RALEIGH \u2014 Democrats in the state House of Representatives are open to working with Republicans on legislation that could lower costs for North Carolinians even though the state Senate\u2019s leadership has yet to be determined, House Speaker-elect Robert Reives said Tuesday.<\/p>\n
Democrats won control of the state House for the first time in 15 years in last week\u2019s elections. Republicans have held majorities in both chambers since 2011, often holding enough seats over that time to adopt many of their proposals with ease \u2014 even over objections of Democratic governors. The advantage has helped the GOP enact tax cuts, add abortion limits, reduce firearm restrictions, expand access to private schools, redraw congressional and legislative districts and more.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Democrats won at least 66 of the House\u2019s 120 seats in the Nov. 3\u2019s elections. Some House seats were still too close to call on Tuesday as officials began the process of counting provisional ballots.\u00a0<\/p>\n
While recounts are possible in some of those races, Reives said the election results show that voters want changes in policy. Democrats are poised to swear-in the largest Democratic majority in the state House since 1992, he said. At the same time, Reives said, voters want to see action: not gridlock.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cCompromise is not capitulation. Compromise is the job,\u201d Reives said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He continued: \u201cBut make no mistake, we understand that Democrats have won this chamber and we won it overwhelmingly. We have priorities that we want to see enacted. Many of those policies we have filed bills on for years just to see them ignored. We will be making a robust case for the agenda that got us elected, which we believe is the best for the people of this state, regardless of their income, race, gender, or zip code.\u201d<\/p>\n
Reives and Democratic North Carolina Gov. Josh Stein said last week that Democrats hope to address<\/a> rising costs of housing, electricity and healthcare. Education will also be a top priority, they said.\u00a0<\/p>\n Whether Democrats can deliver on their goals depends partly on who leads the state Senate, which remains unclear. Democrats flipped four Republican-held seats in the state Senate, leaving the GOP with 26 of the chamber\u2019s 50 seats \u2014 and a contest in south-central North Carolina could ultimately decide which party gets control of the chamber.\u00a0<\/p>\n Republican Sen. Danny Britt holds a 245-vote lead<\/a> over Democratic challenger Catina Hamm in a district that covers Hoke, Robeson and Scotland counties. Local election officials still have more than 650 provisional ballots to examine, determine whether to accept, and then count.\u00a0<\/p>\n If Hamm wins, the chamber would be split 25-25, giving Democratic Lt. Gov. Rachel Hunt the power to break tie votes and minority leader Sydney Batch, D-Wake, would likely become the next Senate leader.\u00a0<\/p>\n If Britt prevails, Senate Republicans will be expected to elect the chamber\u2019s next leader. Longtime Senate leader Phil Berger, R-Rockingham, lost his GOP primary in March to Rockingham County Sheriff Sam Page. Republican Sens. Jim Burgin of Harnett County, Ralph Hise of Mitchell County, Brent Jackson of Sampson County and Todd Johnson of Union County have announced plans to seek the leadership position.\u00a0<\/p>\n On Tuesday, Reives addressed his relationship with the senate, his caucus\u2019s goals, and more.\u00a0<\/p>\n Medical marijuana: The changing House leadership could open the door for medical marijuana in North Carolina. The GOP-led state Senate passed several bills in recent years to legalize medical marijuana under what sponsors said would be the strictest rules in the country, but the GOP-led state House never allowed those bills to come up for a vote. A WRAL\/WSOC Poll<\/a> released last month found that only 15% of North Carolina voters oppose medical marijuana, and 74% want it legal \u2014 including majorities of every age group, political party, region of the state, and racial or ethnic demographic.\u00a0<\/p>\n Reives said his caucus has expressed interest in exploring marijuana decriminalization: \u201cDecriminalization of marijuana has been on top of everybody’s minds,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Reives added that he has personally seen how medicinal marijuana can help veterans.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI’ve got a veteran family,\u201d he said. \u201cMy dad served. My uncle served, and all that. And it’s just, I want everything we can to help our veterans, and that is one of the top items that people have talked about.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Private school vouchers: Democrats have long criticized a state program that provides tuition vouchers to North Carolina families that enroll their child in a private school, and Reives said his caucus will look to roll it back to save the state money. \u201cIt is ridiculous that somebody who’s making millions of dollars gets a coupon from the state when we can’t afford to pay for public education,\u201d Reives said.