RALEIGH, N.C. – Days after North Carolina’s budget became law, state legislators were on path to increase the $19 billion spending plan for this year by nearly $7 million.

The state House was scheduled to vote Monday on adjustments to the budget Gov. Beverly Perdue signed into law on Friday. The changes would leave less than $4 million unspent at the end of the year ending June 30, 2010.

One major change delays closing of a Moore County incarceration center for delinquent juveniles by 10 months. The revisions increase the chances Perdue will have to make spending cuts later. She is responsible to make sure the state budget balances every year. Perdue forced state employees to take unpaid time off in May and June to balance last year’s budget.

RALEIGH, N.C. – North Carolina legislators are close to giving a Canadian paper company up to $10 million to help switch what it produces and retain hundreds of jobs in one of the state’s poorest regions.

A House budget-writing committee on Thursday approved allowing the state Commerce Department to use its funds to give Montreal-based Domtar Corp. up to $2 million a year for five years.

The Senate approved the spending on Wednesday, the same day lawmakers approved a budget that included a $1 billion tax increase and service cuts worth billions more.

Domtar plans to stop making white office paper at its mill near Plymouth, but says it can make money turning loblolly pine trees into the absorbent fluff used in diapers and napkins.

RALEIGH, N.C. — Governor Bev Perdue is expected to sign a $19 billion dollar budget Thursday or Friday. A spokesperson for Perdue said she was still reviewing the bill as of lunchtime Thursday, and that there will be no public signing ceremony.The state Republican Party harshly criticized the bill and the whole budget process at a press conference that morning.

“I predict that as the bill was concocted and written behind closed doors, it will be signed behind closed doors,” said Tom Fetzer, NCGOP chairman. “I also predict the pens used to sign it will not be sought by people as keepsakes.”

Republicans accuse Democrats of passing a budget full of wasteful spending, unneccessary taxes, and cuts to education.

“To raise taxes in a recession, to raise taxes when unemployment is at an all-time high, when one in ten North Carolinians are jobless, and to reduce spending on our number one priority– education– is absurd,” Fetzer said.

Fetzer said he opposes spending on things like a $25 million Nags Head Fishing Pier project, $10 million to give out-of-state athletes tuition breaks at UNC universities, and an $84 million allocation for  the Wildlife Resources Commission that includes money for land acquisition.

There will be no public ceremony as Governor Bev Perdue signs the state’s budget bill, according to Chrissy Pearson, spokesperson for Perdue.”The Governor was very clear [when she addressed the public Tuesday] that she would sign this budget with serious reservations,” Pearson said. “She does not feel a public ceremony is neccessary.”

In her prepared remarks, Perdue said, “It’s now several weeks beyond the budget deadline, teachers go back to school in two weeks, and it’s clear that the General Assembly has gone as far as they are willing to go. And so, after this long difficult budget process, North Carolina must move forward.”

Perdue’s statement said the budget falls short in several areas, including funding for Local Education Authorities, local mental health service agencies, and public safety. She also wanted it to include more help for working families, such as an increased Earned Income Tax Credit.

She said improvements have been made in some areas. Kindergarten through third grades will not see increased class sizes and will keep their teachers’ assistants. Eighty-seven percent of taxpayers won’t be affected by an income tax surcharge.

The state Republican Party criticized Perdue’s decision to sign the bill privately in a press conference Thursday morning.

“I would call on the Governor to do the traditional public signing of this budget, and take questions in public, if she’s proud of it,” said Tom Fetzer, NCGOP chair. ”

Pearson said the Governor is still reviewing the budget, and that it will likely be signed sometime Thursday or Friday.

RALEIGH, N.C.  – The North Carolina General Assembly has approved a $19 billion state budget for the spending year that started a month ago.

The Senate and House voted Wednesday to give the budget final legislative approval.

Gov. Beverly Perdue said she would reluctantly sign into law the package that includes higher taxes and reduced services.

The budget leaves up to local school districts – now just weeks away from a new school year – to decide how to handle their share of $225 million in cuts.

Republicans complain that Democrats who run the Legislature chose to raise taxes during this recession when they could have made deeper cuts. But Republicans can’t change the budget, which is a compromise of earlier versions.

