On June 28, Governor Cooper vetoed House Bill 966 [2019 Appropriations Act], the budget bill. The most-asked question of legislators now is “What happens next?” In theory, the answer is simple: The legislature can override the veto. But that isn’t easy. With all legislators present, it takes 72 votes in the House and 30 votes […]
The textbook way of passing a law is to introduce a bill in one legislative chamber, have that bill heard in one or more committees, and then passed by that legislative chamber and sent to the other one. The same process then occurs in the second legislative chamber, resulting in passage of the bill. Any […]
A $24 billion compromise state budget proposal that provides pay raises supported by the State Employees Association of North Carolina and injects billions of dollars into school construction passed the first of two votes in the state House of Representatives on Wednesday. House Bill 966, the 2019 Appropriations Act, also provides pay raises for teachers, […]
Starting the legislative session is much like turning on a copy machine. You turn on the machine, and one isn’t immediately able to make copies. With the legislature, after everyone takes their oaths of office and receives their assigned seats on the floor, designated offices, and committee assignments, legislation doesn’t immediately get enacted. Bills have […]
During election season, candidates are called upon to answer issue-oriented questionnaires from various groups and news organizations, sometimes more than a dozen over the course of just a few weeks. Recently, Representative McGrady and other candidates were given the opportunity to provide detailed answers to a series of thoughtful questions from local ABC affiliate WLOS […]
Planning your summer vacation and looking for some light beach reading? Joseph Coletti over at the John Locke Foundation has you covered with a comprehensive analysis of this year’s state budget: A New State Budget Based On Time-Tested Principles In his 1985 address to the North Carolina Foundation for Research and Economic Education (NC FREE), […]
Having overridden Governor Cooper’s veto of the budget, the General Assembly concluded its work just past 2:00 am on June 30, and headed home. The legislature had rocked along at a fairly slow pace until the last few weeks, but then completed its work in a series of long days and nights. More legislation was […]
Lieutenant Governor Dan Forest lays out the facts on public education spending contained in the General Assembly’s 2017-2018 Biennium Budget.
With a bipartisan majority of 76 to 43, the North Carolina House of Representatives voted yesterday to override the governor’s recent budget veto. The budget, now state law, enacts another round of middle-class tax cuts, a fourth consecutive teacher pay raise, and a record-high savings reserve. “The governor chose partisanship over the people of North […]
The North Carolina General Assembly gave its overwhelming approval yesterday to a $23 billion state budget that, among other things, increases education investments by more than $700 million, raises teacher pay for the fourth consecutive year, provides needed disaster relief to communities affected by Hurricane Matthew, helps lower-income people by further expanding the state’s zero-tax bracket, and adds $363.9 million to the state’s savings reserve account. […]
The State’s budget comes in two parts: Senate Bill 257 [The Appropriations Act of 2017], the actual law, and the so-called “Money Report” which shows all of the various appropriations by the numbers. SB257 is 438 pages long, and although not sequentially numbered, the Money Report is even longer. The Money Report is relatively easy […]
After two weeks of negotiations between Senate and House conferees, the compromise budget was introduced late last night, starting the clock on when the House can take up the bill. Under Senate rules, the Senate can take up the bill immediately, and it will likely take up the bill today and tomorrow. Under House rules, […]
Senate Leader Phil Berger (R-Rockingham) and House Speaker Tim Moore (R-Cleveland) held a joint press conference Monday to announce details of the roughly $23 billion budget and tax relief agreement reached between the state House and Senate. As a result of responsible budgeting decisions, millions of middle-class families and job-creating small businesses will keep more […]
Voting Thursday night and again in the wee hours of Friday morning, the House passed its budget. On Thursday, the vote was 82-34, and the Friday vote was 80-31, after 35 amendments were considered on the floor during the two sessions. Earlier in the week, the bill, SB257, was heard in the Finance Committee, the […]
