Sen. Janet Cowell is seeking nearly $76 million in state spending.
The Democratic nominee for state treasurer has sponsored one bill and co-sponsored 24 bills seeking appropriations in the upcoming state budget.
Cowell is the primary sponsor on a bill to give $2.1 million to the N.C. Museum of Natural Sciences for an environmental education facility at the Prairie Ridge Ecostation.
Among the larger appropriations bills she is cosponsoring: $25 million for a school construction pilot program, $6 million for the Communities in Schools programs on dropout prevention, $5.8 million for the Center for Bioenergy Technologies, $5.6 million for the N.C. Museum of Art, $5.6 million for dropout prevention, $5 million for a strategic plan on biofuels, $5 million for public libraries.
Other large appropriations she is cosponsoring: $4 million for a statewide study on aging, $2 million for the N.C. Arts Council, $1.6 million for a pilot program on dropout prevention in Durham and Vance counties, $1.5 million for a pilot program on adult protective services, $1.4 million for water resource management, $1.2 million for teen pregnancy prevention and $1.2 million for Wake Tech Community College.
She is also cosponsoring bills less than $1 million: Support for caregivers of people with dementia, a statewide literacy program, Kids Voting, treatment of autistic children, services for the developmentally disabled, a legal mediation network, a youth golfing program and the African-American Heritage Commission.
In addition, she is cosponsoring a bill that would give state employees a 7 percent raise.
Update: Her Republican opponent, Rep. Bill Daughtridge, is seeking $19 million in spending.
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Re: Cowell seeks $76m in state spending
Alot of these programs sound like overlaps of existing programs and others sound just plain wasteful. As a small business owner I would love to expand some of the aspects of my business and give my employees a 7% raise, however, I have to budget within my means unlike the state. But it's great to see my representative and her fellow Democrats going on a spending spree. I'll take Bill Daughtridge's approach to state spending over Cowell's any day.