27 Democrats join in bipartisan vote on NC House Republicans’ budget
Good morning and welcome to Under the Dome.
The first clue came around noon when Gov. Josh Stein had nice things to say about the budget.
It became clearer in the early evening. As a vote neared, the minority leader, Robert Reives, left the chamber with Republicans and returned to the floor smiling.
And then just before 8 p.m., Democrats sealed it, voting in surprisingly large numbers for the Republican-authored budget.
Bipartisanship has broken out in the North Carolina House.
The House voted to pass its budget proposal Wednesday, the first of two votes before it leaves the chamber. As Dawn Vaughan reports, that sets up a fight over the final version of the budget, but less along predictable partisan lines than within the Republican Party.
WHICH DEMOCRATS VOTED FOR NC BUDGET?
Most House Democrats voted for the plan. Here’s the full list of “yes” votes by Democrats:
Eric Ager, Buncombe
Cynthia Ball, Wake
Cecil Brockman, Guilford
Kanika Brown, Forsyth
Terry Brown, Mecklenburg
Becky Carney, Mecklenburg
Tracy Clark, Guilford
Bryan Cohn, Granville
Mike Colvin, Cumberland
Sarah Crawford, Wake
Carla Cunningham, Mecklenburg
Allison Dahle, Wake
Beth Helfrich, Mecklenburg
Frances Jackson, Cumberland
Ray Jeffers, Person
Abe Jones, Wake
Ya Liu, Wake
Brandon Lofton, Mecklenburg
Nasif Majeed, Mecklenburg
Garland Pierce, Scotland
Dante Pittman, Wilson
Lindsey Prather, Buncombe
Robert Reives, Chatham
James Roberson, Wake
Charles Smith, Cumberland
Brian Turner, Buncombe
Shelly Willingham, Edgecombe
We exclusively interviewed several of the Democrats in the moments after the vote. You’ll be able to read what they said about why they voted how they did in a story publishing today.
HOUSE BUDGET PROPOSES CUTTING 20% OF VACANT STATE JOBS
The version of the budget that passed the House Wednesday evening proposes cutting 3,000 state jobs, in part to increase raises for state employees, Dawn Vaughan reports.
Much of these cuts would come from the state’s vacant jobs, of which there are 10,000. The House budget proposes slashing 20% of them. Salaries from these roles would be put into the Labor Market Adjustment Reserve, where they could then be used to administer raises.
These raises would add to the proposed 2.5% increase for all state employees’ salaries already in the chamber’s budget plan.
— Caitlyn Yaede
HOW WILL NC REPUBLICANS BALANCE HELENE RELIEF, A NONPROFIT AND A CHILDREN’S HOSPITAL?
Republicans in the House and the Senate differ in how much to invest in the state’s Helene reserve fund, as well as over the fate of $500 million originally allocated to a North Carolina nonprofit, Luciana Perez Uribe Guinassi reports.
On Monday, Gov. Josh Stein called on lawmakers for an additional $891 million toward Helene relief. The House’s latest Helene bill, unveiled on Wednesday, allocates more than $450 million from the reserve fund.
The chamber’s budget proposes sending $500 million to the fund, reclaimed from NCInnovation. The nonprofit was granted the funds in the state’s 2023 budget, but would lose them next year.
While the Senate’s budget also proposed shifting $500 million from NCInnovation, $400 million of those dollars would fund a new pediatric hospital network by Duke Health and UNC Health — a program the House budget plan strips $100 million in funding from.
— Caitlyn Yaede
IMMIGRANT RIGHTS GROUPS URGE STEIN TO VETO ICE COOPERATION BILLS
Activists from immigrant rights groups rallied on Wednesday against GOP legislation that seeks to increase state and local law enforcement cooperation with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
In the Senate, GOP leader Phil Berger introduced legislation in February that would expand cooperation with ICE to four state law enforcement agencies, requiring them to join the federal 287(g) program. In the House, Speaker Destin Hall has spearheaded a bill to put in place a new notification requirement for sheriffs, expanding on House Bill 10 that was enacted last year.
At a press conference Wednesday morning, activists condemned the Trump administration’s approach to immigration enforcement and said North Carolina shouldn’t cooperate with ICE.
“Immigrants in North Carolina should not have to live in fear of being detained, deported, or separated from their families,” said Sammy Salkin, a policy analyst at the ACLU of North Carolina.
America Juarez Maldonado, a coordinator with the Charlotte-based Carolina Migrant Network, said the bills Republicans are advancing will make immigrants living in the state without legal status fearful of driving their children to school or reporting crimes to the police.
The press conference was part of an Immigrants Rights Advocacy Day at the General Assembly.
Activists and volunteers later delivered one-pagers to lawmakers’ offices, urging them to vote against the bills, and then marched to the governor’s mansion, where they delivered a letter calling on Democratic Gov. Josh Stein to veto the bills if they are sent to his desk.
“We all want to live in safe communities, but increasing surveillance on immigrants in our state is not the answer,” the letter, signed by more than 70 organizations, stated. “Lawmakers are focusing on unnecessary bills that further marginalize vulnerable communities instead of working towards real solutions to address community safety and budgetary concerns.”
— Avi Bajpai
SENATE COMMITTEE APPROVES HOUSE ANTI-DISCRIMINATION BILL FOR DISASTER RELIEF
A Senate committee voted to approve a bill from the House prohibiting discrimination based on political affiliation when it comes to receiving disaster relief.
House Bill 251’s sponsor, Rep. Kelly Hastings, addressed the Senate Regulatory Reform Committee on Wednesday morning to explain why he pushed for the bill in his chamber. He recalled seeing news of a Federal Emergency Management Agency employee who discouraged others from helping those with pro-Donald Trump yard signs after Hurricanes Milton and Helene struck Florida.
“That’s when it hit us that there are a number of ways people can discriminate,” Hastings said. The bill passed the House, 106-10, early last month.
The Senate committee rolled the measure into a package with four other Helene-related bills that already passed the Senate unanimously.
SB 164 adds protections for those in temporary housing during states of emergency.
SB 445 expands hospitals’ abilities to waive rules and exceed capacity limitations during disasters.
SB 602 exempts some commercial buildings from some window building code requirements following Helene.
SB 266 waives certain floodplain regulations after historic flooding.
— Caitlyn Yaede
WHAT ELSE WE’RE WORKING ON
Republicans in the General Assembly want to make some county school board elections partisan, adding two new counties to the roster this week. The Senate revised House Bill 116, which would enact the change in Columbus County, as well as Johnston and Gaston counties. T. Keung Hui has the story.
State Auditor Dave Boliek is launching an investigation into an alleged settlement between the city of Charlotte and the chief of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department, Mary Ramsey reports. While the city hasn’t confirmed the settlement, a letter sent by Boliek on Tuesday alleges that “as much as $100,000 to $300,000 in public dollars” was given to Chief Johnny Jennings.
Lastly, Wednesday’s issue of Under the Dome should have said that Durham’s budget plan calls for keeping GoDurham buses free through 2026.
Today’s newsletter was by Caitlyn Yaede, Dawn Baumgartner Vaughan, Avi Bajpai and Jordan Schrader. Check your inbox tomorrow for more #ncpol.
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This story was originally published May 22, 2025 at 5:00 AM.
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