Stein will sign ‘Band-Aid’ mini-budget, calls on legislature to pass full budget

Gov. Josh Stein told Council of State members at their meeting on Tuesday that he will be signing the General Assembly’s “mini budget,” but not before he admonished legislators for not passing a full budget.

He called HB 125, Continuing Budget Operations, a “Band-Aid budget” that allows the state to keep the lights on but fails all of North Carolina.

“We’ve got teachers and students counting on real raises,” Stein, a Democrat, said. “We’ve got law enforcement in need of real raises, so that we can address the vacancies that exist throughout state government, and in local government. We need to reward people going through basic law enforcement training, so we get more cops on the beat. It fails our Medicaid beneficiaries. It helps fund part of the rebase, but it does not fully fund it, and there are going to be real consequences to human life because of that failure.”

He also said it failed state employees because there are no raises in this budget, when taking inflation into account.

“So this is a Band-Aid budget,” Stein said. “It does keep the lights on; therefore, I will sign it. But the legislature needs to get to work and take care of investing in the people of the state and investing in the future of this state.”

Stein agrees with most of the dmv audit but not the separation of the DMV from the dot

The mini-budget does allocate $1.2 million in recurring funds to create 40 new full-time driver license examiner positions for FY 2025-2026 and an additional $3 million for 21 more examiner positions for FY 2026- 2027. But that is also a “Band-Aid” of sorts when it comes to the additional positions that are needed at the North Carolina Division of Motor Vehicles (NCDMV), as evidenced by the 435-page audit of the DMV conducted by State Auditor Dave Boliek’s office, which was released on Monday.

Stein thanked Boliek for the audit and agreed that more personnel, policy changes, and a long-term strategic plan are needed, which he said is underway.

“It’s going to take a while to get the ship right, but we commit to doing everything in our power in doing just that. And I’m grateful for the legislators’ partnership,” Stein said. “That was one of the best parts of the mini budget.”

The governor, like North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT) Secretary Joey Hopkins and NCDMV Commissioner Paul Tine, is not in favor of making the DMV an independent agency, removing it from under the umbrella of the DOT. But he said it’s clear that a full government approach and commitment to fixing the DMV are needed.

“The auditor identified some solutions, and we’ve already been implementing many of those on our own,” Stein said. “We need a long term strategic plan so that we can get this agency to the level of service that the people of North Carolina deserve. We all know it’s not there now, and we’re going to do the long, hard work of getting it to where it needs to be.”

Stein said a big part of the DMV’s problem has been the increase in population, stating that North Carolina is the third fastest-growing state in the country.

“We have tons of people moving in on a daily basis, and there hasn’t been an increase in DMV folks in a long time,” he said. “So, we just need to all come together and fix this problem.”

Governor disappointed that not all of his vetoes were upheld

The governor also told reporters that he was disappointed that Republicans and some Democrats did not uphold all of his vetoes. On July 29, the General Assembly overrode eight of his 14 vetoes.

“I vetoed these bills because they were bad bills that were not in the interest of the people in North Carolina, so of course, I didn’t want them to go into law,” Stein said. “There are six vetoes left, so I’m pleased about that. What I want for the General Assembly to do is to focus on long-term investments that make a difference in the future of this state, that serve people’s interests. And I will readily sign those bills into law.”

He said the overridden bills were divisive, and he hopes those bills sated legislators’ appetites so they can focus on serving the people of North Carolina.

Chantal recovery update

Stein also gave an update on Tropical Storm Chantal recovery. He said he would submit a request today to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) for a public assistance disaster declaration to reimburse local governments for the tens of millions of dollars in damages and expenses they experienced during the storm.

He will also be declaring a Type 1 Disaster, which allows people who were affected by Chantal to apply for aid if they don’t have insurance and have lost all of their life possessions.

Stein said the state already received an SBA Disaster Declaration, which enables businesses and homeowners to apply for affordable loans.

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