During her announcement that the state’s budget gap has shrunk by $1 billion (a dubious claim itself), Gov. Perdue declared: “My administration’s work on jobs and economic growth has meant more than 50,000 new jobs for this state, with an investment of $10.4 billion. That work is finally paying off.” These job numbers seemed odd to [...]
Balanced Budget Act tentatively approved by House after testy debate
The debate took over three hours but SB13 was given tentative approval by a 66-51 vote. Democrats objected to third reading so the bill will be on the House calendar Thursday. The proposal lets the Governor find $400 million in savings in this year’s budget but goes beyond that to find another nearly $400 million in [...]
State Senate tentatively approves $800 million in savings and cuts for current budget
While the Governor asked permission to cut $400 million from the current budget SB13 goes much further by finding another $400 million in savings. That includes transferring money from several funds including the Golden LEAF, the business incentive fund, and the Governor’s One North Carolina fund. Republican Senator Richard Stevens said the transfers involved money that [...]
State Senate Republicans going after the “devil in the details”
GOP Senators Harry Brown and David Rouzer want to take a close look at rules that are written covering laws passed by the General Assembly and those written by state agencies. They want to establish a Joint Regulatory Reform Committee. The panel would take input from the public and businesses on rules that are unnecessary or unduly [...]
State budget writers told economy is rebounding but another year until robust growth
Members of a joint legislative budget panel were told by fiscal researchers revenue collections are on target but still below what is estimated for a new budget. Here’s what the budget writers will have to consider for budget increases: $300 million for retirement pensions $150 million more for the State Health Plan $110 million in [...]
