N Carolina budget gets final OK, quickly signed by Cooper

A final North Carolina budget bill is now law after Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper signed it almost as soon as the legislature placed it on his desk. The General Assembly gave its final approval on Thursday to a two-year state spending plan with a vote in the House. The Senate gave its final OK on Wednesday. The bill passed by wide margins in large part to the fact that Cooper announced this week he’d sign the measure into law, saying the good inside outweighed the items he disliked. The budget was supposed to be in place July 1. There were several weeks of negotiations by House Speaker Tim Moore, Senate leader Phil Berger and Cooper.