After impasse, N. Carolina politicians make big deals in ’21

By GARY D. ROBERTSON
Associated Press

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — In politically divided North Carolina, hostilities between Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper and majority-Republican lawmakers have eased somewhat as 2021 nears its end. The governor last month signed a $53 billion state spending measure more than three years after the last comprehensive budget was enacted. The two sides also worked together enacting legislation to limit greenhouse gases, reform the police and return more children to class during the coronavirus pandemic. The new budget contained many provisions Cooper didn’t care for, including those that rein in his emergency powers and phase out corporate income taxes. And lawmakers have only promised to study the broad Medicaid expansion he’s sought for years.