RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) - A North Carolina budget veto has slowed state government for months, so lawmakers have sent Gov. Roy Cooper more stand-alone legislation containing popular provisions from that spending plan.
Cooper now has four spending bills on his desk that address school and prison safety, disaster relief and testing sexual assault evidence kits. All received unanimous support. The school and rape kit bills got final legislative approval with House votes late Monday.
Republican legislators have described these “mini-budgets” as a way to unlock spending for initiatives stuck since Cooper vetoed the two-year budget in June. The Democratic governor signed four other state employee pay bills in August.
More bills may be unnecessary if the Senate soon overrides the budget veto. The House overrode it last week in a vote that surprised Democrats.
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