GOP rejects Stein’s call for Medicaid session, calling it attempt to ‘usurp’ power
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Stein called an extra legislative session for Medicaid funding on Nov. 17.
- Republican leaders refuse, citing constitutional authority and calendar control.
- Both sides agree Medicaid needs funding, but talks stalled over blame.
North Carolina’s Democratic Gov. Josh Stein is calling the General Assembly back in session Monday to pass Medicaid funding legislation.
But Republican lawmakers, who control both chambers, aren’t going to do it, citing “an unconstitutional attempt to usurp the General Assembly’s authority to set its calendar.”
In a joint letter from Senate leader Phil Berger and House Speaker Destin Hall sent to Stein on Thursday, they also said that Stein didn’t follow the constitutional requirements for calling an extra session because: “The General Assembly is already in session. Your Proclamation is therefore ineffective and functions as an unconstitutional attempt to usurp the General Assembly’s authority to set its calendar.”
The legislature was already scheduled to have a nonvoting session on Monday, per the adjournment resolution the House and Senate passed in a previous voting session. The Nov. 17 session was a placeholder in case there was a budget deal or other legislative action Republican leaders wanted to take.
Stein’s power as governor allows him to call the legislature back for an extra session, which he announced on Nov. 6 for the same Nov. 17 date lawmakers have on the calendar for a procedural session.
Article 3 of the North Carolina Constitution grants the governor the power to “on extraordinary occasions, by and with the advice of the Council of State, convene the General Assembly in extra session by his proclamation, stating therein the purpose or purposes for which they are thus convened.”
The House calendar for Nov. 17, published Thursday, only includes reconsideration of vetoed bills, which are always placed on the calendar until override votes are taken.
The constitution does not give any further instruction under the “extra sessions” powers.
Both the House and Senate agree that more Medicaid funding is needed, but they have not reached a deal on passing a bill. On Oct. 1, the Stein administration began cuts to the reimbursements paid to Medicaid providers in order to keep funding from running out in April. Lawmakers returned for a few days of session in October and did not agree on a Medicaid bill.
They still haven’t. Hall and Berger’s letter to Stein raised questions about whether there is an “extraordinary” need for a session about Medicaid funding, writing that “if circumstances surrounding the Medicaid rebase are in fact extraordinary, it is only in the context of your administration’s failure to address them.”
Stein’s response
Stein responded to the letter in a statement, saying that Hall and Berger “would rather come up with excuses than fund Medicaid for the people of North Carolina. This is the latest example of their dysfunction that has become the norm of this North Carolina’s General Assembly.”
He also criticized legislative Republicans for not passing a budget. In the October session, they redrew the state’s map of congressional districts to favor Republicans.
“The Republican majority has made the time to damage our democracy with their gerrymander. But when it comes time to protect people’s health care? When it comes time to enact a comprehensive budget? They’re on vacation, and they’ll see us next year. All while North Carolina families pay the price. That’s unacceptable,” Stein said.
Stein said the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services “can’t put health care costs on a credit card. The longer the General Assembly refuses to fund our Medicaid program, the more they erode our health care system.”
This story was originally published November 13, 2025 at 4:47 PM.
