Downtown Raleigh state government building changes will be in NC budget

North Carolina’s state budget, when it finally arrives months late, could speed up changes to downtown Raleigh.

Two well known buildings in the state capital are already having work done this summer: the historic State Capitol dome will change color, along with the rest of the roof, because the copper is being replaced. It takes a few decades for the shiny brown penny color to turn to a greenish blue.

A block away at the Executive Mansion, where Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper lives, several porches are being replaced this summer. The work was surrounded by plastic sheeting for a time, a Department of Administration spokesperson told The N&O, to control the lead paint on the wooden porches being repaired and replaced. The DOA would not share details of the plan, citing security concerns. That work will be done in September.

North Carolina Freedom Park, which honors the African American struggle for freedom, opens on Aug. 23 on the block between the Legislative Building on Jones Street and the mansion. That project had both private and public funding.

But also in the works since the last budget are major demolitions downtown that will change how the state government complex looks, where thousands of employees work, and what visitors and tourists will see.

Things appear to have stalled, and the new budget will move things ahead, Republican legislative leaders indicated this week.

Building demolitions

Senate leader Phil Berger, an Eden Republican, told The N&O on Wednesday that the new budget will include funding to move the state government project along, including the demolition of the Department of Administration and the Bath Building. Both were slated for demolition this year but have not yet come down.

Earlier this year, a Department of Administration head told The N&O it would be “unrealistic” to move as fast as the 2022 state budget called for.

The Bath Building, once an N.C. Department of Health and Human Services lab space, has been mostly vacant for awhile and awaits demolition. The Department of Administration, which is part of the governor’s cabinet, has hundreds of employees in its downtown building. The last budget gave more power for state government complex changes to the Legislative Services Office than the Administration agency that previously oversaw some of those projects.

“One that we’ve agreed on is redoing ... a lot of the state government capital facilities here, we have some buildings around here that look like they’re from, like East Germany or something that are structurally deficient,” House Speaker Tim Moore told reporters after the one-day voting session this week.

The Albemarle Building, where the Department of Insurance is located, on Salisbury Street, is now shared by the office of the State Auditor, which moved spaces earlier this year. And the Governor’s Office, now in Administration, is being relocated to the Albemarle.

Once the Administration building on Jones Street is demolished, across the street from the N.C. Museum of Natural Sciences entrance with the giant globe, a new education campus will rise.

What’s left to finish in the budget

Berger said that he expects there to be a final review of budget documents the week of Labor Day, which is Sept. 4, and then the budget votes the week of Sept. 11.

“I’m hoping we can meet that schedule,” Berger said.

Beyond the state government complex, which Moore also mentioned Wednesday, Berger said that final budget items to decide on include infrastructure funding, from water and sewer to airports. Moore said State Highway Patrol funding is also yet to be decided.

Next up, Berger said, is for head budget writers to work through final negotiations of project spending totals.

Parallel to budget talks, Republicans have also discussed a proposal to legalize more casinos. Berger said if that plan doesn’t make it in the budget, it might not pass this session.

Moore said that while he knows Senate Republicans want casinos, House Republicans still have questions.

Moore also said final budget talks center on spending money from the federal American Rescue Plan, a state infrastructure fund and NCInnovation, which is a new nonprofit that would have an endowment for UNC System researchers to turn their ideas into businesses.

Meanwhile, tens of thousands of state employees and teachers, whose base pay is set by the General Assembly, are waiting on lawmakers to pass a budget with raises. Once that happens, raises will be retroactive to July 1, which is when the fiscal year started and the date when the budget should have been passed.

Beyond teacher pay, raises for bus drivers and other school personnel are in the budget. School systems have reported bus driver shortages leaving students with no or late transportation, including the largest school system in the state, Wake County.

Traditional calendar public schools start Aug. 28.

When will the legislative session end?

Berger said the end of session could bring a flurry of legislation including conference reports — the final versions of bills that passed the House or Senate in different forms — and bills that have passed one chamber but not the other.

“It’ll be like we’ve seen in the past when folks are trying to get things across the finish line,” Berger said.

“There are some fast-moving things that happen at that time,” Berger said, adding Republicans haven’t yet decided which bills will come up.

But that doesn’t mean they’re done, done. There will be another 10 days to see what Cooper does with pending legislation, and then after what appears to be shorter and shorter options to take a break, another session for redistricting.

That redrawing of political districts, which will determine many of the state and federal candidates for the 2024 election, will be sometime in October.