Governor Roy Cooper laid out his vision for North Carolina in an inaugural address Saturday morning.
He said he wants to expand Medicaid, focus on economic problems instead of social issues, and called on lawmakers and residents to rise above partisan politics.
“I don’t think anyone believes that North Carolina families sit around the kitchen table every night, thinking that their lives would change for the better if only the legislature would spend its time on the hot-button social issue of the day,” said Cooper.
Later in the address, the Governor was more specific.
“House Bill 2 is exactly the kind of social issue we don’t need on our books,” he said. “This law is isolated and hurt a lot of people, damaged our state’s reputation and cost our economy hundreds of millions of dollars - that could have paid our teachers and firefighters or built new highways.”
Cooper also called for more funding for public higher education, early childhood education, and teacher pay.
Cooper’s speech was originally scheduled to be part of Saturday’s public inauguration and parade. But due to weather, he gave his 14 minute address to a television-only audience.
