RALEIGH, N.C. – The Republican-dominated North Carolina legislature completed on Wednesday its override of Gov. Roy Cooper's veto of legislation that both approves more funds for private school scholarship grants for recipients of all incomes and directs local sheriffs to comply with federal immigration agents’ requests to detain certain inmates.
The Senate voted to enact the bill despite Cooper's objections, one day after the House voted for a similar result. Republicans hold veto-proof majorities in each chamber.
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The bill, which is now law, means that a large windfall of funding — about $463 million — will be provided to the Opportunity Scholarship program in part to eliminate a waitlist of families who otherwise qualified beginning in the fall for grants to attend private or religious K-12 schools.
“A historic expansion of parental school choice is now a reality in North Carolina,” Parents for Educational Freedom in North Carolina President Mike Long said after Wednesday’s vote, adding that that legislature sent “a clear message that our state will continue to invest in students over systems.”
When the General Assembly eliminated income caps for recipient families on the program last year — leading to skyrocketing interest — 55,000 children were otherwise unable to access the aid because GOP lawmakers initially this summer were unable to agree on appropriating additional funds.
They reached a deal in September, inserting it into a broader budget adjustment measure. But also added was another change long-sought by Republicans to compel elected North Carolina sheriffs to comply with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detainers — a request for local law enforcement to temporarily hold inmates believed to be in the country illegally so the agency can pick them up. An inmate can be held for up to 48 hours under the law.
Cooper vetoed the omnibus bill in September, with his veto message focusing mainly on the private school vouchers. He said the large amount of money now and in the foreseeable future for the program would damage public schools that they say aren’t funded enough as is. He and other Democrats have also criticized Republican legislators for pushing the override instead of solely focusing on passing another relief package for western North Carolinians dealing with Hurricane Helene’s impact.
“We cannot afford this,” Sen. Natasha Marcus, a Mecklenburg County Democrat, said during the short Senate debate. “This is a budget-busting expense that more than doubles the already significant voucher program in North Carolina.”
Marcus also said the program lacks enough accountability and gives money to religious schools that discriminate based on a family's beliefs.
The Opportunity Scholarship program began nearly a decade ago and benefitted low- and later middle-income families. But Republicans in 2023 made the program universal, meaning even students from the richest families get scholarship payments — albeit smaller amounts than poorer families — in the name of offering school choice options for everyone. The newly enacted law allows award winners to be reimbursed through grant funds for tuition they paid for the fall semester.
The immigration provisions have been contained in bills since 2019 that Cooper vetoed while the GOP lacked a veto-proof majority. Such a supermajority was restored in April 2023, leading to more than two dozen overrides since then.
The legislation’s supporters have repeatedly said it will keep communities safer by forcing sheriffs in predominantly Democratic counties to adhere to detainers. One of the bill's sponsors and the likely next House speaker, Rep. Destin Hall, also referenced voters’ choice to reelect President-elect Donald Trump — who made concerns about illegal immigration a mainstay of his campaign — as a seeming mandate to push the legislation.
“The bill itself is purely common sense,” Senate leader Phil Berger after Wednesday's 30-19 vote. “I question why anyone in law enforcement — these elected sheriffs — would deny a community the safety that is allowed by taking the process in this way.”
But opponents to the bill, which include several Hispanic advocacy groups, said it will put immigrant communities in danger of being unfairly targeted by law enforcement.
“We will be working in the weeks to come to inform and prepare our community to face any challenges this new law will bring,” North Carolina-based El Pueblo said after the final vote while expressing its disappointment. "And next year, we will continue to fight for the rights of our immigrant community.”
The voucher money transfer takes effect immediately, while formal cooperation by sheriffs with ICE agents starts Dec. 1.
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Associated Press writer Makiya Seminera in Raleigh contributed to this report.
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The story corrects that formal cooperation by sheriffs with immigration agents takes effect on Dec. 1, not immediately.