Cutting your income taxes in half

North Carolina is cutting its income-tax rate in half, from 7.75% to a scheduled 3.49%, and Michael has voted for every single cut since joining the Senate and helped write the budget that schedules the next one. He has helped cut billions in taxes for North Carolina families and businesses, and a married couple now pays zero state income tax on the first $25,500 they earn.

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No state taxes on military retirement pay

Michael voted for the 2021 law that ended state income taxes on military retirement pay for career and medically retired service members and their survivors. For the thousands of military retirees who call our coast home, that is real money back every year.

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Building the Nation's Strongest Economy

 

The No. 1 economy in America

CNBC ranks North Carolina's economy No. 1 in the nation in 2026, and has named us America's Top State for Business three times in the last five years, with a first or second place finish every year for six straight years. As Senate Majority Leader, Michael helps write the pro-growth budgets behind that record.

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Championing Wilmington's film industry

Film means local jobs: carpenters, caterers, crews, and small businesses. Michael helped triple the film grant in 2015, helped make $31 million a year recurring, and sponsored the 2026 budget provisions that created the state's first micro-budget film incentive and a new bonus for major multi-production investment.

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Strengthening Education

 

Student outcomes first

Michael measures education by one thing: whether students are learning. As Senate Education Chairman, he co-authored the Excellent Public Schools Act of 2021, the law that put the Science of Reading in every North Carolina elementary classroom. More than 44,000 educators have completed the training, and our earliest grades now outperform national benchmarks in reading. North Carolina also has more National Board Certified Teachers than any other state, a certification that is proven to improve student outcomes and earns a 12% boost in base pay.

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Every teacher raise since 2014

Michael has voted for every teacher pay raise North Carolina has passed since 2014, starting with the largest average raise in the nation in his first budget. That run has lifted starting teacher pay 45%, from $33,000 to $48,000, and the newest budget he helped write delivers an average 8% teacher pay increase, with state and local salary supplements on top.

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A new way to do school

Michael believes students should earn credit for what they can do, not just for hours in a seat. He helped create and fund SparkNC, where students master artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, and software development in flexible, competency-based learning labs, with New Hanover County Schools as a founding district. He helped launch Access to Achievement, the community college program training students with intellectual and developmental disabilities for real careers, and sponsored this year's expansion from 15 campuses to 25. The 2026 budget he helped write also funds a statewide Digital Credential Program, so students own a portable record of every credential they earn, and starts the work of replacing the state's decades-old school funding formula with one that follows each student.

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A record investment in education

The 2026 budget invests a record $19.4 billion in education, more than half of the entire state budget, including $12.5 billion a year for K-12 public schools, up more than $4 billion since Michael joined the Senate.

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Expanding Access to Health Care

 

Health coverage for working families

Michael served on the bipartisan committee on health care access, then voted for the 2023 law that expanded coverage to working people who earn too much for traditional assistance but too little to afford insurance. More than 650,000 North Carolinians have gained coverage.

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Removing barriers to more providers

Michael introduced legislation to repeal outdated certificate-of-need barriers, and the 2026 budget he helped write repealed that review for inpatient-rehabilitation services, facilities, and beds, removing a barrier to additional competition and capacity close to home.

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Building the state's first children's hospital

The 2026 budget Michael helped write delivers $208.5 million for NC Children's, the first standalone children's hospital in North Carolina: 500 beds, an outpatient care center, and a dedicated children's behavioral health center, built by UNC Health and Duke Health. It adds to the $320 million the state previously committed.

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Protecting Clean Water

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First to act on GenX

Within four months of the news breaking, Michael authored the state's first GenX response: funding for treatment research right here in the Cape Fear region and water monitoring that grew into the most comprehensive statewide PFAS monitoring network in the country. He has authored a Water Safety Act in every term he has served since, and every one became law through that cycle's state budget.

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Making polluters, not families, pay for replacement water

Because of the 2018 Water Safety Act Michael sponsored, the party responsible for PFAS contamination, not the well owner, must provide replacement drinking water. And under the 2026 budget, every dollar the State recovers from PFAS polluters in court goes straight into the new clean-water fund.

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More than $100 million for clean water

The 2023 budget Michael supported included $110 million for this county's water systems: $35 million for CFPUA, $30 million for the Lower Cape Fear Water and Sewer Authority, and $45 million for New Hanover County water and wastewater needs. The 2026 budget he helped write adds the largest state PFAS investment ever, anchored by a $45 million Emerging Contaminant Mitigation Fund, and placed a moratorium on new transfers of water out of the Cape Fear River basin.

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Investing in infrastructure and quality of life

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New Hanover County Airport

Across the 2023 and 2026 budgets, Michael supported nearly $27 million for ILM airport parking, expansion, and improvements.

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Schools and colleges we rely on

Budgets Michael supported invested $32.38 million in UNCW workforce research, student transition, and capital in 2023, and the 2026 budget he helped write added $29.2 million more for UNCW facilities. They also delivered $30 million for Cape Fear Community College health-program facilities and $4 million for Southeast Area Technical High School.

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Planning for what comes next

This year Michael introduced the FUTURE NC Infrastructure Act to create a long-term state plan for the roads, water systems, and public infrastructure a growing North Carolina will need. Recent budgets he supported also invested in Fort Fisher, Carolina Beach Lake dredging, and the coastal resources that define our county.

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Supporting Safe Communities

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Investing in the people who protect us

The 2026 budget Michael helped write funds a $1,750 bonus for local law-enforcement officers, total raises of 15% for sworn Highway Patrol personnel, 16.2% step increases on the SBI law-enforcement schedule, and 13% step increases for correctional officers. It also includes $30 million for school-safety grants and $14.3 million for critical-incident school mapping.