The General Assembly recently reconvened for a one-day session where the Senate was hopeful to consider an override of Governor Cooper's veto of the state budget, teacher pay, and regulatory reform.

One of the greatest disappointments during my service to our state thus far, is to tell you that we were one vote short of the three-fifths majority needed to override the Governor’s veto of our budget- so the matter never made it to the Senate floor, and as a result we’re adjourning from 11 months of work and we still don’t have a state budget for you.

What makes this particularly frustrating for me, and where I think we failed the citizens of NC is that this biennium’s budget negotiations turned into pure partisan politics - and it simply didn’t have to be this way. We presented the Governor a good budget, one that addressed so many needs in our state. And I was particularly proud - that in my first year of chairing an appropriations committee, I was able to insert many budget items that would have made a positive difference for the three counties that I represent. For example, $42 million would have gone to school capital funding, and $5 million would become recurring annually for the UNC Western School of Medicine at MAHEC.

For a complete list of WNC provisions, please see my press release HERE .

The problem is that Roy Cooper controlled the votes of Democrat Senators, including Senators that initially voted for the bipartisan budget- then kowtowed to him to make a political statement when he offered a Medicaid expansion-or-nothing ultimatum that doesn’t serve the best interests of our great state.

Medicaid expansion under the Affordable Care Act is a one size fits all – take it or leave it option. It inadequately expands coverage, and while it does help some of those who most need our help most, it provides a disincentive for others, and it would burden those who are already dependent on the system with its inefficiency and long waits for service. 

And to make matters worse, we then resurrected S354, the Strengthening Educators' Pay Act- to be considered for an override of another previous veto by the override, and that failed too. This standalone bill that would have given teachers their 6th and 7th consecutive pay raise, raises that were not contingent on passing the budget. This bill would have increased teacher pay yet another 3.9% even though NC already has the second-highest teacher pay rates in the southeast. Regrettably, every Senate Democrat blocked the passage of that bill too, somehow thinking a zero percent pay raise for teachers was better than 3.9%. Most thought 3.9% wasn’t enough- so they chose zero instead. I must point out that this proposed increase represents almost twice that of the 2% rise in the 2019 Consumer Price Index, a measure often considered in salary administration.

The refusal to support pay raises for North Carolina’s education communities does a great disservice to the teachers and families working hard to succeed in the state’s public school systems. Teachers should ask the obvious question: “How is nothing better than something?”

This to me, was one of the most disappointing and political moves I’ve seen since I've served in NC Senate, and I regret that for those who voted against teacher pay raises- loyalty to their Governor was more important than serving our state’s education needs.

Since the budget and teacher pay initially passed the Senate with a bipartisan supermajority, I hoped that the same bipartisan supermajority would vote their conscience- and override both bills again. Regretfully, that didn’t happen.

Many say we are not doing enough for teachers. I agree, but this measure would have had a significant impact.

While we continue this debate and listen to the already ensuing political rhetoric, the following are the facts. Since 2014, North Carolina teachers have received the third-highest pay raise in the country. Here are the average salary increases from 2014 to 2019.
2014-15 -- 7.0% (opposed by Senate Democrats)
2015-16 -- 3.8% (opposed by Senate Democrats)
2016-17 -- 4.7% (opposed by Senate Democrats)
2017-18 -- 3.3% (vetoed by Gov. Cooper, opposed by Senate Democrats)
2018-19 -- 6.5% (vetoed by Gov. Cooper, opposed by Senate Democrats)
( Source : nonpartisan Fiscal Research Division)

We are scheduled to convene our 2020 “short session” on April 28. It is my sincere hope that by then, we get past the politics, and get our teachers a fair pay increase.