Gov. Beverly Perdue issued an executive order Friday further tightening state spending to allow only mandatory expenses.

Perdue issued Executive Order 20 one day after she dashed a deal to raise income tax for all North Carolinians. She used the introduction to her order to needle lawmakers over the state's lack of a budget.

"Whereas without a State budget, State and local agencies continue to be limited in their ability to expend funds and plan for the needs of their agencies and the citizens they serve," the order states.

The order cuts spending to mandatory obligations including payroll, utilities, medical supplis, financial aid, required state aid and debt service.

Under the order, agency heads must preapproval all purchase orders. All travel is restricted. Agencies can fill no vacant jobs and no one can get a promotion.

The order replaces an earlier one limiting spending.

Update: Senate Republican leader Phil Berger of Eden released a statement about the order.

"Governor Perdue’s track record – less than a month ago her administration signed off on the 'necessary' expense of buying a guy 1,100 crab pots for $40,000 – makes it difficult to believe she’s serious about cutting wasteful spending.  Governor Perdue needs to stop talking about cutting wasteful spending and show the people of North Carolina where she has actually cut wasteful spending."

Gov. Beverly Perdue plans to sign an order today that would strip most of the specific decision-making power from the N.C. Board of Transportation.

The idea is that Perdue wants the board to be less involved in specific decisions and to function more like a board of directors. State law has a different take.

The board has 19 members and 14 are appointed to represent a geographic region of the state. The state law is pretty clear about what those division representatives should do.

Division members shall direct their primary effort to developing transportation policy and addressing transportation problems in the region they represent. Division members shall regularly consult with and consider the views of local government units and Transportation Advisory Committees in the region they represent.

The law goes on to state:

Consultation of Board Members. – Each member of the Board of Transportation who is appointed to represent a transportation engineering division or who resides in a division shall be consulted before the Board makes a decision affecting that division.

The governor has sole authority to appoint transportation board members. Perdue has said that she expects board members to do what she says.