On the Budget: Marilyn Avila

Rep. Marilyn Avila
Raleigh Republican
Second Term

What two things would you cut in the state budget? 1) Gov. Mike Easley's proposed 2008 budget included $15 million for lodge renovations at Lake Mattamuskeet in Hyde County. Other bills that session also sought to fund the ski lodge. "That type of expenditure really needs a second and third look," she said. "I'm not saying it wouldn't be beneficial years down the road, but we're in an extremely unusual financial situation at the moment. I don't think we can do that."

2) The University of North Carolina system had $99.6 million in capital projects in the final 2008 budget. "This is a sacred cow for a lot of people," she said. "I understand a lot of needs are there, but we have got to postpone these sorts of things so that we don't make other cuts in the budget that affect people's health care and (secondary) education. Those are going to be much more crippling to us."

Are there any taxes you would be in favor of increasing? "I couldn't answer that without thinking long and hard about it," she said. You have to understand that means I reach into somebody's pocket and take that dollar out that they need for their retirement or their kids or their medicine. That's absolutely the last resort."