Overview
- Lawmaker returns to Raleigh for the short session Tuesday set a fast-opening agenda to plug a Medicaid funding gap, after Gov. Josh Stein asked for $319 million to keep the program running next month for more than 3 million enrollees.
- Republican leaders remain split on the core budget tradeoff, with the House pressing for larger raises for state workers while the Senate prioritizes faster income tax cuts tied to a long-term drop toward 1.99% by 2031.
- The House placed veto overrides on its calendar for bills on concealed carry rules, limits on diversity programs and immigration cooperation, though leaders will only call votes if they secure enough support in a chamber without a GOP supermajority.
- House Republicans are advancing a constitutional amendment to curb how cities and counties set property tax rates, a change that could go to the November ballot and constrain local budgets for services like schools, police and public works.
- Senate leader Phil Berger urged tax and spending restraint as negotiations restart on a two-year budget that has stalled for nearly a year, a delay that has held up promised pay raises for teachers and other state employees.