you haven't figured out how we're gonna fix the
DMV
These are things that we should be doing
The legislature has not
We are a month
We're 1/12th of the year uh already and they have
not passed a budget
We need to focus on what matters and not the
sideshows which are distractions uh and then as it relates
to Governor Cooper's big news yesterday um here's one excited
North Carolinian
I know who I will be supporting and voting for
in the United States Senate race
I've known him for 25 years think the world of
him and I'm excited about his candidacy because I know
he is driven uh he has a servant's heart
He is doing this because he loves North Carolina and
he loves this country
There are a number of Medicaid issues
One is the rebates of course expansion and then the
continuation of the healthy opportunities programs
Have you have you had any conversations with you know
HHS uh committee chairs in either chamber about what they
would do going forward
Yeah we've had repeated conversations that the legislature has been
open to understanding what is the consequence of the reconciliation
law that came out of Washington
They want to understand the consequences of failing to pass
a rebate um so yes we've had a number of
conversations
They've been constructive but we need a bill
We need a law and that's what we're urging the
General Assembly to do
Last question
Um considering the vetoes again there's 14 that they're looking
at
Had you not vetoed those bills couldn't the legislature be
more focused on the budget Uh I'm quite certain that
whether I signed these laws or vetoed them has nothing
to do with what they've done for the last month
They could have reached a budget
Look there there are good bills
There are bad bills
I vetoed the bad ones
I've signed the good ones but there's only one bill
that matters to the people of North Carolina and that
is the budget because it impacts every North Carolina
It impacts our school kids and teachers
It impacts people who need to get a license at
the DMV
It impacts people who are on Medicaid
3 million North Carolinians are covered by Medicaid
Uh it impacts law enforcement whether we have enough on
the beat
These are the issues that matter to North Carolina
These vetoes are a distraction that divides us
The legislature needs to focus on the people of North
Carolina and pass a budget
Thank you everybody
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