North Carolina's high-pressure state budget negotiations continued Saturday, and Republican leadership appear to be working on a new plan that could pair a massive expansion in Medicaid health insurance for the working poor with authorization for four new casinos — a plan that already earned a rebuke from the governor.

The top Senate Republican released a version of the proposed casino legislation to Democrats on Saturday night, Sen. Phil Berger's office confirmed.

Other WRAL Top Stories

House Republican lawmakers met Saturday on the plan after multiple budget negotiators told WRAL News on Friday that major progress had been made in budget negotiations that fell apart earlier in the week over expanded gambling.

At one point Medicaid expansion, new casinos and the state’s $30-billion budget were tied up in one bill. Now those elements appear to be broken into two bills: One for the budget and one pairing expansion and the casinos.

The move could force Democrats supporting Medicaid expansion to back the Republican casino plan and offer conservative Republicans who oppose the gambling proposal or Medicaid expansion to vote for the state budget without approving the Medicaid/gambling bill.

Two people familiar with the negotiations said that, under the new deal, Medicaid expansion could still depend on the budget passing. Full details of how these measures would interact were still being negotiated late Saturday. Medicaid expansion has been tied to the budget since this spring. The legislature’s Republican majority passed Medicaid expansion this legislative session after blocking it for 13 years, but with a caveat that gives them leverage over Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper: If the budget doesn't pass, expansion doesn’t happen.

Cooper, who has long championed Medicaid expansion, fired back at the latest proposal on social media, signing the post with his initials to indicate he wrote the post himself. Democrats are expected to meet Sunday night to discuss their options.

"GOP demand for passage of their backroom casino deal in exchange for a state budget and Medicaid expansion is the most brutally dishonest legislative scheme I’ve seen in my 3+ decades," Cooper wrote on social media. "People are right to be suspicious. Something has a grip on Republican leaders and it’s not the people of NC."

Sen. Phil Berger, R-Rockingam, the Senate leader, has been a chief proponent of the legislation, which calls for casinos in three counties as part of a “rural tourism incentive program.” Expanded gambling — through casinos and the statewide legalization of video lottery terminals — has been a sticking point in budget negotiations between the House and Senate.

“The purpose of this program is to encourage and promote tourism in rural counties on the state border and along major transportation corridors,” the proposed legislation says. “The program will allow for gaming, which is a new and expanding component of the tourism industry and is currently allowed in North Carolina on certain Indian lands. As many contiguous states allow gaming, those industry business opportunities and employment opportunities are being lost to this state.”

The new version contains some differences from an earlier draft version that was first obtained and published by WRAL in July.

One big difference: The previous legislation called for one entity to develop three sites around the state, while the latest version allows the secretary of administration to pick different entities to develop each of the sites. The new legislation allows the secretary to choose a single business for multiple sites.

Under the current proposal, the casinos would pay a 22.5% tax on gross gaming revenue. Counties that have a casino would receive 5% of the net proceeds of the taxes collected in that county.

House Speaker Tim Moore previously confirmed that Anson, Nash and Rockingham counties would be the sites of the proposed casinos.

The Lumbee Tribe would be allowed to operate a casino in one or more of the following counties: Bladen, Brunswick, Columbus, Hoke, New Hanover, Richmond, Robeson and/or Scotland.

Currently, there are three casinos in North Carolina, all located on tribal lands — two run by the Cherokee and one by the Catwaba.

Correction: An earlier version included an incorrect county for casinos. They are Anson, Nash and Rockingham.