State Budget

North Carolina’s state government agencies are facing a major worker shortage. They’re looking to the legislature this year to increase salaries so they can better recruit and retain employees.

Gov. Roy Cooper’s budget recommendations include teacher raises averaging 18% over two years. Other state employees would get 8% raises over two years and a bonus of at least $1,000.

Perusse served as budget director for two other Democratic governors in Mike Easley and Beverly Perdue from late 2008 to early 2011. His top job is carrying out the annual state budget of $27.9 billion and other spending directives approved by the legislature.

The measure adjusts the second year of a two-year budget already in place and reflects expectations that state coffers will take in $6.2 billion more than anticipated. It's unclear whether Cooper will accept or veto the legislation.

WUNC's Jeff Tiberii and Dave DeWitt break down the biennial state budget

Details were likely to come Tuesday, with votes in each chamber expected later in the week.

The Republican-controlled legislature held floor votes Monday on several measures before leaving Raleigh. Some bills are heading to Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper.

Tucked in the new state budget is an expansion of services for families of children with severe intellectual and developmental disabilities. More than 28,000 families in the state qualify for state funding for in-home care like speech or behavioral therapies.

The budget designates nearly $26 billion in spending this fiscal year, and $27 billion the next. North Carolina is the final state in the nation to get a budget.

At a news conference Tuesday, Governor Roy Cooper said the budget gets some things wrong, and many things right, including raises and bonuses for teachers. He issued his comments just before the Senate gave its initial approval to the spending proposal.