The North Carolina House of Representatives released highlights of its balanced budget proposal for the 2017-2018 biennium on Thursday, submitting a plan that continues to advance successful government investment strategies contributing to revenue surpluses, rainy day reserves, rapid economic and population growth this decade. The budget highlights released on Thursday were provided to area appropriations subcommittees […]
Governor Pat McCrory signed the Disaster Recovery Act of 2016 into law yesterday, providing $201 million to help citizens and communities recover from Hurricane Matthew and wildfires. The governor was joined at the Executive Mansion by legislators, mayors, county commissioners, members of the governor’s Hurricane Matthew Recovery Committee and N.C. Emergency Management Director Mike Sprayberry. […]
After being called into special session by Governor Pat McCrory, the North Carolina General Assembly unanimously passed into law this afternoon The Disaster Recovery Act of 2016. The legislation targets over $200 million to counties most affected by the recent floods in the east and wildfires in the west. Representative McGrady was a primary sponsor […]
Senate Leader Phil Berger (R-Rockingham) and House Speaker Tim Moore (R-Cleveland) held a joint press conference yesterday to announce details of the $22.34 billion budget agreement reached between Senate and House conferees this past weekend. The compromise budget includes a responsible 2.8 percent spending increase and achieves both chambers’ shared goals with Governor Pat McCrory of […]
The clearest signs that the legislative session is almost over are increased activity to reach a budget compromise and a flurry of activity in Senate committees. Those signs were evident on Friday as budget negotiators shuttled back and forth between the House and Senate sides of the Legislative Building and almost every Senate committee met, […]
Yesterday, the North Carolina House of Representatives passed its version of the state’s budget for the second year of this session’s biennium. The spending plan cleared the chamber by an overwhelming margin, with a bipartisan vote of 103-12. Representative McGrady, one of the House’s Chief Appropriations Chairs (largely responsible for crafting the plan) voted with every other […]
With the holidays behind us, you’ve undoubtedly been asking yourself “What bills are eligible for consideration by the General Assembly during the upcoming year?” We’re glad you asked. Since Members of the state legislature are elected for two year terms, each regular session of the General Assembly also lasts for two years, called a “biennium.” The […]
Tonight, the North Carolina House of Representatives passed a bipartisan State Budget by a vote of 80-35. Representative McGrady, as one of the House’s Chief Appropriations Chairs largely responsible for crafting the budget, voted with all of his Republican colleagues and nine moderate Democrats in support of the plan. The budget, which covers funding for Fiscal Year 2015-2016 and Fiscal Year […]
Representative McGrady joined House Speaker Tim Moore and Senate Leader Phil Berger this afternoon at a joint press conference to announce details of the $21.735 billion budget agreement reached by members of the House and Senate this past weekend. As one of the “big chairs” of the House Appropriations Committee, Representative McGrady was one of just […]
Former Henderson County Commissioner Renee Kumor remarked upon getting the last newsletter that she hoped I survived the budget. That is my goal. Having crossover behind us, about half the members of the House will begin the process of crafting the House’s budget. Approximately three weeks from now, the House should pass its budget and […]
Before starting work on the budget, I thought that it might be valuable to summarize what happened with all of the bills that I introduced this session. Not counting a blank Appropriations bill that all full chairs of the Appropriations Committee file for potential use during the budget process, I introduced fourteen bills and one […]
The House deadline for filing bills passed last week. At the beginning of last week, there were nearly 600 bills filed in the House since the start of the session in January. By the end of last week, over 900 bills were pending in the House. In other words, one-third of the total number of bills […]
Representative McGrady speaks with “Capital Tonight” Anchor Tim Boyum about budget matters and the historic coal ash legislation passed last year by the General Assembly. Click here or on the image above to watch the interview. Mr. Boyum’s segment with Representative McGrady begins at the 8:15 mark. Representative McGrady was the chief architect of the […]
North Carolina Speaker Tim Moore (R-Cleveland) announced committee appointments today, and Henderson County Representative Chuck McGrady got a big promotion. McGrady was named as one of the co-chairs of the House Appropriations Committee. As a co-chair, he will be one of a just a few legislators who will negotiate a final state budget. “I appointed […]