North Carolina’s long budget fight moved closer to a finish line Wednesday when House Speaker Destin Hall and Senate President Phil Berger said the chambers had struck an agreement on the state’s biggest spending issues. The deal, unveiled at a joint news conference in Raleigh, would raise pay for teachers, state employees and several law enforcement groups once the budget is enacted.
Hall said the average teacher pay raise in the nc budget deal will be 8%, and said it would move starting teachers to No. 1 in the South when the local supplement is included. He said teachers with more than 16 years of experience would get a one-time bonus of $1,000, while those with 16 years or less would receive $500. He called it “an unprecedented” budget for education and said it delivers the largest average teacher pay increase at least since 2006 and one of the largest in roughly 30 years.
For state employees, the agreement calls for an average raise of 3%, with higher increases in parts of government where the need is greater. Workers making less than $65,000 a year would receive a one-time bonus of $1,750, while those above that threshold would get $1,000. Berger said the package also includes an average 20.3% raise for SBI and ALE officers, including steps, along with a substantial raise for SBI civilian personnel.
Berger said State Highway Patrol officers would get an average 17.7% raise with step increases, while civilian personnel there would see raises up to 11.5%. Correctional officers would receive an average 15.4% salary increase with step increases, probation and parole officers would get an average 10.1% increase, and other law enforcement officers across state government, including the State Capitol Police, would receive a 13% raise. The budget would also set aside nearly $40.1 million for a one-time $1,750 bonus for local law enforcement officers statewide.
The agreement comes after months of budget stalemate and after thousands of educators rallied in Raleigh earlier this month to press for higher pay and more public education funding. Keith Poston said the reported teacher raises, if they hold in the final budget, would mark meaningful progress and welcome recognition of educators’ role in the state’s future. But he said the bigger question is whether the budget makes the kind of sustained investment needed for North Carolina to compete for and keep strong teachers while strengthening the public schools that serve most children.
The deal is not final until the budget is enacted, but the money would start flowing immediately after that. For teachers, workers and officers who have spent months waiting for a number they could measure against rent, groceries and bills, Wednesday’s announcement turned a political stalemate into a concrete offer — and set up the last vote as the moment that decides whether those raises become real.
