Statement on Gov. Cooper’s Budget Proposal

Raleigh, N.C. — Sen. Brent Jackson (R-Sampson), one of the Senate’s budget writers, released the following statement on Gov. Roy Cooper’s budget proposal:

“We have concerns about the very high spending growth and billions in borrowing in Gov. Cooper’s proposed budget. We don’t want to return to an era of rollercoaster-style budgets with huge spikes in the boom years followed by huge cuts in the lean years.

“Thanks to a decade of predictable, responsible budgeting, North Carolina weathered the COVID-19 pandemic and recession without cutting state services or freezing teacher pay.

“Gov. Cooper also wants to eliminate the Opportunity Scholarship program. His plan would harm working parents who desperately want their children to have an education that best prepares them for success. The program is enormously popular, especially among lower-income and non-white communities. For all the left’s talk about ‘equity,’ taking money away from low-income children so a private education is only available to the elite seems hypocritical.

“We look forward to working together to achieve an enacted budget.”