A Message From Karl

In my third term, I have been the primary sponsor on 21 bills and co-sponsored many others.

One of the most important bills was the 2026 Appropriation Act, I was happy to support this legislation.  Below are some of the highlights of this legislation.

Salary Package

• Teachers
  • 8% average raise for teachers.
  • This is the highest average raise in decades (2006) and the highest teacher pay raise since Republicans took power.
  • Starting teacher pay increased to 53,838 ($48,000 base pay+ local supplements.)
  • Teacher Bonuses:
    • $500 for teachers 0-15 years.
    • $1,000 for teachers 16+ years.
  • On average, teachers with 25+ years of experience would earn an estimated $72,847 including State and local supplements.
  • This proposal would continue a trend of historically large Republican-led investments in teacher pay. Under GOP leadership, teacher pay has risen faster and more consistently than under previous Democrat-controlled governments.
• State Employees
  • 3% across-the-board raise.
  • Non-Teacher Bonuses:
    • $1,750 for those making less than $65,000.
    • $1,000 for those making more than $65,000.
• Retirees
  • 2.5% across-the-board COLA bonuses.

     

• Law Enforcement/NCSHP/Correctional Officers
  • Minimum 13% across-the-board raise for state law enforcement and correctional officers at the Department of Adult Corrections
  • 15% increase for sworn members of the State Highway Patrol.
  • 16.2% increase for sworn law enforcement of the State Bureau of Investigation and Alcohol Law Enforcement paid per an experience-based salary schedule.
  • Local law enforcement officers will receive a one-time $1,750 bonus.

Tax Package

Current Personal Income Tax reduction schedule:

• • 3.49% beginning as early as tax year 2027 if triggers are met
  • 2.99% beginning as early as tax year 2028 if additional revenue triggers are met
  • 2.49% beginning as early as tax year 2029 if final revenue triggers are met
  • Additional trigger opportunities continue through tax year 2034 if prior triggers are not met earlier.
• Revised Personal Income Tax reduction schedule:
  • 3.49% for tax years 2027–2029
  • 3.24% for tax years 2030–2032
  • 2.99% for tax years 2033–2034
  • After 2034, allow up to two additional 0.25% reductions—from 2.99% to 2.74%, and then from 2.74% to 2.49%—but only if new revenue triggers are met.

General Fund

• Provides $25 million nonrecurring for the Workforce Housing Loan Program and $10 million nonrecurring for the Housing Trust Fund to support affordable housing development.  

Highlights by Budget Area

NER

• $54.4M for Farmland Preservation to preserve rural working lands under intense development pressure. 
• $45M towards Emerging Contaminant Mitigation Fund to assist and support local governments in identifying and remediating PFAS. 
• $5M towards Tobacco Trust Fund to support economic opportunities across rural NC. 
• $7M for NC Zoo’s Asia, capping a decade-long zoo expansion project

Helene 

• $700 million in additional relief funding, including:
  • $450 million to cover the State and local share of costs for federal disaster recovery programs such as the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) Public Assistance Program, the Hazard Mitigation Grant Program, and direct federal assistance from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
  • $65 million for FEMA-ineligible local government disaster recovery capital projects, including up to $30 million for volunteer fire departments
  • $43 million to non-profit organizations for housing and private road/bridge recovery projects.
  • $40 million to the Division of Community Revitalization at the Department of Commerce for the Temporary Relocation Assistance program to facilitate and expedite housing recovery projects
  • $22 million for State-supported private road/bridge recovery projects

 JPS

• $30M in School Safety Grants that provides funds to support students in crisis, school safety training, and the purchase of safety equipment. 
• Provides funding for 24 SBI positions to support investigations and enforcement activities related to drug crimes, vapor product laws, and other areas of SBI jurisdiction. 
• 18 new Assistant District Attorney (ADA) positions across the state and funding to support 4 additional ADA’s to serve as Special Assistant United States Attorneys. 
• 10 Capital Criminal Appeal Attorneys to meet the new timeline and increased caseload created by Iryna’s Law.
• Dominique Moody Act, introducing advanced data-driven oversight and shifts structural accountability within the state’s child protection laws.

