Fred Smith supports the line-item veto.
The Republican gubernatorial candidate said that it would allow the governor to eliminate pork from the state budget, noting it has worked well in South Carolina.
"I can't think of anything that would create a more effective and efficient government than for the governor to have the ability to line-item veto pork-barrel spending," he said.
Although several recent bills to grant the veto have gone nowhere, Smith said that could change with new legislators.
"You have to have a legislature that wants to control spending," he said. "With the legislature we have today that's run by the liberal Democrats, that's not the case."
Previously: Richard Moore, Bill Graham support line-item veto; Beverly Perdue, Bob Orr not optimistic.

