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As the year draws to a close in politically divided North Carolina, hostilities have eased somewhat between the Democratic governor and majority-Republican lawmakers, both of whom recently agreed on a comprehensive budget more than three years after the last one was approved.聽

Last month, second-term Gov. Roy Cooper signed聽a two-year, $53 billion state budget bill聽penned by GOP legislative leaders that was four and a half months late, and with lots inside for him to dislike, such as provisions that rein in his emergency powers and phase out corporate income taxes. And there are only plans to study the broad Medicaid expansion he鈥檚 sought for years, with no promise for an actual vote.

Two years ago, Governor Cooper vetoed the spending bill. But this year, there was enough in it to make him sign, including an avalanche of surplus funds that Republicans were happy to direct toward myriad projects across the state, including broadband expansion and water treatment plant repairs.

鈥淭he good outweighed the bad, and it was time to move forward,鈥� Mr. Cooper said in an interview with The Associated Press. 鈥淭here鈥檚 been a long time since we鈥檝e had a budget, and [vetoing] it would have at that time stopped everything.鈥�

North Carolina, the nation鈥檚 ninth-largest state, was the last to enact a budget for 2021.

The governor鈥檚 signature capped a year in which Mr. Cooper agreed with Republican House Speaker Tim Moore and Republican Senate leader Phil Berger that good-faith negotiations, rather than stalemate, were needed.

The two sides also passed compromise legislation requiring more students聽to return to in-person classes聽earlier this year; raising police accountability standards; and making North Carolina the first southeastern state to聽establish greenhouse gas emission reduction requirements. And they celebrated announcements that聽Apple will build its first East Coast campus聽and聽Toyota its first North American battery plant聽in the state, thanks in part to approved incentives.

鈥淚 think we鈥檝e worked to try and make a difference,鈥� Mr. Cooper said, and 鈥渨e鈥檝e come together on some historic legislation that鈥檚 going to make this state better.鈥�

Conflict between Mr. Cooper and the General Assembly hasn鈥檛 ebbed fully.聽The governor used his veto stamp on 16 bills this year, and none of the vetoes have been overturned. His fights with the Republicans began even before he was sworn in. Just two days before taking office in January 2017, the then-outgoing attorney general began suing GOP legislators for passing laws shifting gubernatorial powers to themselves.

In 2019, Governor Cooper vetoed the budget bill, insisting that Medicaid expansion be negotiated. The GOP disagreed, and聽a conventional spending plan was never approved聽for the first time in recent state history. There was no government shutdown, yet many agencies operated at previous-year levels.

Then COVID-19 arrived, as did billions of dollars in federal relief. A 2020 election to determine control of state government didn鈥檛 change a thing: Governor Cooper won reelection, and Republicans maintained majorities that weren鈥檛 veto-proof.

Some Democratic legislators who were committed to upholding Mr. Cooper鈥檚 2019 budget veto were determined this year to enact a plan. Massive amounts for building construction and other special projects sprinkled nearly everywhere in the budget appeared to give Republicans leverage, too.

鈥淲e had funding in there to touch the lives of every North Carolinian,鈥� said Rep. Charles Graham, a Democrat who was one of the budget negotiators. Failing to enact a budget, Mr. Graham added, 鈥渨ould have not been ... good leadership.鈥�

Governor Cooper managed enough concessions, particularly on education spending, to accept the final product.

鈥淭o his credit, he really wanted to make sure that we had a budget, and he was willing to sign a budget,鈥� state Senator Berger said in a recent interview.

GOP Rep. Jason Saine, a top House budget writer, said that Mr. Cooper, who is term-limited from serving beyond 2024, may have felt pressure to sign a budget because he had never done so.

鈥淭he [game] board has changed a little bit. And I think anybody that seeks that office, whether Republican or Democrat, they鈥檝e got to think about their legacy, too,鈥� Mr. Saine said.

More than 50 Democrats ended up voting for the bill after Governor Cooper signaled he鈥檇 sign it. Criticism from Mr. Cooper鈥檚 allies was muted or directed at Republicans.

鈥淎fter working for the past two years during the pandemic with no raises and no state budgets, educators have every reason to be disappointed,鈥� North Carolina Association of Educators President Tamika Walker Kelly said in a video. The 5% average pay raises for teachers, for example, was only half what Mr. Cooper had sought.

Mac McCorkle, a Duke University instructor and former adviser to North Carolina鈥檚 two previous Democratic governors, said it was a 鈥渃lose call鈥� but believes Mr. Cooper did the right thing.

鈥淲hile the die-hard partisans want a bitter fight to the end 鈥� on both sides 鈥� a lot of other people, people who voted for Roy Cooper, think that the governor should be cooperative, and should collaborate, and that budgets should be signed,鈥� Mr. McCorkle said.

This story was reported by The Associated Press.