North Carolina Gov. Cooper to deliver State of the State speech Monday night

FILE – North Carolina Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper holds a news conference in the state Administration Building on Tuesday, Nov. 16, 2021, in Raleigh, N.C.…

FILE – North Carolina Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper holds a news conference in the state Administration Building on Tuesday, Nov. 16, 2021, in Raleigh, N.C. North Carolina, the nation’s ninth-largest state, was the last to enact a budget for 2021. The governor’s signature capped a year in which Cooper agreed with Republican House Speaker Tim Moore and Republican Senate leader Phil Berger that good-faith negotiations, rather than stalemate, was the path to take. (AP Photo/Bryan Anderson, File)

by: Associated Press

Posted: Mar 6, 2023 / 02:29 PM EST

Updated: Mar 6, 2023 / 02:31 PM EST

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper is readying for what is likely his final State of the State address.

The General Assembly invited the Democratic governor to speak Monday night in Raleigh to a joint meeting of the House and Senate.

The State of the State address happens every two years, and this will be Cooper’s fourth since taking office in 2017. The state constitution bars him from seeking reelection in 2024.

Cooper is likely to highlight his legislative agenda. Republican legislative leaders announced last week that they had succeeded on one of Cooper’s long-sought goals — an agreement on expanding Medicaid coverage to hundreds of thousands of low-income adults.

The address and a pre-recorded Republican response Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson will air locally and be streamed online. Robinson is widely expected to run to try to succeed Cooper next year.