Stein presses legislature for $1.4M ‘critical needs budget’

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Stein presses legislature for $1.4M ‘critical needs budget’

Published: Tuesday, March 10th, 2026 @ 12:55 pm
By: Carolina Journal ( More Entries )

    Publisher's Note: This post appears here courtesy of the Carolina Journal. The author of this post is Theresa Opeka.

    Gov. Josh Stein is calling on the General Assembly to pass what he calls a "$1.4 million critical needs budget," as members of the Council of State from both major parties said in their last meeting they are reaching a breaking point.

    Stein told Carolina Journal exclusively last week that he would reveal his budget plans this week.

    At a press conference on Monday, he reminded reporters that North Carolina is the only state in the country that didn't pass a budget in 2025 and is operating a budget from more than 2.5 years ago, saying that things have changed quite substantially since that time.

    "The state has added more than 300,000 people, the cost of living has increased by more than 6% and the federal government is abandoning long-held commitments," the governor said. "Yet we have not had a full budget, so the state keeps operating at a baseline, limping along. So much so that some things are already breaking the state. The state faces certain critical needs that require immediate attention."

    Stein, a Democrat, said the stripped-down critical needs budget woud fill the gap until a full budget is passed in the short session.

    This isn't the first time that he has criticized the legislature for not passing a full budget or funding the Medicaid rebase, which he did again in his new budget request.

    The governor pointed out that both the House and the Senate agreed it was underfunded, but couldn't come to a mutual agreement.

    About $319 million is needed to fully fund the Medicaid rebase, even though both the House and the Senate agreed last fall that only $190 million would be needed in their separate bills, based on analysis by the General Assembly's Fiscal Research Division, and that Medicaid would be fully funded through April.

    That being the case, Stein said it was now time to fully fund Medicaid; otherwise, the health care for millions of North Carolinians would be jeopardized, and the health care system weakened. He said the numbers remain on track to be the same at $319 million.

    The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services had cut Medicaid provider rates last fall without the additional funding, but after being faced with several lawsuits by patients and providers, NCDHHS restored the rates to their full levels before the Oct. 1 cuts to provider reimbursement rates went into effect.

    He also called for a 10% raise for corrections officers, state troopers, and other state law enforcement, citing the shortage of police officers and correctional officers and that both rank 49th in the nation for starting pay.

    "That is a damned embarrassment," stated Stein. "It should surprise no one that the State Highway Patrol now has more than 270 vacant positions... Again, it should surprise no one that the Department of Adult Correction has only half of the correctional officers needed to safely operate its prisons. We're asking people to put themselves in very demanding, albeit rewarding, jobs, asking their families to sacrifice on our behalf so that they can earn less money than they could if they worked at a Costco."

    He also noted that there are approximately 1,000 more inmates in the Department of Corrections than three years ago, and that health care costs have increased by 10% over the past three years. As a result, the department needs $80 million to get back into the black and has been forced to ask vendors "to float them on their bills."

    Other requests from the governor include:

A 10% raise for state nurses and health care workers who treat people with severe mental illness.

Starting teachers get a 13% pay increase.

Give all teachers a 6% raise on average.

Restore masters teacher pay and provide more pay increases to veteran teachers.

    "We are a bottom 10 state when it comes to public school teacher pay," Stein said. "After you've taught for 15 years, you don't get another salary increase for a decade, and starting teacher pay is lower in North Carolina than in every one of our neighboring states, yet teachers drive student success."

    He added that all other state workers, like the Department of Transportation who cleared the roadways this past winter, have also not seen a raise in over two years, while costs, including health insurance premiums for state workers, have risen, and asked that they also be given a raise, along with a Cost-of-Living Adjustment (COLA) for state retirees.

    All raises, he said, would be retroactive.

    Stein also mentioned other urgent needs including the State Bureau of investigations (SBI), whose operational budget is in the red because its caseload has dramatically increased in recent years, and 262 childcare programs have closed since the state last passed a budget in part to what he said is due to inadequate childcare subsidies. Also, more than 1,400 children of veterans who were injured or killed either had their scholarships reduced or were denied applying due to a lack of funding.

    Demi Dowdy, a spokeswoman for House Speaker Destin Hall, R-Caldwell, responded in a press release that Stein's budget proposal raises serious concerns.

    "His healthcare plan refuses to include basic cost controls and guardrails to protect taxpayer dollars," she said. "Instead, he proposes directing funds toward high-cost initiatives, like GLP-1 drugs, and programs with a history of fraud and abuse. The House has committed to making necessary investments in healthcare, but it must be done in a way that ensures transparency and responsible stewardship of taxpayer funds."

    She also stated the governor's proposed raises for teachers and law enforcement are less than those already passed by the House, including:

An average 8.7% pay raise for teachers, compared to Gov. Stein's proposed 6%.

An average 13% raise for law enforcement officers, plus additional bonuses, exceeding the governor's proposed 10%.

A 2.5% raise for state employees, matching the level proposed by the governor.

    "These critical investments cannot wait, and we urge the Senate to join us in passing these raises for all our state employees," Dowdy said.

    Stein would later add that he would like to see more in raises, but blamed tax cuts that may hinder that and more in the coming years.

    "We are not a poor state, but we are making ourselves a poor state by feckless preprogrammed tax cuts, and that will be a topic for additional conversation, but we're looking at $900 million less in the coming year if the tax cuts go forward for next year, and then $3.5 billion the year after," he said.

    On the subject of funding the Medicaid rebase, Dowdy said that Hall has "publicly committed to ensuring that additional Medicaid funding is provided if necessary to maintain access to care for North Carolinians."

    Other Council of State members, like Secretary of State Elaine Marshall and Commissioner of Agriculture Steve Troxler, also voiced their concerns about not having a new budget at last week's Council of State meeting.

    Stein also told a reporter that he is confident in the election process regarding the tight race between Senate Leader Phil Berger, R-Rockingham, and Rockingham Sheriff Sam Page, as Page leads by 23 votes, with overseas and military ballots still being counted. He also expressed confidence in Berger during the process.

    "The fact of the matter remains is Senator Berger is the senator for his district, and he cares deeply about his constituents," Stein said. "And whatever happens in that election is truly irrelevant to the work of the day, which is a legislature that needs to deliver for people, and I know he wants to do right by his people. He wants to do right by the people of the state of North Carolina."

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Stein presses legislature for $1.4M ‘critical needs budget’ | Eastern NC Now

Stein presses legislature for $1.4M ‘critical needs budget’

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