‘From Cherokee to Chowan’: Cooper calls for common ground in State of the State speech
North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper called for more bipartisan unity during his State of the State address Monday, the same day he announced that a new Apple campus would bring thousands of jobs and millions of dollars of investment to the state.
It also comes as the Democratic governor has called for body-camera footage to be released in the death of Andrew Brown Jr. in Elizabeth City, a Black man who was shot and killed by deputies with the Pasquotank County’s Sheriff’s Office.
With North Carolina still trying to emerge to the other side of the coronavirus pandemic, Cooper called for support of the same issues he has before — higher teacher pay and Medicaid expansion — as well as relief for businesses hardest hit by the coronavirus pandemic.
“Our state’s response to the pandemic has been strong. And every phase of it has required North Carolinians from Cherokee to Chowan to step up and do their part, including the people in this room tonight,” he said.
It was the first State of the State of Cooper’s second term, since he was re-elected in November. The speech, delivered from the House chamber, touched on a range of topics, including his budget goals and how North Carolina has suffered painful losses during the pandemic. Cooper praised the resilience of North Carolinians, naming several residents who persevered during the crisis.
All 170 lawmakers from both the House and Senate were invited to the speech, as were the Council of State and N.C. Supreme Court, who sat in the gallery along with Cooper’s cabinet members. Senators sat in chairs in the center aisle of the House chamber.
Cooper said the pandemic has illustrated the “inequities that were already here,” from education to low wages to a lack of health insurance and high-speed internet access.
The governor didn’t name specifically highlight George Floyd or Black Lives Matter protests of 2020, nor Brown in Elizabeth City. But he addressed systemic racism and said North Carolina can’t succeed in the future “without reckoning with our past and, unfortunately, our present.”
“We must face head on the stark reality of systemic racism, and how it hurts people and leaves them behind — who gets to see a doctor, who gets hired for a job, who gets charged with a crime, who gets prison time, who gets killed. Over the past year, and just in the past week, we’ve seen the harm suffered by too many people of color in our state and across the country,” Cooper said.
He received a bipartisan standing ovation as he added, “And I want to say clearly: We must all stand together to stop racial injustice in North Carolina.”
Bipartisan support
He also called for agreement on the state budget, which spurred a months-long standoff in 2019 that resulted in no teacher raises passed, nor Medicaid expansion.
Cooper told legislators Monday he doesn’t want to veto the budget this year, and that he would do his part “to see that we have a budget and I expect you to do yours.
“And I want to see a budget that has three signatures — Speaker (Tim) Moore’s, Senator (Phil) Berger’s and mine. Our people deserve it.”
“To the legislators in the room: We’ve agreed before, let’s find ways to do it again, and keep moving our state forward. Let’s agree to listen more to each other and act in good faith to get things done. We’re already making progress on that,” Cooper said.
The Republican rebuttal, delivered by Moore, also called for common ground and working together.
“Despite being from different political parties, both Governor Cooper and legislative Republicans have many of the same end goals in mind,” Moore said in a recorded speech. “All want North Carolina to be a place where people can have good jobs, safe homes, and provide their children the very best educational opportunities.
“We may have very different views about how to achieve those goals, but I and my fellow Republicans intend to try and find as much common ground as possible. In North Carolina, we aren’t afraid of our differences. Rather, we view our differences as a part of the rich fabric of our great state, as we work together to move North Carolina forward,” he said.
For Moore and the Republican leadership, moving the state forward after the pandemic means a strong economic recovery, too.
“Because of the strength of our people and sound, fiscally conservative governance over the last 12 years, North Carolina is a national leader in economic growth — but we must stay the course,” Moore said. He touted “smart” budgeting, regulatory reforms and tax cuts.
Future debate
Republicans have controlled both chambers and have majorities, but not veto-proof majorities.
What the parties still disagree about, and what could be sticking points in this year’s budget process, is spending, including this year’s surplus.
Moore called the surplus a “good fortune,” but said Cooper’s push for increases in spending “is a recipe for unsustainable budgeting that will eventually lead to painful cuts or tax hikes in the near future.”
It was Cooper’s second appearance Monday with state leaders. Cooper, Moore, Berger, Senate Minority Leader Dan Blue and House Minority Leader Robert Reives held a joint press conference Monday morning on the lawn of the Executive Mansion to announce Apple’s move, which will bring 3,000 new jobs to the state, The N&O reported.
The new Apple site will be located on the Wake County side of Research Triangle Park. State leaders have been working to bring Apple for the past three years.
They touted Apple as an example of what can happen when they work together, given the state has divided government. Cooper, Berger and Moore also came to an agreement earlier this year on reopening schools, which they announced at a joint news conference in March. And Moore joined Cooper for a bill signing ceremony for Wounded Heroes Day last week.
This week, Cooper is expected to issue a new executive order on coronavirus-related restrictions. He told reporters last week that he expects to lift nearly all COVID-19 restrictions by June 1, except for a mask mandate.
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This story was originally published April 26, 2021 at 2:33 PM.