A state flag flies outside the North Carolina Legislative Building on May 8, 2025. (Photo: Galen Bacharier/NC Newsline)

As has so often been the case with a legislature that refuses to work and negotiate in good faith, North Carolina Gov. Josh Stein had little choice last week but to sign the so-called mini-budget that state lawmakers approved a few days earlier.

With the new fiscal year already well-underway and numerous vital public programs and services in jeopardy, Stein understandably had no appetite for provoking a crisis by vetoing what he rightfully described as a “Band-Aid budget.”

All that said, the mini-budget bill is deeply and destructively flawed.

Among many other things: it fails to provide meaningful raises for teachers and state employees, fails to provide the minimum funding required to keep the state’s Medicaid program healthy, and fails to renew the hugely successful Healthy Opportunities Program that had slashed health expenditures and improved outcomes for low-income Medicaid enrollees.

The bottom line: The mini-budget is but the latest example of legislative leaders failing to fulfill their basic duties of governance. All North Carolinians should demand better.

For NC Newsline, I’m Rob Schofield.