Last-minute corrections to budget bill

ryanteaguebeckwith — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 15:04:29 -0400

Senate Majority Leader Tony Rand was in no mood to argue the merits of a budget "technical corrections" bill that raced through the legislature today as the session comes to a close.

State Sen. Richard Stevens, a Cary Republican, raised questions about a provision that hands another $1 million to Gov. Mike Easley's Learn and Earn initiative. It provides a means for high school students to obtain a four-year college degree tuition free, Dan Kane reports.

Easley had sought the money as part of negotiations that eventually persuaded him to sign the $21.4 billion state budget on Thursday.

The legislation allows the Office of State Budget and Management to take the money from any agency. Stevens said the money should come from the Department of Public Instruction, which oversees Learn and Earn.

"This could come out of prisons; it could come out of universities," Stevens said. "Why don't we take it out of DPI?"

"Because we're going to adjourn in a few minutes, and that's what it says," Rand responded.

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Last-minute corrections to budget bill