BY REP. TODD CARVER

Last week we saw the introduction and passage of the N.C. House of Representatives budget. This is my first budget experience in the General Assembly, but I have been hearing from several lawmakers with much more experience that this is one of the best budgets in years. In my experience, when you hear something from one or two people it possibly has merit. When four or five start saying it, there’s probably something to it. And when 10 people are saying something, it’s time to pay attention.

I believe this is a good budget for several reasons.

First, it lowers the personal income tax rate to 3.99 percent and increases the standard deduction by $500 for single filers and $1,000 for those filing jointly. This will put more money into every working person’s pocket in North Carolina. There is also a tax exemption for the first $5,000 of tip money earned by restaurant and service workers. This will help those who are making below minimum wage salaries to bring home a little more of their pay that they do not have to share with the government.

If the budget is approved by the Senate and signed by the governor, we will bring back the tax holiday for the 2026-2027 school year. That means in August of next year we will have a weekend where purchases of school supplies, clothes and sporting equipment will be tax exempt.

Other improvements in the budget include funding for more than 60 DMV inspectors to help with the backlog of customers and the long wait times residents are experiencing across the state.

The budget proposal also include increasing the state’s rainy-day fund to $4.75 billion. This allows the state to maintain its AAA bond rating while preparing for future disasters.

The budget fully funds the state retirement system and gives state retirees a 1% and 2% cost of living raises in the two years of this budget.

The budget slashes over $10 million in DEI spending across state agencies, closing the offices of Minority Male Success Initiative (Community Colleges), Historically Underutilized Businesses (Department of Administration), Environmental Justice (Department of Environmental Quality), Office of Health Equity (Department of Health and Human Services), and Culture and Community Engagement (Department of Commerce). If folks wish to support these types of programs, they are free to do it with their own money, but the use of taxpayers’ money is something I cannot support.

Teachers are the part of the budget where I believe we did the best. We bring starting teacher pay to $48,000 in year one of the budget and $50,000 in year two. According to our non-partisan staff, this will make North Carolina the top paying state in the Southeast for both years of the budget. We must stop the exodus of teachers from North Carolina for higher paying jobs in neighboring states. The proposal also restores the master’s degree pay incentive if the teacher has a degree related to the subject matter being taught. There is a pay increase for more experienced teachers as well.

All state employees will see at least a 2.5 percent increase in their pay.

There is additional money allocated for safer schools’ grants and many other programs which help to advance North Carolina.

I recognize no budget will meet everyone’s expectations, but I truly believe this is a budget we can afford and one that also meets the needs of many of our hardest working families.

Please continue to track the progress of the budget as it moves now to a conference committee of members from the N.C. House and Senate. This conference committee will be tasked with working out differences between the two chambers’ versions of the budget. It is my hope we have a working budget ready for the governor’s signature before the July 4th holiday. I promise to keep you posted.

Rep. Todd Carver represents the 95th District in the N.C. House.