Gov. Beverly Perdue said she is working on a draft of her State of the State address that she will deliver to a joint session of the legislature on Monday.
Perdue said she would emphasize the need for the state to continue to fund education in these hard times. And she will emphasize the need for transparency in government and urge sunshine at all levels of North Carolina government, reports Rob Christensen.
She said she's changing a speech draft that she was afraid was too much like "a school marm" in tone.
She is not expecting to submit her budget recommendations until mid March.
"There are tremendous cuts -- things that just broke my heart to cut," Perdue told the press after a bill signing in the old House Chambers of the Capitol. "But I am doing what I can do to protect the public schools."
As for the current budget year which ends June 30, Perdue said she could not rule out further cuts.
"I am going to do whatever it takes to pay the bills, to keep the schools open, keep the prisons locked up, keep our people safe and try to retrain all these people losing their jobs," she said. "That’s my priority."