IT

• Provides $60 million for new and existing enterprise cybersecurity tools, including $42 million from the Information Technology (IT) Reserve.
• Provides $25 million in funds from the IT Reserve for a new data management model for State government.

HHS

• Child Care: 
  • Provides an additional $100.8 million from various federal block grants for subsidized child care. Funds will go towards increasing provider reimbursement rates, implementing a statewide rate floor, and decreasing waitlists
• Additional Increases for State operated Health Facility Nurses, including those who work under the Department of Adult Corrections. Brings their total salary increase to 5.5%
• Provides funds to increase the wages of direct care workers who provide services for individuals on the State’s Innovations waiver and for Personal Care Services.
• Provides $4M R to DHHS to Increase Program integrity and oversight of the Medicaid Program.
• Provides $847.0 million recurring and $200.0 million nonrecurring for the Medicaid rebase.
• Provides 32 FTE and over $15M R to help DHHS and County DSS offices handle the increased workload of HR 1.

Gen Gov

• N.C. State Board of Elections
  • 14 New FTEs.
  • The large number of new FTEs for a pretty small department is notable by itself. Highlights Republican commitment to supporting the new elections system under Auditor.
• Office of State Auditor
  • 25 New FTEs.
• GenGov cut funding for DEI contracting programs administered by HUB. This budget eliminates the funding for the HUB department completely.
• A new $2.5M appropriation for “Medicaid Waste and Abuse” investigation.

Transportation

The Transportation Budget invests $5.9 billion in North Carolina’s transportation network focused on enhancing DMV services, roads, bridges, transportation safety, ferries, airports, and infrastructure resilience.

With substantial State investments bringing DMV’s total funding to $237.8 million, North Carolina residents can expect shorter DMV wait times, expanded driver license office hours, and new DMV locations.

A few of these highlights for DMV are noted as:

• $5.22 million to raise Driver License Examiner pay, increasing starting salary from approximately $44,200 to $52,000
• $3 million for additional driver license and ID card production capacity
• $3 million for new DMV compliance and oversight staff
• $1.94 million for extended weekday hours and year-round Saturday service at busy DMV offices
• $1.37 million for new DMV offices
• $760,722 to operate four newly authorized driver license offices

In addition to these improvements to DMV, the State has also invested heavily into transportation infrastructure such as:

• Strengthening road maintenance in North Carolina by bringing the General Maintenance Reserve to $963.2 million statewide.
• Investing $24.2 million in safety projects through the Spot Safety Program, including roadway improvements, traffic signals, signage, lighting, and the wildlife crossings program.
• Investing in aviation infrastructure, including $32 million in regional airport grants.
• Funding pavement preservation and bridge programs to extend the life of existing infrastructure while simultaneously increasing safety and protecting taxpayer dollars.

I currently have the following leadership and committee assignments which give me an opportunity to impact North Carolina policy:

• House Majority Whip
• Chair of the Appropriations-Agriculture, Natural and Economic Resources Committee,
• Chair of the Environment Committee
• Vice-Chair of Agriculture, Vice-Chair of Appropriations
• Vice-Chair of Federal Relations and American-Indian Affairs
• Vice-Chair of Wildlife Resources
• Vice-Chair of the Joint Legislative Oversight Committee on Agriculture and Natural and Economic Resources
• Member of Disaster Recovery and Homeland Security

To achieve this, our campaign needs your help raising money. Please consider contributing whatever you can afford. Every dollar we raise is critical and your generosity will help to ensure our district continues to have a strong advocate in Raleigh.

If you want to contribute, please click on contribute and give what you can. Or, if you prefer to mail a check please send it to the address listed below. I commit to you that I will spend every dollar wisely and every dollar will go toward making North Carolina a better place for us, our children, and our grandchildren. Thank you in advance for your contribution and support!

Respectfully,
Karl E. Gillespie
[email protected]
PO Box 742
Franklin, NC 28744
828-371-2220