The House's public hearing on the state budget drew more than 200 people Tuesday night.
It wasn't immediately clear how many people showed up at the 10 community college campuses that are conected to the hearing through video conference. The crowd at the N.C. Museum of History in Raleigh included the usual mix of lobbyists and interest groups. But it also appeared to include a number of regular folks who wanted to talk about the state budget.
House Speaker Joe Hackney invited attendees to comment on state spending, including cuts in pay to state employees. Hackney attempted to summarize the difficult challenge facing budget writers. The spending deficit next year is likely to be more than $4 billion, a 20 percent loss to the budget.
Filling that hole won't be easy, Hackney said.
"We will continue to look for programs that have outlived their usefulness," he said. "Most of our money is spent for good programs that help people and which shoudl continue. We can't stop taking care of our roads or turn loose the people in our prisons or close our schools."
Speakers will have two minutes to comment. The House will accept comments through e-mail through midnight at town.hall@ncleg.net.
