North Carolina Gov. Josh Stein is urging state lawmakers to return to Raleigh and quickly pass a new state budget, citing mounting financial pressure from a sweeping federal tax package signed into law last week by President Donald Trump.
Stein, a Democrat, said the new law could cost the state $420 million to maintain its participation in the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), while also threatening health insurance coverage for hundreds of thousands of residents.
"It’s dumping expenses onto the state, which means that the state has to be exceptionally conservative fiscally," Stein said. "We have to preserve the revenue sources we have so that we can deal with issues like feeding hungry children, ensuring our health care system works for everybody, that there are doctors in rural counties."
The General Assembly is currently on break, but Stein says lawmakers should reconvene as soon as possible to address the budget and prepare for the expected shortfalls.