Berger outlines priorities, calls for unity ahead of 2026 session

Senate Leader Phil Berger is calling on lawmakers to continue building on years of conservative policy success as the General Assembly prepares for the 2026 short session next week.

In a column released ahead of the session, Berger said, “The 2026 short session presents a chance to further North Carolina’s economic progress.”

He credited Republican lawmakers, since taking control of the General Assembly in 2011, with reshaping the state’s economy and policy landscape.

“From the day voters gave Republicans control of the General Assembly after over a century of Democratic rule, we’ve made progress on numerous fronts — tax cuts, regulatory reform, restrained spending, K-12 education reforms, parental school choice expansion, transformational university stewardship, and more,” Berger wrote. “Our state is the national leader in smart, conservative governance.” 

Berger also pointed to accomplishments from the 2025 long session, highlighting a range of policy areas where lawmakers reached agreement.

“Working together, the House and Senate enacted reforms to make our communities safer, take important strides toward energy availability and affordability, protect women’s sports, define the two sexes in state law, and impose accountability for those who commit serious crimes,” he wrote. 

Still, Berger acknowledged that not all issues had been resolved.

“Yes, there were matters — primarily those dealing with spending and taxation — on which progress was elusive,” he wrote. 

He added that those disagreements reflect internal diversity within the party, but expressed confidence in lawmakers’ ability to work through them.

“And even though those disagreements can sometimes be heated, I remain convinced that most of us see opportunity for mutually respectful debate and principled solutions,” Berger wrote. 

Looking ahead, Berger described North Carolina as being at a pivotal moment.

“North Carolina is at a critical inflection point, and we need to come together for the good of our state and to continue the progress made over the last decade and a half,” he wrote. 

He also tied state policy priorities to developments in Washington, arguing that federal and state Republicans are aligned in their goals.

“President Trump and Republicans at the federal level are implementing a national vision that is largely aligned with what we have instituted in North Carolina,” Berger wrote. “With that, new opportunities are now present for positive improvements in power generation and affordability, healthcare affordability through free market reforms, and to limit fraud in safety net programs so that those programs help citizens truly in need.” 

A central issue for the upcoming session will be the state budget, an area where lawmakers have struggled to reach an agreement.

“And yes, circumstances do exist for us to reach an agreement on a comprehensive state budget,” he wrote. “Our policy success is largely grounded on the continuing exercise of discipline on two fronts — tax reduction and spending restraint. Failure to adhere to fundamentals on either front will thwart sustaining progress in our never-ending competition with other states for economic growth, job creation, and a better future for our people.” 

He pointed to potential policy responses, including changes to property taxes and continued state-level tax cuts.

“We can do that, in part, with innovative and thoughtful reforms to ever-increasing property tax bills at the local level. We can also continue to provide tax relief at the state level,” Berger wrote. 

He also pushed back on critics of Republican fiscal policies.

“Our progress has been achieved despite the naysayers — the interest groups, the editorial writers, and of course, the Democrats — who have all falsely claimed a fiscally responsible approach to taxes and budgeting will cause catastrophe,” Berger wrote. “Proven wrong time and time again, they continue to repeat their same tired and erroneous refrain.” 

Berger urged lawmakers to stay focused on key policy challenges, like “crime, poverty, socialism, wasteful bureaucracy, and radical ideologies that prevent everyday North Carolinians from achieving the American dream.”

He concluded by emphasizing the importance of lawmaker decisions in the coming weeks.

“What we do today will impact North Carolina’s next 15 years,” Berger wrote. “My hope is to continue our solution-oriented approach to policy that has made North Carolina’s General Assembly the most successful and effective conservative legislative body in the country.” 

“Berger outlines priorities, calls for unity ahead of 2026 session” was originally published on www.carolinajournal.com.