Will NC lawmakers play politics or pay teachers in 2020?

GOP budget standoff continues with lawmakers returning to Raleigh, as yet another red state expands Medicaid

RALEIGH — North Carolina lawmakers are returning to Raleigh this week for a so-called “mini-session” amidst the budget standoff which legislative Republicans have been waging since last summer. 

Although the legislature’s paltry pay plan for state educators is expected to be a topic of discussion this week, GOP leaders will likely be more interested in playing politics than paying teachers. 

“Educators supported Gov. Cooper’s veto of the GOP’s bad-faith pay plan last year because it was a slap in the face to teachers,” said Gerrick Brenner, executive director of Progress NC Action. “In 2020, supporters of public schools and educators across North Carolina are demanding that lawmakers make meaningful investments in public schools instead of playing politics with teachers’ livelihoods. If the current lawmakers won’t do that, voters will find new ones who will.”

Meanwhile, as GOP leaders in North Carolina continue to stonewall on the budget, Kansas is becoming the 38th state — and the 15th controlled by Republicans — to expand Medicaid. As former Republican Governors Association director Phil Cox told the Washington Post last year, “The [GOP’s] battle has been fought and lost on Medicaid expansion.”

“GOP leaders in North Carolina are running out of excuses in their never-ending quest to block health care access for low-income families,” added Brenner. “Instead of playing politics and trying to give away another billion dollars in corporate tax cuts, Republican leaders need to do what’s right for our state and expand Medicaid.”