North Carolina's governor vetoes private school vouchers and immigration
enforcement orders
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[September 21, 2024]
By GARY D. ROBERTSON
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper vetoed legislation
Friday that allocates several hundred million dollars to an expanded
private school voucher program and orders sheriffs to cooperate with
federal immigrant agents looking for people in the country illegally who
have been brought into county jails.
Cooper's veto was anticipated — the Democratic governor is a longtime
critic of spending taxpayer dollars to help families send their K-12
children to private and religious schools. The bill in part funds grants
for this fall for children from families at all income levels who
qualify. Cooper had already vetoed two previous versions of the
immigration bill in 2019 and 2022.
Unlike those previous years, when enough Democrats were seated at the
General Assembly to uphold Cooper’s vetoes, Republicans now hold narrow
veto-proof majorities in both chambers. Cooper had vetoed 27 bills since
2023 before Friday. Twenty-six have been overridden, and the other veto
is poised to be overturned, too.
After floor votes last week to approve this latest vetoed bill,
legislative leaders said they likely would consider additional overrides
in the fall. They would have to act by year's end or lawmakers would
have to start over and advance a new bill. Cooper would need support
from some Republicans to succeed.
“There is still time to stop the expansion of private school vouchers,"
Cooper said at a news conference surrounded by educators and current and
former elected officials from rural counties. "Wealthy people will never
let their private school vouchers be taken away if we don’t stop it
now.”
The vetoed measure combined the two provisions within a supplemental
spending bill that also included $377 million for Medicaid and $160
million to address enrollment growth in public schools and community
colleges.
House and Senate GOP leaders signed off on the compromise bill earlier
this month. The two chambers had been unable to agree on broad
adjustments to the second year of the two-year state budget before they
adjourned this year's chief work session in late June.
The compromise legislation transfers $463.5 million more to the state's
Opportunity Scholarship program for this school year and next in order
to eliminate a waitlist of roughly 54,000 children.
It's the result of a large increase in applications for this school year
as legislators in 2023 did away with income limits on families to
qualify. There were otherwise enough funds available for scholarships
for over 45,000 new student applicants and past recipients, nearly all
of whom are in low- and middle-income families, according to the state
budget office.
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North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper speaks at a news conference at the
governor's mansion in Raleigh, N.C., Friday, Sept. 20, 2024. (AP
Photo/Gary D. Robertson)
Republicans said earlier this year that providing full funding for
these scholarships was a top priority. But House Speaker Tim Moore
said later that the GOP caucus also wanted any legislation to
include additional funds for public schools. Legislators previously
agreed to spend roughly $12 billion for K-12 public education this
fiscal year.
The bill “bolsters our state’s growing public schools and gives
parents a greater say in their child’s educational environment,”
Senate leader Phil Berger said in a news release after the veto,
adding it was past time for Cooper "to acknowledge that North
Carolina can have both a well-funded public school system and robust
school choice options.”
The program is now supposed to be “universal,” meaning even students
from the richest families would get scholarship payments, albeit
smaller amounts than poorer families.
Cooper and speakers from rural areas of the state argued Friday that
the expanded program would devastate public schools over time,
particularly in small counties, when they miss out on per-pupil
funding should students go to private schools instead.
The bill also adjusts upward planned annual giving by the
legislature to the Opportunity Scholarship, reaching $800 million
annually by the early 2030s.
The veto protects every child's right to a quality public education,
Washington County Schools board Chair Carlos Riddick said. “Our
public schools are the cornerstone of the opportunity and we must
invest in them, not dismantle them.”
The bill also tells county sheriffs to comply with U.S. Immigration
and Customs Enforcement detainers that identify jail inmates
believed to be in the country unlawfully and who have been charged
with the most serious crimes. Those inmates would be held up to 48
hours under a judicial official’s order so ICE agents could pick
them up.
Republican advocates of the immigration provisions say they’re
necessary because several sheriffs in predominantly Democratic
counties are disregarding ICE detainers, threatening public safety.
Opponents argue it would unconstitutionally target North Carolina’s
Hispanic population, harming families and reducing trust in local
law enforcement.
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