North Carolina Governor Josh Stein is calling on legislative leaders to quickly pass a state budget. Stein, a Democrat, says he is ready to work with legislators to handle new funding challenges posed by the sweeping tax package President Trump signed into law last week. Stein previously said passing the bill would require North Carolina to find $420 million to continue participating in the federal SNAP program and would threaten health insurance for hundreds of thousands of residents.
"It’s dumping expenses onto the state, which means that the state has to be exceptionally conservative fiscally, meaning that we have to preserve the revenue sources we have so that we can deal with issues like feeding hungry children, ensuring our healthcare system works for everybody, that there are doctors in rural counties," he said.
Legislators are taking a break right now. Stein wants them to come back to Raleigh to work on the budget.