Today marks not only the start of the new budget year but a variety of new state laws go into effect. Here's a sampling courtesy of the Associated Press:

-- State government takes over completely the Medicaid cost-sharing payments that counties paid for decades.

-- The state gasoline tax that was supposed to drop by 2 cents a gallon on Tuesday will remain the same.

-- A $675 million-plus bailout of the health insurance plan for teachers and state employees takes effect.

-- The state also expands property tax breaks for completely disabled veterans, the elderly and people with "working waterfront" property such as fisheries.

-- Active duty members of the military, including those who are home on leave, can hunt and fish without a license.

The Tax Foundation measures tax burden by its own formula.

Although the U.S. Census Bureau and the Federation of Tax Administrators both compare taxation rates in states, the foundation's rankings are slightly different.

Unlike the Census Bureau, it measures the actual tax collections and not just the state rates. That allows it to account for the differing levels of local property and sales taxes:

For example, New York's state sales tax rate is 4 percent, and its counties have local sales tax rates that range from 3 percent to 5.75 percent. Connecticut, on the other had, has a 6 percent state-level sales tax with no local add-ons. In a ranking that includes only state-level taxes, New York appears less taxed than it actually is, and Connecticut appears more taxed.

The Tax Foundation also calculates how much in taxes were paid in other states, such as a candy bar you bought at a 7-Eleven across the border.

The total local and state tax burden is the total taxes collected divided by the total income.

Democratic gubernatorial candidate Beverly Perdue is airing a new ad touting her record in office.

What it says: The ad shows images of Perdue from her early life and her political career. A narrator says, "Bev Perdue. Neither of her parents finished high school, yet she became a teacher and earned a Ph.D. She's spent a lifetime fighting for the middle class — Smart Start for our kids, cutting the sales tax on food, saving our military bases from closure. In these tough times, she'll lead the way — a higher minimum wage, property tax relief for seniors, creating the jobs of the future. Bev Perdue, a governor for us."

The background: Perdue taught in public schools in Georgia and Florida from 1970 to 1974. She received a doctorate in education administration in March 1976 from the University of Florida.

Gov. Jim Hunt and the legislature created Smart Start, a statewide pre-school program, in 1993 when Perdue was in her second term in the state Senate. That year, Hunt appointed her as one of 16 initial members of a board to oversee Smart Start.

Then-Gov. Terry Sanford helped establish a statewide sales tax on food in 1961 to pay higher teacher salaries. It was supposed to be temporary, but it lasted almost four decades. Lawmakers cut it from 4 percent to 3 percent in 1996 and eliminated it two years later.

Perdue was co-chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee when lawmakers eliminated the tax. She voted in favor of doing so, but was not a champion of the cause. An unusual coalition of liberal lawmakers and anti-tax Republicans pushed for eliminating the tax, while the Senate’s leadership was less enthusiastic.

"I have long believed it is the wrong item to tax and there should be a total elimination," Perdue told The Charlotte Observer in August 1997. But, she added, "You have to look at fiscal responsibility. The priority, I believe, in addition to cutting the food tax, is to provide adequate funding for teachers and to clean up the environment."

Gov. Mike Easley appointed Perdue, as lieutenant governor, to lead the state's efforts to protect North Carolina’s military bases from closure by the U.S. Department of Defense. The multi-year process is designed to be insulated from political pressure, and it involved work from a large number of people, including the state's congressional delegation.

Perdue has called for increasing the minimum wage in North Carolina by one dollar to $8.25, from the minimum of $7.25 an hour set to take effect in July 2009.

She also says she favors expanding the state’s homestead exemption and freezing the property tax revaluations for seniors who make less than $50,000 and have lived in their homes for at least 20 years.

Is the ad accurate? Yes, though there is no way to quantify how much Perdue helped the state's military bases.

— David Ingram

The state House and the Senate disagree on which tax breaks to give.

The House budget is more geared at poorer households. It includes an earned income tax credit for working class households, a property tax homestead exemption for disabled veterans and a tax credit for small businesses offering health insurance.

"Our thinking was the economy is not great," said House Majority Leader Hugh Holliman. "People out there are paying a whole lot more for gas and groceries, and we wanted to find a way to address that as best we can."

The Senate budget includes a sales tax exemption for bakeries, a repeal of the state gift tax, a reduction on the home heating fuel tax, a tax reduction on industrial machinery refurbishers and a tax fairness measure for small businesses.

State Sen. David Hoyle, a co-chairman of the Finance Committee, said the Senate's rationale was fairness. North Carolina is one of only four states with a gift tax and small business owners such as interior decorators and fence-makers had been unfairly hit with high tax bills.

"North Carolina is better than this," he said. (N&O)

Beverly Perdue has proposed property tax relief for senior citizens.

The Democratic gubernatorial candidate announced a plan today to expand the state's homestead exemption and establishing a tax credit for family caregivers.

"For many seniors, rising property taxes threaten their ability to remain in their own homes," she said in a statement. "Tax relief is the right thing to do for our seniors who have done so much to build North Carolina into what it is today."

Currently, the homestead exemption is available for seniors who make up to $19,700 a year.

Under the plan, the maximum would be phased in to $50,000 for seniors who have lived in their homes for more than 20 years would be frozen. Perdue said she would seek a constitutional amendment if necessary to institute the plan.

Earlier this month, rival Richard Moore put forward his plan for property tax relief for seniors, and he has featured it prominently in a recent ad.