Stein says he'd prioritize Helene recovery, public education funding as governor
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Attorney General Josh Stein said his anticipated top priority as North Carolina governor, assuming the Democratic nominee is elected, has changed since Hurricane Helene devastated the western part of the state.
Why it matters: Stein told a private business audience Friday that his first task would be working with the legislature to create packages and help get western North Carolina "back to its feet."
The big picture: State lawmakers passed a second spending package Thursday, allocating an additional $604 million to storm relief.
- The estimated damage in North Carolina alone is $53 billion.
Zoom out: Beyond that, Stein said he would prioritize public schools and raising teacher pay.
- Stein indicated he wants to return North Carolina to the days of Gov. Jim Hunt when teacher pay was about the national average.
- North Carolina is now 48th in per-pupil funding, according to the Education Law Center. It's 42nd in starting teacher pay, per the National Education Association.
- "We were always the southern state that had the most investment in K-12," he said.
- He suggested North Carolina has the money, but it's being invested elsewhere, like on private school vouchers. He said that program shrinks the public education budget and especially hurts rural school systems.
State of play: Stein is ahead of his Republican opponent Mark Robinson in the polls. He would succeed Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper, if elected.
- Stein may face similar hurdles to Cooper in the mansion. Cooper has struggled to achieve his goals with a Republican-controlled legislature but has had breakthroughs on issues like Medicaid expansion.
- Last year Cooper's veto power was deemed mostly useless when the General Assembly gained a supermajority.
- Stein rejects the assumption that the Republican Party will maintain its supermajority. He indicated voters in Mecklenburg County swing districts may be the deciding factor.
- "You will have an outsized ability to determine, are we going to have a state government of balance where the governor has a veto and therefore greater ability to negotiate?" Stein said.
Flashback: N.C. Lt. Gov. Robinson spoke to the same private business audience in September, just days before the explosive CNN report came out detailing allegations about his past online behavior.