RALEIGH – Gov. Roy Cooper is expected to give details about his 2021-22 state budget recommendations as early as today.
A joint House-Senate appropriations meeting has been scheduled for Thursday, March 25 with Gov. Cooper’s state budget director, Charles Perusse.
Cooper has a press conference from the Emergency Operations Center in Raleigh scheduled for 2 p.m. today.
During a visit to Greenville to view COVID-19 vaccinations, urged legislators to expand Medicaid, according to a pool report from the event.
“Too many North Carolinians don’t have health care coverage; too many North Carolinians don’t have access to high-speed internet. These problems need to be tackled and we have an extraordinary opportunity right now to do those things,” Cooper said.
The recent round of federal stimulus would provide North Carolinians with billions of dollars for Medicaid expansion, Cooper said, which would allow 500,000 to 600,000 more people to receive health care coverage if approved.
Medicaid and other issues that both Cooper and legislative leadership have disagreed on since 2017 such as tax rates, Opportunity Scholarships, and a bond proposal figure to remain roadblocks to passing a comprehensive state budget – something the state has not done since 2017 when the Legislature was able to override a veto that year.
