Twenty-three days after Governor Roy Cooper shared a balanced compromise budget offer to Republican leaders, they have still not yet returned a counteroffer. North Carolinians are beginning to wonder if Republican leaders will ever agree to negotiate with Governor Cooper.
Where is the Republican counteroffer?
Republican Rowan County Commissioner expressed frustration with Republican legislative leaders for failing to listen to North Carolinians on Medicaid expansion. From the Salisbury Post:
Klusman told Cooper that one of the challenges the county faces is its high poverty rate. She said, as a result, there is a high incidence of childhood trauma and lack of access to health care and child care. She said she, as a Republican, is frustrated with her party’s lack of action to expand Medicaid, an issue that Cooper wants included in the state budget.
“I am very frustrated with the state legislature because I am a Republican, and it’s kind of like talking to a brick wall,” Klusman said.
Unfortunately, Klusman’s point was made clear when a Republican state Senator alarmingly suggested in today’s Hickory Daily Record that “the legislature should bang down the gavel, adjourn, and go home and leave it at that.” Republican leaders who will do anything to avoid negotiating with Governor Cooper would apparently rather end session without a budget compromise than come to the table in good faith.
Gov. Cooper’s compromise offer can be found HERE. It would close the health care coverage gap, raise teacher pay, cut taxes for people and guarantee school construction while balancing the budget and saving money in the Rainy Day Fund.
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