Senate Passes Responsible State Budget | Eastern North Carolina Now

Press Release:

    Raleigh, N.C.     State Senator Bill Cook (R-District 1) voted today in support of the Senate version of the state budget, which cuts taxes, controls the growth of government spending, bolsters the state's savings, and dramatically increases teacher pay - while providing over $180 million to state employees in performance-based pay increases or bonuses. The balanced $22.225 billion state budget passed the Senate, and it will be sent back to the House.

    In Agriculture, the budget:

     •  Allocates over half a million dollars for international marketing of North Carolina agricultural products.

     •  Provides $3 million for a firefighting plane & heavy equipment for the NC Forest Service.

     •  Provides an additional $1 million to the Agricultural Development and Farmland Preservation Trust Fund for military buffers.

     •  Includes an additional $500,000 for AgWRAP (Agricultural Water Resources Assistance Program).

    "Our state's agricultural sector grew by 10 percent from 2013 - while the overall national average of growth was only at 2.2 percent. In essence, our state is blessed with well over 52,200 farmers, who are the backbone of our state's number one sector - contributing $84 billion to the state's economy and representing approximately 17 percent of the state's income," Cook said.

    Highlights on coastal issues include:

     •  Appropriates an additional $2 million to support a network of oyster sanctuaries, cultch planting, and staffing for the Division of Marine Fisheries to promote shellfish production and oyster shell recycling. In 2015, the N.C. General Assembly reformed the shellfish cultivation leasing process by cutting the fees, reducing the regulatory barriers, and providing funding to stimulate the expansion of the oyster aquaculture industries.

     •  Establishes a stakeholder working group to study and advance efforts to ecologically restore the resource and achieve economic stability of the shellfish aquaculture industry. The stakeholder panel shall include representatives of the commercial and recreational oyster harvesting industries, the North Carolina Division of Marine Fisheries, the Marine Fisheries Commission, nature conservation entities, and experts in the fields of marine biology and marine ecology. The results of the study, including any recommendations and suggested legislation shall report their recommendations to the Environmental Review Commission and the Joint Legislative Oversight Committee on Agriculture and Natural and Economic Resources no later than December 31, 2018.

     •  Established a crab pot removal pilot program and appropriates $100,000 to be administered by North Carolina Sea Grant at North Carolina State University for the removal of derelict crab pots in state waters.

     •  Provides an additional $5 million to the $18.3 million recurring budget of the Clean Water Management Trust Fund.

     •  Clarifies and defines the authority granted to the N.C. Marine Fisheries Commission (MFC) in the development of a temporary supplement to an existing Fishery Management Plan (FMP).

     •  Expands and clarifies the allowable uses of the aquatic weed control funding from state lakes to all waters of the state. Broadening this language allows the Albemarle region to address the invasion of noxious aquatic weeds that often have a detrimental effect on our water resources.

     •  Authorizes the Department of Natural and Cultural Resources to use the Historic Roanoke Island Fund to provide the 1/3 match to dredge the access canal around Roanoke Island Festival Park (RIFP). In 1983 the Department of Natural and Cultural Resources committed to dredging an access canal around RIFP. Section 1 of the Mutual Development and Use Agreement between the state and the Town of Manteo divulges "that a canal, as shown on site plan, be constructed and maintained providing adequate access to the inner harbor." This provision will allow for the state to finally fulfill the commitment of providing a navigable access canal around RIFP. The other 2/3 will come out of the state's Shallow Draft Dredging Fund.

     •  Continues to appropriate approximately $20 million to the state's Shallow Draft Dredging Fund.

     •  Instructs the Department of Commerce to study and provide an executive summary of readily available economic data related to the coastal economy of the state for the purpose of quantifying the contribution of the coastal economy to the economy of the state as a whole. Moreover, the study shall look at the benefits of travel and tourism, job creation and opportunity, and tax revenues - including: property, sales, and income taxes.

    "I take great pride in our state's coastal fishing heritage. The provisions in this budget will enhance and allow our state's shellfish industry to become a much greater source of income and economic prosperity. Our waters will be cleaner and our North Carolina economy will grow," Cook said. "The shifting of inlets have resulted in enormous losses of public beach access, property, business, and infrastructure, costing counties and cities all along North Carolina's coast tens of millions of dollars in reconstruction cost and lost tax revenue. Having open, dependable and navigable waterways are needed to protect and allow economic growth in the region and the entire State of North Carolina."

