- Provides an average 6.5 percent pay raise for teachers, which will bring the average increase to teachers' base pay to nearly 20 percent since the 2013-14 school year.
- Allocates nearly $12 million to provide a permanent salary increase to veteran teachers with more than 25 years of experience.
- Directs an additional $22 million toward performance-based bonuses to top-performing 4th and 5th grade reading teachers and 4th-8th grade math teachers whose students achieve the most academic growth.
- Funds a 6.9 percent increase to the principal salary schedule, which will bring the total increase to principals' base pay to 13.1 percent since the 2016-17 school year.
- Provides performance bonuses for principals whose students achieve the most academic growth. Under the agreement, principals could earn bonuses of up to $20,000 on top of their base salaries.
- Includes more than $28 million to provide a 2 percent pay raise to other school employees.
- Offers a 2 percent permanent salary increase for most State employees and a one-time cost-of-living supplement for retirees.
- Raises the minimum salary for all permanent, full-time State employees to at least $31,200.
- Funds a new pay plan for State Highway Patrol troopers that will raise starting pay to $44,000 and provide troopers a roughly eight percent average pay raise. The new plan will also accelerate the timeframe for a trooper to get to top pay to six years.
- Includes roughly $22 million to provide correctional officers working in State prisons a four percent salary increase. The budget also expand the covered population for the line of duty death benefit, and double the benefit's value from $50,000 to $100,000, ensuring all families of the victims from recent prison attacks receive that benefit.
- Allocates $20 million for pay raises for public university employees and $24 million for community college employees.
In Health and Human Services, but not limited to:
- Provides over $18 million to add 3,525 new pre-K slots - and includes a plan to eliminate 100 percent of the State's waitlist for at-risk children by 2021.
- Directs $60 million from the Medicaid Transformation Reserve to be used for start-up costs related to Medicaid Reform's program design.
- Establishes LME-MCO solvency standards to strengthen the State's mental health system.
- Appropriates $5 million for the new Broughton Hospital to add 85 beds and create up to 169 staff positions.
- Increases the Child Care Subsidy amount for children from ages birth through five so they have access to most child care centers in the most economically distressed counties. Child care subsidy rates are also increased for children ages 3 to 5 in Tier 3 counties.
- Reduces the Child Care Subsidy Waitlist by providing nearly $20 million in federal block grant funds to serve an estimated 3,700 additional children.
- Provides an additional $8.5 million from the Low-Income Energy Assistance block grant to help pay heating bills for the elderly and disabled populations.
Elsewhere, but not limited to:
- Allocates $135 million for the Strategic Transportation Investments Program (STIP).
- Invests $50 million to fund immediate need construction projects across the State that improve mobility and safety, reduce congestion and spur economic development.
- Includes $104 million for a Roadside Environmental Fund dedicated to ensuring the safety and beautification of the State's highways.
- Adds $155 million for capital projects and $65 million to make needed repairs and renovations to State and university facilities.
- Funds the changes necessary to "raise the age" in North Carolina, ensuring 16- and 17-year olds suspected of misdemeanor offenses and less serious felonies will be tried as juveniles instead of adults by December 2019.
- Allocates $15 million for safety and security upgrades in State prisons.
- Establishes the "Criminal Justice Fellows" program to provide forgivable loans to aid in the recruitment of future law enforcement officers seeking an associate's degree in Criminal Justice.
- Aims to make government operations more efficient by investing in a fully-consolidated statewide Enterprise Resource Planning system.
"In delivering for the citizens of North Carolina, this stable budget adjustment builds a platform for a stronger North Carolina in the years ahead," Cook said.
"This budget adjustment makes historical investments in public education by adding nearly $700 million additional dollars, provides an average 6.5 percent pay raise for teachers and a 6.9 percent increase to the principal salary schedule - continues tax relief, resulting in 99 percent of taxpayers either paying less or paying no State personal income taxes at all - adds $221.5 million to the Savings Reserve which brings the total held in the 'rainy day fund' to $2 Billion, the largest balance in the Savings Reserve since its inception, ensuring North Carolina is well-prepared for the next natural disaster or economic downturn," Cook said.
"North Carolina families have met the challenges of today's economy, and likewise, your State government is responding by keeping a State government that puts the needs of its own people first," Cook said.
- Contact: Jordan Hennessy
- jordan.hennessy@ncleg.net
