North Carolina lawmakers don’t seem ready to pass a budget yet this legislative session, if at all.

However, state employees and teachers will still get raises this year, even if the General Assembly doesn’t pass a new bill.

The 2023 budget that became law in October is a two-year spending plan covering the fiscal years of July 1, 2023 through June 30, 2025. The bill built in the raises to be doled out over two years.

So if there’s no new budget bill adding to the amount, here’s what’s coming regardless.

State employees

▪ Most state employees will receive a 3% raise starting in July.

Specifically, those who are employed in a state-funded job position as of June 30 will receive a 3% raise starting July 1, when the new fiscal year begins. State employees received a 4% raise in 2023.

Community college personnel

▪ North Carolina community college faculty and non-faculty personnel will all receive a 3% raise. The minimum salary for community college personnel also increases starting July 1, with salary ranges dependent on education level.

UNC employees

▪ University of North Carolina System employees — those who are both part of and exempt from the Human Resources Act, known as SHRA and EHRA employees — will receive a 3% raise. That includes teachers at the N.C. School of Science and Mathematics.

Teacher pay

Teachers in public school districts are paid typically for 10 months of the year. Pay is higher for teachers with certain kinds of accreditation or a doctorate.

▪ Starting in July, first-year teachers will receive $2,000 more. New teachers will have a starting salary this year of $41,000. Last year, it was $39,000.

▪ Step increases are built in to teacher pay as they become more experienced, topping out at 25 years. There is a salary plateau with no increases for 15 through 24 years of experience, which is $5,306 a month starting July 1.

For a veteran teacher of 25 or more years, last year’s pay was $5,510 a month, or $55,100 a year, and this year it will be $5,595, or $55,950 a year.

Some teachers may also receive additional bonuses, paid out in January 2025 based on data from the previous two years. Those who qualify for the bonuses include teachers who teach Advanced Placement classes, with more money for each student’s scores, and Career and Technical Education.

Teacher pay may also be supplemented by their local school districts, as the General Assembly only sets base pay. So additional raises may be paid by the county school systems.

Correctional officers and youth counselors

▪ There is a new salary schedule for state employees who are correctional officers, youth counselors, youth counselor technicians and youth services behavioral specialists. Any employee who does not receive a raise under the new salary schedule will receive the 3% legislative increase for other state employees.

SBI, ALE and Highway Patrol officers

▪ Law enforcement officers who are state employees working for the State Bureau of Investigation and Alcohol Law Enforcement are also under a new salary schedule. There is no separate raise in the existing budget starting in July. Those who did not receive raises this past year under the new salary schedules received 7% or 8% raises that year.

▪ State Highway Patrol officers are also under a new salary schedule. Officers received raises of 7% or 11%, depending on their salary grades, in 2023. No additional raises start July 1 aside from the salary schedule change.

Raises for governor, Council of State

▪ The governor will receive a raise of about 2.5%, to $203,073. The chief justice of the N.C. Supreme Court also received a raise, to the same amount.

The nine officials who, with the governor, make up the Council of State — the lieutenant governor, auditor, superintendent of public schools, insurance commissioner, attorney general, treasurer, labor commissioner, agriculture commissioner and secretary of state — will have their salaries increased to $168,384 annually, which is a nearly 7% raise.

Principals, administrators, noncertified school employees

▪ Principals are also set to receive additional raises starting with the new fiscal year in July, but those vary based on the number of students at their school and their base salary, as well as if they met or exceeded growth goals.

▪ The budget also says that there will be a 3% raise this year for superintendents, assistant superintendents, associate superintendents, directors/coordinators, supervisors and finance officers.

▪ Noncertified school employees, which includes cafeteria workers, bus drivers and custodians, are also set to receive a 3% raise.

Retirees

▪ Retirees received 4% bonuses in October 2023, but no additional bonuses are scheduled for 2024.

However, House Speaker Tim Moore said Wednesday that he would like to give retirees, which include state employees and teachers, a cost-of-living adjustment in the form of a bonus in this year’s budget bill.

Where things stand on the budget

Senate leader Phil Berger said Thursday that he and Moore had met recently, but were “still significantly apart” on budget spending. Berger previously told reporters that House Republican leaders wanted to spend about $1 billion from the state’s reserves on earmarks for their districts, while Senate Republicans leaders did not.

Moore has said that budget plans changed when the anticipated $1.4 billion revenue forecast for the state was adjusted to about $1 billion after April tax collections came in.

Berger said on Thursday the chambers would probably have “had this problem, even if the budget number had not been revised to the tune of about $400 million.”

“The problem, as we see it, is that the extra billion dollars that we’re projected to collect should be a gracious plenty to handle the things that we need to do, over and above the budget that we just adopted several months ago,” Berger told reporters on the Senate floor after a session.

“And the House position has been that we want to spend that, and they want to spend some additional money, a lot of additional money,” he said, though the House has come down to wanting to spend about $500 million from reserves, Berger said, though he didn’t specify on what.

“They’re also moving some dollars around, so that their total spend is pretty close to what it was when they started,” he said.

Democratic budget proposal

Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper proposed 8.5% raises for teachers this year in his April state budget proposal, with 5% raises for state employees. Cooper is also asking for bonuses for both teachers and state employees this year.

Republicans have a supermajority in each chamber, so they have enough votes on party lines to overturn a veto from Cooper. In fall of 2023, after a late budget deal, Cooper let the bill become law after 10 days without his signature.

What’s next?

The General Assembly is in session this week, and Berger and Moore are expected to meet again in the coming weeks to hash out a budget deal. Alternatively, they could end the legislative session without a budget adjustment bill. There’s no requirement to pass such a bill during the short sessions that are held in even-numbered years, though lawmakers usually do.

If Berger and Moore come to an agreement on the budget, each chamber will still need to pass it before it goes to the desk of Cooper to sign, veto or let become law without his signature.