CHARLOTTE, N.C. — North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper will give his final address as the state's top executive Wednesday as he wraps up his second term in office.
Cooper, who served as attorney general before defeating Gov. Pat McCrory in 2016, will deliver the speech from Nash County, where he grew up. The governor is scheduled to speak at 11 a.m. The address will be streamed live on WCNC+ and the WCNC Charlotte mobile app.
Cooper is expected to highlight some of his accomplishments as governor, including expanding Medicaid in North Carolina. State officials say the expansion brings over $500 million a month to North Carolina for health insurance. Over 600,000 people enrolled within the first year, something Cooper called a "remarkable accomplishment."
"This was a dream a decade in the making that finally became a reality and also unlocked almost a billion dollars in new investments in mental health and addiction treatment that we know go hand-in-hand with staying healthy," Cooper said.
Cooper has said his final months in office would be dedicated to Hurricane Helene relief for western North Carolina. Still, a public power struggle between the governor and the Republican-led General Assembly brought on a lawsuit from Cooper and Gov.-elect Josh Stein over a controversial aid bill that also strips powers from certain high-ranking Democrats.