Gov. Stein delivers State of the State Address

This week Governor Stein delivered his first State of the State address. If you missed it, you can watch the full remarks here. You can read his full remarks here.

The Governor touched on a number of topics important to North Carolinians, including Helene recovery, our economy, public schools and public safety. Below is a quick overview of some of what he discussed.

The Governor called for more and faster funding for Helene Recovery. He signed an executive order on his first day in office to help cut red tape and to establish GROW NC, an entity to help oversee recovery in WNC. He committed to signing the first Helene Recovery bill when the General Assembly passes it.*

In his address, Governor Stein said that our economy should work for everyone. He called for an expansion of apprenticeships and investments in our community colleges. He discussed cutting red tape to increase housing supply. Child care is another major concern, and the Governor created a bipartisan task force to help find solutions. And on taxes, he called for tax cuts for working families instead of corporate tax cuts and tax cuts for the wealthiest North Carolinians. He also addressed the looming fiscal cliff that could limit the ability of the state to fund priorities in the future.

The Governor said that children are our most important investment. He called for teacher pay raises and additional support staff, and to make breakfast free for all students. He also touched on the need for better school infrastructure and for cell phones to be removed from classrooms. Governor Stein criticized the expansion of vouchers passed last year which has the state footing the bill for wealthy families to pay for private schools.

On public safety, Governor Stein said that everyone wants to live in safe communities. He wants to see better investments in law enforcement to help recruit and retain good officers. He also addressed the need for more investments in fentanyl prevention to keep North Carolinians safe and healthy.

Governor Stein also said that he was directing his budget office to create an Impact Center to ensure that government is being run effectively and efficiently. This is an issue that Leader Reives has called out in the past, given the massive amount of no-bid contracts and directed grants in the State Budget over the past decade at least. North Carolinians deserve to know how their money is being spent, but any cuts to spending should be done deliberately and after careful consideration. Leader Reives has also called for the same level of accountability and oversight for the recently-expanded voucher program.

“Public schools should not be placed into a different class than private institutions in terms of accountability and oversight, when both are receiving taxpayer dollars,” House Democratic Leader Robert Reives said. “This should not be a partisan issue. I agree with Treasurer Folwell: Entities receiving taxpayer money deserve scrutiny. North Carolinians deserve to know what their tax dollars are funding.”

The Governor’s speech touched on a number of topics where there is bipartisan support. Hopefully, this Session will be productive and lead to many of these important issues being addressed.

* The House and Senate passed different versions of the Helene Relief bill so they will have to iron out differences via a conference committee.