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The state House and Senate voted Thursday afternoon to pass a long-delayed $30 billion spending plan. The House took a final vote in a rare midnight session, with the Senate finalizing the bill Friday morning.

After months of delays, state lawmakers are releasing a budget that includes new personal income tax cuts and raises for state employees and teachers.

House and Senate leaders are considering passing two bills: one with the budget, and one that launches Medicaid expansion and casinos.

Democrats in the General Assembly put the blame on Republican leadership for what they describe as chronic underfunding of schools.They say the failure to pass a state budget by July - when it's supposed to take effect - is making matters worse.

Pamlico County commissioners are calling on state lawmakers not to add tolls to coastal ferries in North Carolina.

A group of business leaders founded the organization NCInnovation to address a problem: North Carolina’s research universities — particularly those outside the Triangle — are struggling to turn their big ideas into business opportunities.

The state Senate’s budget includes a plan to give the legislature more power to pick judges.

While most state employees would get a 2.5% raise next year, the Senate offers a much bigger raise to the governor.

Cooper, a Democrat, released his budget proposal in March. The Republican-led House passed its budget in April. The Senate’s vote this week kicked off weeks of closed-door budget negotiations between House and Senate leaders.

The proposal spends less on raises than the spending plan proposed by Gov. Roy Cooper. Most state employees would receive an increase of 4.25% this year and 3.25% next year. Overall, the budget increases state spending by 6.5% in the fiscal year that begins in July.