The state House approved its version of the state's $20.3 billion budget shortly after midnight.
The budget would give state workers a 4.25 percent pay raise, extends two "temporary taxes" from 2001 another two years and sets aside $900 million for a rainy day fund. (Char-O)
During several hours of debate, the House rejected an attempt by Rep. Cary Allred to eliminate free university tuition for graduates of the N.C. School of Science and Math in Durham. (AP)
Legislators also approved $100 million to help counties pay for Medicaid, tax credits for adoption and long-term care and an Earned Income Tax Credit. (W-SJ)
House leaders were proud of their handiwork:
"We came up with a good, tasty product that everyone can enjoy," said Rep. Mickey Michaux, a Durham Democrat who led the budget-writing effort in the House. (N&O)
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They have and they will
continue to, I'm afraid.
When I think of all the short-sightedness spawned by the anti-government, anti-tax zealots, I am angered most by their impacts on those least able to care for themselves. North Carolina's "performance" when it comes to addressing the needs of those most in need - the mentally ill - is abysmal. It starts at the top with Easley and Hooker-Odom who have bowed to the free-market altar without regard for the vast damage they are doing.
The media, of course, have been complicit. While we see occasional editorials lamenting the degradation of our ability to serve those in need, the other side of the media house - the reporters - carry water for the the free-market fundamentalists at every turn.
The political agenda in North Carolina has largely been reset from "what is the right thing to do" to "how can we cut taxes." The result is a void in strategic planning and critical thinking that would embarrass any business person worth his or her salt.
We are seeing the spoils of Art Pope's multi-million-dollar opinion manufacturing machine having harvested North Carolina's political reporters like so much rotten fruit.