A disagreement over new casinos is leading to more delays for North Carolina鈥檚 overdue state budget.
Republican lawmakers had said they planned to vote on a $30 billion spending plan this week. It鈥檚 a budget that was supposed to be done by July.
But House Speaker Tim Moore said he doesn鈥檛 have enough votes among Republicans to include plans for four new casinos in rural areas. That鈥檚 something Senate Republicans wanted to add to the budget.
Moore said he wants lawmakers to move ahead with the rest of the budget compromise that House and Senate Republicans have negotiated.
鈥淢y hope is, is that an agreement can be reached very quickly, to go ahead and move forward with the budget, as it's been agreed upon鈥攚ithout the gaming provisions鈥攁nd then just run the gaming as a standalone bill,鈥� he told reporters Tuesday morning.
But Moore is breaking a previous agreement to include gambling if at least half of House Republicans support it, said Senate leader Phil Berger. That change essentially voids the overall budget agreement, Berger added.
鈥淚 believe that House leadership needs to live up to its commitments,鈥� he told reporters Tuesday afternoon. 鈥淭he budget, as you know, is a series of compromises. If the compromises that have been reached in the past fall apart, then I think everything is subject to further conversations.鈥�
Berger accused Moore of 鈥渕oving the goal posts鈥� on the casino legislation. In an email leaked to multiple news outlets last week, Moore told his GOP colleagues that the casinos wouldn鈥檛 happen unless at least 60 of the 72 House Republicans agreed to vote for a budget that includes gambling.
鈥淭he votes simply are not there to pass it with gaming,鈥� Moore said.
Berger said it鈥檚 his understanding that about 40 House Republicans would vote yes, which would mean about 20 Democrats would also have to vote yes to pass the measure.
Previous gambling legislation has divided House Democrats, and Gov. Roy Cooper on Monday voiced reservations about tying gambling to the budget bill.
鈥淚've said before that this is an issue that should be decided outside of the budget,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t shouldn't be holding up a budget that can help move the state forward, that's for sure.鈥�
Cooper has said he鈥檚 considering vetoing the budget over a variety of issues, including additional tax cuts and the expansion of private school vouchers. If he does so, it鈥檚 likely all Republicans could need to vote for the budget bill on an override.
When asked about the prospect that the budget bill could fail to garner enough votes to become law, Berger said, 鈥淲ell, then I think we need to see whether or not folks are willing to let the budget fail.鈥�
What happens next in the GOP鈥檚 stalemate is anyone鈥檚 guess. Berger said Tuesday afternoon that he did not have any further meetings scheduled with Moore.
Past budget stalemates have led to what are known as "mini-budgets," a process in which lawmakers pass important and popular pieces of the budget as separate measures. But Berger ruled out using that approach to pass things like state employee raises and Medicaid expansion this year.
