Rep. John Blust is ready to reform the budget process.

The Greensboro Republican has already filed five bills that would overhaul the way the legislature puts together its budget each year, and he says he may file some more.

H.B. 44: Three-Fifths Vote to Levy Taxes. Would require a supermajority vote before the legislature could impose or raise a tax. "It's just to set a higher standard before we can go back to the people and ask for more," he said.

H.B. 45: Zero-Based Budgeting. Would require the budget be written from scratch, rather than based on the previous budget. "This is to take us off autopilot and go to manual," he said.

H.B. 48: Line-Item Veto. Would give Gov. Beverly Perdue the ability to veto specific items in the state budget and other bills, something Gov. Mike Easley called for to reduce pork. "The governor — who has a statewide constituency — can go in and say this isn't needed," he said.

H.B. 49: Citizens Efficiency Commission. Would create an independent commission to look for wasteful spending in state government, an idea floated by Gov. Perdue during her campaign. "This would put the ball in (the legislature's) court," he said. 

H.B. 51: Reform Legislative Budget Process. Would make a number of smaller changes, such as requiring the budget be available for three days before it's voted on and forbidding changes to other laws being added to the budget. "This would improve the process," he said.

Similar proposals from Blust and other legislators have not gotten much traction, but he said was hopeful that a $2 billion budget shortfall would give them new life.

"If we'd had some of these before, we would not be in the predicament that we're in right now," he said. 

Why did Beverly Perdue beat Richard Moore?

In a primary election as unusual as this one, it's dangerous to get too confident when drawing conclusions, but here are a few educated guesses about how Perdue won the primary today.

She was the frontrunner. As a two-term lieutenant governor and longtime legislator with a bevy of endorsements from big groups, Perdue was the favorite from the start and Moore never managed to knock her down.

She had good issues. Perdue had a good portfolio on both soft issues (health care, education) and hard issues (the military). Moore's issues were more national (climate change, Wall Street reform) and wonky (the line-item veto, transportation reform).

She benefited from high turnout. Perdue had strong support among women and black voters, two groups that were energized by the unusually competitive presidential primary between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama.

She went positive. Perdue and Moore both ran nasty campaigns through the fall, but Perdue went positive just as most voters started paying attention. That endeared her to Obama's "change" voters, won points for gutsiness and made Moore's attacks look bad.

She had fewer enemies. Moore manages the state pension fund? State employees sue him. Moore crusades on Wall Street? Forbes magazine attacks his campaign funding. Moore makes his case on education? The N.C. Association of Educators attacks him.

Moore never succeeded in opening any daylight between his campaign and Perdue's. When he endorsed Obama, she endorsed Obama. When he called for raising the minimum wage, opposed coal plants at Cliffside, etc. etc., so did she.

With the wind at her back from turnout, endorsements and expectations, Perdue managed to stay in the lead throughout the primary despite early missteps.

Would the line-item veto help curb pork?

In a 2005 column, Winston-Salem Journal writer Paul O'Connor was skeptical:

That idea has two flaws. Governors are just as likely to seek substantive legal changes through special provisions as are legislators. Gov. Mike Easley was behind the elections board change, and former Gov. Jim Hunt loved to use special provisions. Also, a line-item veto would give North Carolina's already powerful governor even more power.