Political wins and losses for Gov. Roy Cooper in the new North Carolina budget

The News & Observer’s fact-checking partner, PolitiFact North Carolina, has been tracking three dozen promises Gov. Roy Cooper made on the campaign trail.

Now that the state has its first new budget under Cooper, some of his promises appear to be stalled. But others are moving ahead – even though the Democratic governor opposed the budget written by Republicans who control the General Assembly.

He vetoed the plan, in a mostly symbolic act since Republicans had more than enough votes to override his veto.

They passed a $23 billion budget that affects taxes, teacher pay, handling of criminal cases and more. Communities still struggling in the wake of Hurricane Matthew will get more disaster relief money. State employees will get raises, but future state employees will lose some benefits. Thousands of people, from the working class to the very rich, will pay less in income taxes. Fewer needy children will be turned away from public pre-kindergarten classes. There won’t be food stamp cuts after all. Business projects will get grants to kick-start rural projects, including $250,000 for NASCAR legend Richard Petty.

The plan cuts funding for the governor’s office by $1 million, while also limiting Cooper’s ability to hire private attorneys to help challenge legislation in court.

Here’s a look at where a few of Cooper’s promises stand on PolitiFact NC’s “Coop-O-Meter” – for now.

Stalled

Cooper had no luck moving forward two notable promises related to taxes and teachers.

“I will value teachers by a teacher pay policy that rewards experience and education that leads to improved student outcomes,” he said on the campaign trail, a clear nod to the system that North Carolina got rid of in 2014 that gave teachers extra raises for having a master’s degree, doctorate or other advanced degree.

That program was eliminated in the first budget under his predecessor, former Republican Gov. Pat McCrory. In the first budget process under Cooper, he was unable to get it reinstated. Two bills filed in the N.C. House and Senate that would have brought back the extra pay program also failed.

PolitiFact NC rated his promise Stalled.

Cooper has also promised to reinstate a tax break for filming major movies or TV shows in North Carolina.

The income tax credit brought big filming projects to North Carolina, including “One Tree Hill” and “The Hunger Games.”

However, Republican politicians said it was little more than a taxpayer-funded giveaway to Hollywood. They cut the $60 million tax credit program and replaced it with a grant program about a quarter of that size.

Cooper proposed a compromise, but his plan is nowhere to be found in the budget, which will continue the $15 million grant program this year.

PolitiFact NC rated his promise Stalled.

Another tax break that Cooper wanted, and which would have benefited far more people, was for families with large child care expenses.

As with the film credits, North Carolina’s legislature got rid of the child care tax credit several years ago when they revamped the state’s income tax system.

It costs thousands of dollars a year to put a kid through child care. Reimbursing some of those expenses on people’s tax returns would’ve cost the state around $52 million annually, Cooper estimated.

The state had a $580 million surplus this year, but state legislators decided to spend that money elsewhere. PolitiFact NC rates Cooper’s promise Stalled.

In The Works

The budget wasn’t all bad news for Cooper and his supporters. Two promises he made made about public schools are going forward. One is good for teachers; the other is good for students.

Cooper said during his campaign that he could work with the legislature to bring the state’s teacher pay in line with the national average.

The budget will give the average teacher a 3.3 percent raise next year, which is better than what teachers nationally have been getting in recent years. But it wasn’t as much as Cooper had suggested, which is one reason he cited for vetoing the budget.

However, the second year of the budget will give larger raises, more in line with what Cooper had called for.

This isn’t the kind of promise that can be accomplished in one year – that would require around a 20 percent raise – but the state is on track to catch up with the national average, at least for now.

PolitiFact NC rated this promise as In The Works.

Cooper also promised to help high school students get started in industries that have a high demand for skilled workers, but not a high supply.

Even in North Carolina counties with high unemployment rates, factory managers and other business owners still report not being able to fill all their open jobs because the people living there don’t have the training or education to work in them.

Cooper promised to fix that.

“I will increase the number of apprenticeship programs in high-need industry areas, like construction trades and advanced manufacturing,” he said.

The budget does that. It puts some new requirements on school districts, and it creates a new statewide program called ApprenticeshipNC to coordinate efforts to identify industries that need help and set up partnerships between them and local schools. ApprenticeshipNC will also help high school students who might not want or be able to go to college to start training for a career – while getting paid – as soon as they turn 16.

PolitiFact NC rated this promise as In The Works.

This story was originally published July 5, 2017 at 1:11 PM with the headline "Political wins and losses for Gov. Roy Cooper in the new North Carolina budget."