Raleigh, N.C. — House lawmakers on Tuesday rolled out a spending package for the state’s community college system. Senate Bill 61 appropriates nearly $1.2 billion in operating funds for each of the next two years.
It’s the latest in a string of “mini-budgets” – smaller spending measures that lawmakers are passing while the larger state budget remains hung up in a standoff between Republican legislative leaders and Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper.
During the standoff, the state is operating on the same funding as in the last fiscal year. The mini-budgets allow new additional funding to flow to certain areas. Legislative leaders say they’re focusing on areas of the budget on which there’s broad bipartisan agreement, like rape kit test funding, school safety, transportation and state employee pay raises.