<\/p>\n The GOP-created Opportunity Scholarship program provides up to about $8,000 for the school year, depending on the family’s income<\/a>. It served about 107,000 students last year, costing about $587 million<\/a>. Stein has called for phasing-out<\/a> the program, which started more than a decade ago as a program serving only the state’s lowest-income residents who were also not yet enrolled in a private school. Republican legislators opened the program to families of all incomes in 2024. Democratic proposals in recent years have largely focused on scaling back the Opportunity Scholarship voucher program, rather than eliminating it.<\/p>\n \u201cWe’ve got to recognize our revenues are limited,\u201d Reives said. He continued: \u201cYou’ve got to have revenue, and [Republican legislators] have cut off so many sources of revenue and added so many fees that made life unaffordable. So opportunity scholarships, vouchers are in the same boat as every other thing that we\u2019ve got.\u201d<\/p>\n A rollback of the Opportunity Scholarship program would have the approval of many advocacy organizations that have long opposed the program\u2019s expansion, in part because spending on the program represents to them money that could have been spent on public schools. \u201cThis is big money that’s being siphoned out of our public schools, which means public schools are being starved of having more having staff in the building, having resources like literal supplies, paper, pencil, books, curriculum, all of those things,\u201d said Christina Cole, president of the North Carolina Association of Educators.<\/p>\n But the program has the support of other groups that caution a rollback of the program means a financial conundrum for some families. \u201cWe\u2019ve got to ask, how is this a victory for education in our state?\u201d said Mike Long, president of Parents for Educational Freedom in North Carolina. \u201cBecause it wouldn\u2019t be. Because it would unequivocally deny 100,000 children whose families are pleased with the education that they\u2019re receiving. It\u2019s going to disrupt that and they\u2019re not going to know what to do.\u201d<\/p>\n Approving a budget: Reives has expressed optimism about reaching bipartisan agreement on a state budget, even if the Senate is controlled by Republicans. State lawmakers typically approve a comprehensive state spending plan every biennium, in odd-numbered years. However, after approving a budget in 2023, Republican legislative leaders failed to reach consensus on a spending plan in 2025 \u2014 citing disputes over tax rates, capital projects and more. Berger and House Speaker Destin Hall didn\u2019t reach a tentative agreement<\/a> until late June, with Stein signing it<\/a> into law in July. Reives said he hopes the election results incentivize Republicans on a bipartisan solution.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThey can have the approach of \u2026 \u2018Oh, we’ll take this all back in [2028,] and we’ll just be the party of no up until that time,\u2019 which is not what North Carolinians or the United States voted for. Or [Republicans] can say: \u2018This is a time that we can actually put in some real reforms,\u201d Reives said.\u00a0<\/p>\n Redistricting reform: Democrats have called on Republican state lawmakers to enact redistricting reform, and Reives said his caucus will likely bring forth legislation to that effect.\u00a0<\/p>\n States traditionally redraw election maps every 10 years, after the U.S. Census Bureau publishes its decennial report on state populations. Redistricting has occurred on a more frequent basis in North Carolina in recent years, however, either because of court mandates or because legislators redrew them voluntarily. Maps approved by the GOP-controlled North Carolina General Assembly in 2023 gave Republicans an advantage in a majority of congressional and legislative districts.\u00a0<\/p>\n State lawmakers then tweaked the maps again last year to place more Republican voters in North Carolina\u2019s 1st Congressional District, held by Democratic U.S. Rep. Don Davis. It was part of a national effort in some Republican-led states to help keep a majority in the U.S. House. Democrats responded in some states they led with their own redistricting. Davis\u00a0 won reelection<\/a> last week, and Democrats took control of the U.S. House.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat I want to see is a permanent solution,\u201d Reives said. \u201cSo any solution you see about independent redistricting will be something that the next legislature won’t be able to just throw out and start doing bad things again.\u201d<\/p>\n Data centers: Reives said he believes local governments should be allowed to ban data center construction if they so choose, while acknowledging that some municipal moratoriums might conflict with state law<\/a> that Republican legislators passed in 2024 that makes it harder to downzone property. The law was tucked in a wide-ranging bill aimed at providing relief to victims of Hurricane Helene, which caused $60 billion in damages to western North Carolina when it hit in September 2024. Reives said he disagrees with the law and hopes to empower municipalities to make their own decisions. \u201cThere are tons of municipalities and counties that would love to have a data center there. So it’s not about agreeing with data centers or not agreeing with data centers, the question is: who should make that decision?\u201d Reives said.\u00a0<\/p>\n