(The Center Square) – On the 79th day after implementation of the state budget was due, a voice from the mountains came through clear.
Rep. Mike Clampitt, R-Swain, says the fiscal document is held up by the agenda of state Sen. Phil Berger, R-Rockingham. The retired fire captain with the Charlotte Fire Department wrote to constituents and described the stalled negotiations as nothing more than the president pro tempore of the Senate seeking a privilege “none of the rest of us have.”
The Center Square, late Monday afternoon after the news broke, attempted and was unsuccessful getting comment from Clampitt or Berger.
At issue: Casinos in North Carolina.
Held up: New spending plans for a number of areas, plus the long hotly debated expansion of Medicaid that is tied to a signature of the governor on the budget.
Clampitt said he first saw the casino language in the budget proposal on Monday at a meeting of the N.C. House of Representatives Freedom Caucus. Its chairman is Rep. Keith Kidwell, R-Beaufort.
According to Clampitt, “Mr. Kidwell asked Mr. Berger up front, was the casino language going to be part of the budget. Mr. Berger made the declaration that it would be – period. Mr. Kidwell attempted to rationalize with Mr. Berger that he may get more support by running it as a stand-alone bill and would possibly garner more support. Mr. Berger then stated that he was giving an information meeting and was not interested in debate, questions, or amendments.”
Clampitt went on to say the hour-long meeting was disrespectful, lawmakers were bullied, and “that if we did not agree to have this included in the budget, ran on the House floor and pass, that the entire budget process would be reset.”
“He is attempting to shift the blame and lack of progress on the state’s budget to the Speaker and the NC Freedom Caucus,” Clampitt wrote. “I can tell you that is not true, and do not believe what you see or hear in the media. There is more I could go on about this.”
He asked constituents, in closing, “Just to belay any fears of not having a budget, the House has options available and will work to optimize those options.”
Lawmakers, the governor and even Health and Human Services Secretary Kody Kinsley have made power plays toward budget resolution in the last two-plus months. They’ve used social media, taken advantage of microphones in front of them, and generally promoted their respective and varied projects.
The state, because of a 2016 law that Republicans pushed across the finish line, operates on the previous spending plan and is not in danger of shutting down when the biennial budget or its adjustments are tardy of the July 1 implementation.
Berger is from Eden just south of the state border of Virginia. Over the state line is a casino, though not yet in a brick-and-mortar building. Rockingham County commissioners – Berger’s son Kevin is chairman – approved a proposal to rezone property The Caswell Messenger says is “widely believed to be targeted for a casino and entertainment district.”
The county’s Planning Board, voting 5-2, had earlier rejected the request for a 192-acre tract on U.S. 220 being made a commercial zone.
If casinos are legalized, others are expected in Anson and Nash counties, and possibly Robeson. Interstate 74 runs east-west between Wilmington and Charlotte through Anson; I-95 runs north-south from Florida to Maine, and Robeson is on the South Carolina border, Nash less than an hour to Virginia.
Being without a budget is not unprecedented. Cooper’s state budget vetoes were overridden in 2017 and 2018; he signed budgets in 2021 and 2022.
Early last week, Berger said the budget is a “series of compromises.” Thus, a single issue could be problematic as Clampitt’s writing indicates.
Other key elements of the budget include pay raises to workers in public education and other state employee sectors; funding for NCInnovation; income tax reductions; and education spending to include rulings in the Leandro litigation that began in the 1990s.
There is negotiation ongoing to bring together proposals of more than $67.1 billion by Cooper and $60.7 billion each through differing line items by the two General Assembly chambers. Cooper’s signature on the budget is a requirement for the chambers to expand Medicaid.
