| |
Last week, after nearly 15 hours of floor debate, House lawmakers voted 72-47 to give final approval to the chamber's $19.3 billion spending plan for next year. The lynchpin of the House budget is the expiration of a pair of temporary tax increases that Republicans promised to do away with during the 2010 campaign. However, their expiration will result in at least $1.3 billion less in revenue. The plan also spends $650 million less than Gov. Perdue proposed in her budget for public schools, the University of North Carolina system and community college system, and 11 percent less than what was required to keep services running at current levels. Republicans argue the overall cut is less than half of that percentage when compared to projected annual spending this current fiscal year. Democrats argue more than 20,000 jobs could be lost in the House budget. Republicans say that number is exaggerated.
Five Democrats joined Republicans in voting for the GOP plan, so there may be enough votes in the House to override Gov. Perdue’s promised veto. The bill now goes to the Senate, which will create its own version that was rumored to attempt to rework the level of reductions in the public schools and the UNC system. However, the Democratic defections on the House side have caused Senate Republicans to reassess how they will form the budget in the next few weeks. Meaning, the budget could run through the Senate at warp speed and be sent to the Governor largely in-tact. The Senate's GOP majority is already veto-proof as long as Republicans remain unified. And, just to add fuel to the fire, Gov. Perdue said she's not concerned that five House Democrats voted for the spending plan when she said, "They will be with me when the going gets tough. If we have to make hard decisions, I can take that to the bank." It will be interesting to see how the game of “budget roulette” advances. |
|