    In Salaries and Benefits, the budget:

     •  Lays the foundation to dramatically increase average teacher pay from $47,783 to $54,224 over the next two years, which will provide North Carolina public school teachers an average $4,700 permanent pay raise over the same period and propel the state to the top of regional rankings. This is in addition to the generous teacher pay raises legislators passed in 2014 and 2015.

     •  Offers experienced-based step increases to teachers, assistant principals, principals, State Highway Patrol troopers, clerks and magistrates and appropriates $16 million to boost pay for correctional officers.

     •  Provides a one-time $2,000 bonus for school principals and a one-time $500 bonus for assistant principals.

     •  Earmarks $95 million for permanent merit-based pay raises for state employees and another $85 million for one-time performance-based bonuses.

     •  Includes $10 million for a pilot program to provide performance-based bonuses of up to $6,800 for 3rd grade reading teachers. $5 million would be available for the top 25 percent of teachers in each school district based on EVAAS growth scores, and an additional $5 million would be available to the top 25 percent of teachers on a statewide basis.

    In Education, the budget:

     •  Establishes a pilot program focused on increasing funding to Future Farmers of America (FFA) chapters to prepare members for a broad range of agricultural career pathways. Appropriates $60,000 to be allocated in equal amounts, to the following schools in Beaufort County: Northside High School, Pungo Christian Academy, Southside High School and Washington High School.

    "The Future Farmers of America is a phenomenal organization that prepares the future leaders of the agricultural industry through leadership development, personal growth, and agriculture education. North Carolina Agriculture is our largest industry and investing in the FFA will ensure its future growth," Cook said.

     •  Increases funding for public education by more than $394 million.

     •  Funds K-12 enrollment growth, community college enrollment, and public university enrollment.

     •  Continues the Senate's commitment to lower class sizes in the early grades - a step research has repeatedly shown is key to academic success - by hiring close to 1,000 additional first and second grade teachers.

     •  Protects the Read to Achieve, School Connectivity, Teach for America, and Communities in Schools programs from being cut by the Department of Public Instruction to fund bureaucracy.

     •  Establishes an opportunity scholarship grant fund reserve of $34.8 million to award more need-based scholarships to children from working families and provides forward funding to add 20,000 children to the program over the next ten years.

     •  Establishes a teacher assistant tuition reimbursement pilot program in Anson, Franklin, Moore, Richmond, and Scotland Counties, which will provide tuition reimbursement of up to $4,500 annually for 25 local TAs to pursue a college degree leading to teacher licensure.

     •  Fully funds teacher assistant positions at the 2014-2015 level.

     •  Invests $50 million in the lottery reserve to fund future local school building needs.

     •  Provides a community college tuition and registration fee waiver to firefighters, EMS, and rescue and lifesaving personnel at military installations for courses that support their organization's needs. Earmarks $183,000 to expand an internship program for students at the state's historically black colleges and universities.

     •  Requires all public universities with educator preparation programs to open and operate a teacher and principal preparation lab school for K-8th grade students in a school district where 25 percent or more schools are identified as "low performing."

    "Improving educational outcomes for our children is a responsibility I take very seriously. My goal for education is every educator's goal - I want our students in North Carolina to have the best education possible. Boosting teacher pay, increasing the number of classroom teachers and reducing class size will serve our students well," Cook said.

    Elsewhere, the budget:

     •  Directs federal funds to a broadband initiative and water and sewer projects in public schools.

     •  Establishes a cyber-security program for disabled veterans to develop their skills while protecting the state against cyber-attacks.

     •  Adds $10 million to the Disaster Relief Fund.

     •  Pays off an outstanding $37 million loan from the federal government that Gov. Jim Hunt borrowed in 1999 and deferred payment on for over 15 years, saving the state $45 million in interest over the next 30 years.

     •  Invests $12 million to implement state of the art software to ease tax filing for North Carolinians.


     300 N. Salisbury Street
     Room 525 • Raleigh, NC 27603

    Phone: (919) 715-8293  •  Fax: (919) 754-3296  •  bill.cook@ncleg.net