NC lawmakers move to increase funding for legislative police department by $2.5M

Avi Bajpai, The News & Observer on Oct 21, 2025

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State lawmakers are moving to increase funding for the legislative police department that is tasked with protecting legislators, staff and visitors to the North Carolina General Assembly.

Republican leaders unveiled a limited, small-scale spending bill on Tuesday, amid stalled negotiations on a full two-year state budget, that they said would address some pressing funding needs across state government.

Among the provisions in the 17-page bill GOP budget that negotiators agreed on is $2.5 million in annual funding to support the General Assembly Police Department’s “legislative operations” and the powers and duties of its sworn officers, “including staffing, training, equipment, and protective operations.”

Senate leader Phil Berger, speaking with reporters after a voting session Tuesday afternoon, said GOP leaders wanted to make sure the police department had “adequate resources” to protect lawmakers from threats.

The increase in funding comes as elected officials across the state and the country have grappled with a rise in political violence and threats. State lawmakers have faced threats that have resulted in criminal charges and prosecution.

In June, the State Bureau of Investigation arrested Anthony Wayne Street of Brunswick County for allegedly threatening to kill state lawmakers over a since-defeated proposal to ban shrimp trawling in the state’s sounds.

Back in 2019, police at the General Assembly arrested a man for attempting to bring a handgun and two loaded magazines into the Legislative Building. The man had a scheduled meeting with the late Rep. Joe John, a Democrat from Wake County.

Democrats said the funding is very much needed and praised the General Assembly police for their work to protect lawmakers, but said they were concerned that some requests for protection at events outside the Legislative Building had been denied.

Sen. Kandie Smith, a Greenville Democrat who chairs the Legislative Black Caucus, said she had requested police protection for an event in Asheville earlier this month but was told the group would need to hire outside security.

Other provisions in the spending bill unveiled Tuesday included funding for the State Highway Patrol, repairs and renovations at the State Fairgrounds, and the sale of state property in Raleigh.

The spending bill passed the Senate unanimously, 46-0, even as Democrats criticized Republicans for not coming together to act on other funding needs like raises for state workers and money to avoid state-level cuts to Medicaid.

The bill now goes to the House, where lawmakers could take up the bill as early as Tuesday evening.