Raleigh, N.C. — State lawmakers now have another 45 days to pass a budget for 2015-16.
By a 43-0 vote and with little debate Tuesday morning, the Senate approved a continuing resolution that House members voted for late Monday.
Gov. Pat McCrory was able to sign the CR into law well before the budget deadline at 11:59 p.m.
The measure continues current funding levels at 100 percent, and adds about $100 million for enrollment growth in schools.
Read moreThe North Carolina Senate gave preliminary approval on Wednesday afternoon to a two-year budget that would cut funding for thousands of public school teaching assistant positions, and would make significant policy changes to the state's tax code and Medicaid program.
The proposed $21.5 billion budget, which represents an almost 2 percent increase from the current year and was approved by Republicans along a party-line vote of 30-19, is scheduled for a final vote on Thursday.
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Raleigh, N.C. — Women seeking abortions would have to wait three times as long and doctors performing the procedure would in some cases have to submit images of the fetus to the Department of Health and Human Services under a bill the state Senate tentatively approved 31-15 Thursday.
Debate on the measure, which is subject to a second Senate vote next week before returning to the state House for consideration, inflamed one of the major fault lines between Democrats and Republicans during a sometimes tense, hour-long debate.
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Senate Democrats on Monday called on GOP leadership in the General Assembly to move some of their bills that they say would do a better job of improving North Carolina’s economy than the Republicans’ agenda does.
With three days remaining before the crossover deadline – the cutoff point determining which bills must move from one chamber to another – Democrats asked Republican legislators to snap out of their focus on social issues and work together to help more people.
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