Gov. Cooper vetoes private school vouchers and immigration enforcement orders

North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper vetoed legislation Friday that allocates several hundred million dollars to an expanded private school voucher program and orders sheriffs to cooperate with federal immigrant agents looking for people in the country illegally who have been brought into county jails.

Cooper's veto was anticipated — the Democratic governor is a longtime critic of spending taxpayer dollars to help families send their K-12 children to private and religious schools. The bill in part funds grants for this fall for children from families at all income levels who qualify. Cooper had already vetoed two previous versions of the immigration bill in 2019 and 2022.

Unlike those previous years, when enough Democrats were seated at the General Assembly to uphold Cooper's vetoes, Republicans now hold narrow veto-proof majorities in both chambers. Cooper had vetoed 27 bills since 2023 before Friday. Twenty-six have been overridden, and the other veto is poised to be overturned, too.

After floor votes last week to approve this latest vetoed bill, legislative leaders said they likely would consider additional overrides in the fall. They would have to act by year's end or lawmakers would have to start over and advance a new bill. Cooper would need support from some Republicans to succeed.

"There is still time to stop the expansion of private school vouchers," Cooper said at a news conference surrounded by educators and current and former elected officials from rural counties. "Wealthy people will never let their private school vouchers be taken away if we don't stop it now."

The vetoed measure combined the two provisions within a supplemental spending bill that also included $377 million for Medicaid and $160 million to address enrollment growth in public schools and community colleges.

House and Senate GOP leaders signed off on the compromise bill earlier this month. The two chambers had been unable to agree on broad adjustments to the second year of the two-year state budget before they adjourned this year's chief work session in late June.

The compromise legislation transfers $463.5 million more to the state's Opportunity Scholarship program for this school year and next in order to eliminate a waitlist of roughly 54,000 children.

It's the result of a large increase in applications for this school year as legislators in 2023 did away with income limits on families to qualify. There were otherwise enough funds available for scholarships for over 45,000 new student applicants and past recipients, nearly all of whom are in low- and middle-income families, according to the state budget office.

Republicans said earlier this year that providing full funding for these scholarships was a top priority. But House Speaker Tim Moore said later that the GOP caucus also wanted any legislation to include additional funds for public schools. Legislators previously agreed to spend roughly $12 billion for K-12 public education this fiscal year.

The bill "bolsters our state's growing public schools and gives parents a greater say in their child's educational environment," Senate leader Phil Berger said in a news release after the veto, adding it was past time for Cooper "to acknowledge that North Carolina can have both a well-funded public school system and robust school choice options."

The program is now supposed to be "universal," meaning even students from the richest families would get scholarship payments, albeit smaller amounts than poorer families.

Cooper and speakers from rural areas of the state argued Friday that the expanded program would devastate public schools over time, particularly in small counties, when they miss out on per-pupil funding should students go to private schools instead.

The bill also adjusts upward planned annual giving by the legislature to the Opportunity Scholarship, reaching $800 million annually by the early 2030s.

The veto protects every child's right to a quality public education, Washington County Schools board Chair Carlos Riddick said. "Our public schools are the cornerstone of the opportunity and we must invest in them, not dismantle them."

The bill also tells county sheriffs to comply with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detainers that identify jail inmates believed to be in the country unlawfully and who have been charged with the most serious crimes. Those inmates would be held up to 48 hours under a judicial official's order so ICE agents could pick them up.

Republican advocates of the immigration provisions say they're necessary because several sheriffs in predominantly Democratic counties are disregarding ICE detainers, threatening public safety. Opponents argue it would unconstitutionally target North Carolina's Hispanic population, harming families and reducing trust in local law enforcement.