Budget, jobs top state’s agenda (News and Record)
RALEIGH — In addition to budget tables and tax reports, lawmakers this summer may be reaching for a thesaurus to find new ways to say “bleak.”
The General Assembly returns to Raleigh on Wednesday with two majors goals: rebalancing the state budget and sparking job creation.
Although lawmakers mention other pending bits of legislation, those two goals are top of mind for legislative leadership in both chambers.
“I think we’re going to be spending a lot of time trying to look at the budget and making sure that the fallout of it all won’t devastate these different entities,” said Rep. Alma Adams, a Greensboro Democrat and one of the lead budget writers in the House.
Leaders in the House and Senate say there is little chance the General Assembly would vote to raise sales or income taxes this year. With the exception of a few fee increases, that leaves budget cutting as the only way to compensate for still-sluggish tax revenues.
Gov. Bev Perdue’s budget, which serves as a starting point for lawmakers, contains cuts to virtually every state agency, including public schools, community colleges and universities.
“The university folks are talking about these cuts having an impact on academic programs and the classroom,” Adams said. “There is not fat in these budgets anymore.”
That’s especially stark, considering education programs are among those legislative leaders and the governor say they are most likely to protect.
Lawmakers are also troubled by three other lurking issues:
• Stimulus money and a temporary tax increase that will help keep the state in the black next year both expire July 1. Any budget adjustment needs to anticipate what could be further spending cuts in 2011.
• Although Perdue’s budget proposal cuts about $1 billion, it is higher than the amount of money the state spent during the past 12 months. Even with what amounts to a slight boost in spending, department leaders across state government say they’ll have to slash services to comply with the cuts.
• Demands on government services such as Medicaid and subsidized child care are growing as a result of the same recession that has decimated tax revenue.
Aside from the budget, House and Senate leaders name few other measures as “must-do” items.
“We are really hoping to have a session this time that looks to small businesses,” Rep. Hugh Holliman told 20 constituents at Davidson Community College earlier this week.
Holliman backs a package of small business tax credits and other help for native North Carolina businesses proposed by Perdue.
Asked whether he thought the funding would be available to pay for such a measure, Holliman said, “Yes. It’s about jobs, and jobs is the number-one issue.”
House and Senate lawmakers say a package of campaign finance ethics reforms is likely to pass this summer. Those changes would be aimed at addressing a spate of recent stories surrounding former Gov. Mike Easley as well as a fundraiser who illegally bundled contributions for Perdue and Basnight.
“There is some opportunity to have some consensus there,” said Sen. Phil Berger, an Eden Republican and his party’s leader in the Senate.
Also, lawmakers say they will address the resurgent video poker industry. Although the legislature has twice voted to outlaw the games, a new brand of gambling known as video sweepstakes has proliferated throughout the state.
Republicans are in the minority in the House and Senate, but plan to push some measures despite likely opposition from Democrats.
For example, Berger said Republicans would push a bill that would allow North Carolinians to exempt themselves from certain parts of the federal health care reform bill. Perdue and other Democrats have shown little enthusiasm for bucking the measure, which was a key priority of Democrats in Washington.
Berger added he would also like to draft changes to the rules governing how quickly tax refunds need to be issued. In the past two years, residents have found themselves waiting for state refunds well after the federal refund came.
His measure, which is still being written, would shorten the length of time the state has to issue a refund before interest and penalties would be due to taxpayers.
Basnight said lawmakers could look at such an idea, but that it would not be in the top tier of priorities.
“Our real interest is the creation of jobs and the economy,” Basnight said.
Other measures likely to get some notice this coming session include:
• Transportation funding: The city of Greensboro is asking lawmakers for the authority to buy rights of way for state road projects. This would let the city loan DOT money to help speed along portions of the western Urban Loop.
“We’ve been told in no uncertain terms … that projects will be viewed more favorably where the local municipality has assisted,” said Councilman Robbie Perkins.
• Susie’s Law: Sen. Don Vaughan of Greensboro plans to introduce a bill that would increase the seriousness of punishments available in animal cruelty cases. The measure comes in the wake of a widely publicized Greensboro case involving a dog that was set on fire.
• Alcohol: Lawmakers say they expect to pass a set of reforms aimed at ensuring some standard ethics and accounting procedures at ABC boards across the state.
• Sheriffs: Sen. Stan Bingham says he will continue pushing a measure that would disqualify felons from becoming sheriff. This bill is aimed at several cases across the state, including one in Davidson County, where candidates with serious convictions on their records ran for the office.
Contact Mark Binker at (919) 832-5549 or [email protected]
Sunday, May 9, 2010
(Updated 7:39 am)
By Mark Binker
Staff Writer
