Governor Josh Stein

To all the ghouls and goblins across North Carolina trick-or-treating tonight, have fun and be safe.

Happy Halloween!

It’s past time for a budget that values state employees.

We’ve made some progress this year in streamlining the job application process for civil service jobs in North Carolina. But it’s still frightening to see 20 percent of state positions vacant because we do not pay our public servants enough to recruit and retain the best talent.

The buildings where we send our kids to school shouldn’t be scary. That’s why my budget proposed investments in repairing, modernizing, and building new public schools to meet the state’s growing population.

Leaders in Washington need to come back to the table to pay the Guard and to lower our health care costs.

861 Title 32 technicians of NC National Guard and 181 Title 5 civilian employees supporting the National Guard have missed their second paycheck but are still working during the government shutdown. This is not how we treat those who keep us safe.

My budget proposal to the General Assembly called for the funding of 330 new school nurse, counselor, social worker, and psychologist positions, along with salary increases for school psychologists.

Let’s get a state budget done that makes these jobs better paid and more attractive so we can increase capacity and make sure people have access to the health care they need.

North Carolina has 900 critical care beds available in mental health facilities across the state, but 350 of them are out of commission because we cannot recruit enough staff to care for the patients.

If we don’t take action now to address the state’s predicted revenue shortfalls, it will become harder and harder to invest in western NC recovery, strong public schools, safe communities, and other public services we need to make North Carolina safer and stronger.

The impending fiscal cliff North Carolina faces should haunt the General Assembly.

The General Assembly needs to prioritize the people of North Carolina, come back to Raleigh, and pass a full budget that give our teachers, law enforcement officers, and other public servants much needed pay raises, meaningfully invests in public safety, and fully funds Medicaid.

It’s very spooky that North Carolina is just one of two states in the country without a budget for the current fiscal year.

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North Carolina is teaming up with AmeriHealth Caritas, The David & Nicole Tepper Foundation, and several generous partners across the state to donate nearly $18 million to North Carolina’s food banks to help keep families fed.

I look forward to deepening the strong relationship between North Carolina and Japan.

I’ve spent a productive week in Japan meeting with dozens of business leaders, government officials, and even a few North Carolinians. Our delegation is focused on recruiting more businesses and bringing more good-paying jobs to North Carolina.

duelingdinosaurs.org

The North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences’ DinoLab is the world’s only paleontology preparation lab regularly open to the public. Visitors can say hi to Nano, speak directly to the scientists, and look right at the incredible fossils.

What a win for truth and science!

Introducing Nanotyrannus!

NC’s public universities and museums are continuously on the forefront of scientific research and advancement. Nano’s discovery is the biggest dinosaur news of the decade, and its confirmation happened right here in North Carolina.

More than 1.4 million North Carolinians – children, disabled people, and seniors – rely on SNAP benefits to afford the rising cost of groceries. USDA’s refusal to deploy emergency funds to make sure families do not go hungry is unacceptable.

📢 We’ve announced more than $20 billion in investments in 2025 that will produce 28,000 jobs – good jobs with good wages! North Carolina is open for business!

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Prices are simply too high. Elected officials have got to stay laser-focused on lowering costs for families. Washington needs to come back to work to take action to extend the ACA tax credits. Americans need health care!

Nine insurance companies currently offer plans for North Carolinians through the Marketplace. Two have already said they plan to stop offering plans in NC by the end of the year, limiting options for North Carolinians and increasing costs for everyone.

North Carolinians in Dare, Hyde, Brunswick, Pamlico, and Transylvania counties are expected to pay more than $1,000 more per year.

The average North Carolinian enrolled in a Marketplace plan is expected to pay $672 more per year for the same health insurance.

Folks in rural areas are expected to pay $703 more per year.

If Washington doesn’t act now, 888,000 North Carolinians will see their out-of-pocket health insurance premiums double on average in 2026 and more than 150,000 will lose their health care altogether. We cannot afford this. America needs you to do your jobs.

The federal government is denying access to food to more than 1.4 million North Carolinians, including children, veterans, and people with disabilities. Thank you, Attorney General Jackson, for standing up to secure these critical resources.

NC attorney general sues Trump administration as shutdown threatens food aid The USDA “has broken the law in a way that will create really severe consequences for a lot of vulnerable people,” AG Jeff Jackson said.

North Carolina is suing the USDA to keep families from going hungry. www.newsobserver.com/news/politic...