Highlights of the 2009-10 state budget, the first year of a two-year spending blueprint North Carolina legislators were scheduled to vote on Tuesday and Wednesday:
TAXES
- Increase sales tax rate by one penny through July 2011. $803
million
- New surtax on state taxes paid by individual taxpayers for tax
years 2009 and 2010. $172 million
- Create temporary corporate income tax surtax. $23.1 million.
- Higher cigarette and alcohol excise taxes. $68.8 million

SCHOOLS
- Cut to public schools. The State Board of Education shall
apportion the cut among 115 school districts based on enrollment.
$225 million.
- Reduced funding for school bus maintenance and salaries. $15
milliion.
- Increase dropout prevention grants. $13 million.
- Reduce funding for More at Four, which provites free preschool
for at-risk 4-year-olds. $5 million.
- Fund 8 percent increase in community college enrollment. $58
million.
- Meet projected enrollment growth at University of North
Carolina system campuses. $44.2 million

HUMAN SERVICES
- Reduce funding for Smart Start early childhood program. $16
million.
- Cut AIDS drug assistance program. $3 million.
- Provide grant to six regional food banks. $1 million.
- State takes over the last of county obligations for Medicaid
cost-sharing. $253 million.
- Increase allowance for projected Medicaid growth. $155
million.
- Cut Medicaid rates paid to doctors and other healthcare
providers. $76 million.

RALEIGH, N.C.  – North Carolina Gov. Beverly Perdue said she’s no happier than legislators about a state budget that raises taxes and cuts spending, but she’s going to sign the spending plan into law.

Perdue said Tuesday that lawmakers have raised taxes as far as they’re willing to go to maintain education spending. She said she’s willing to sign the $19 billion budget with the traditional school year starting soon.

The governor said she was pleased that lawmakers pulled back from spending cuts that would have led to broader teacher layoffs.

Perdue said a a one-penny sales tax increase was better than higher income taxes for working families. She said only about 13 percent of households will face a new, added surtax on their taxable income.

Governor Perdue’s Prepared Remarks Regarding State Budget

With North Carolina facing the toughest economic crisis since the Depression, there are no easy solutions to the budget crisis.  I’ve made my priorities clear to the people and the General Assembly:

o  Raise revenue to shield North Carolina’s public school system and core services from massive cuts

o  Avoid raising across-the-board income taxes on working families in North Carolina.

And while the process has taken far too long and the General Assembly has not come as far as I would have liked, this budget has taken some steps forward in last few weeks.  A few months ago, the Senate proposed a class size increase of two students per class in all grades.  Then the House started working on a plan that would raise ZERO new revenue, causing horrific cuts to education and other vital services.

Just two weeks ago, lawmakers wanted an across the board income tax hike that would have hurt working families – families who are already struggling to deal with the recession.

None of those proposals were acceptable to me.  The future of our state depends upon us maintaining a top notch system of education for our children – even in times like this when it’s hard.  And we need to do it without adding an across the board income tax burden on the backs of middle-income families.

I made that clear, and the General Assembly has made some efforts to respond to those concerns.

The budget passed today is far from perfect.  In fact, it falls short in several areas that are critical to the future of our state:

o  Although it no longer mandates class size increases, it regrettably still includes cuts to LEAs.

o  Local agencies that provide mental health services face cuts, jeopardizing crucial services mental health services for patients across North Carolina.

o  Our public safety system is not funded at an adequate level.

o  And this budget does not include additional help for working families like an increase in the Earned Income Tax Credit.

But there are also some areas where we’ve made improvements to the budget.

o  Children in grades K-3 won’t see their class sizes increased, and K-3 teachers and teachers’ assistants are protected.

o  There are protections for at-risk students, especially those in low-performing schools.

o  87% of all North Carolina families are protected from an income tax surcharge.

o  The budget adds contract acute care beds for mental health services in communities across North Carolina.

o  There are investments for JobsNOW job training, College Promise, more kids have access to health insurance, and there’s some help for small businesses.

Throughout the budget process, I fought for two basic principles: protecting our classrooms and making sure working families were not saddled with an across-the-board income tax increase.  This is a better budget as a result of those efforts, but it does have many flaws.

It’s now several weeks beyond the budget deadline, teachers go back to school in two weeks, and it’s clear that the General Assembly has gone as far as they are willing to go.

And so, after this long difficult budget process, North Carolina must move forward.  I will sign this budget but I will do so with reservation.

This year’s budget battle is nearly over, but the fight to protect and improve our schools does not end with a budget document.  I will continue to do everything in my power to work with education leaders, the business community, and most importantly moms and dads to protect and strengthen our schools and give our children a brighter future.

RALEIGH, N.C.  – North Carolina lawmakers in both the House and Senate preliminarily approved the $19 billion state budget Tuesday night.House members debated the plan for more than three hours because more than 700 state employees will loose their jobs and there are more than 500 cuts to government services.

“This is one of the most difficult years and the most difficult budget of my legislative career,” said House Speaker Joe Hackney.

He described steps to balance the state budget as “austere’.

Democratic budget writers used a balance of cuts, federal stimulus money and taxes and fees to reach the bottomline.

Most North Carolina taxpayers will share the burden with a penny increase in the sales tax to generate 800 million dollars.

Most consumers would pay 7.75 percent for the next two years.

Republicans argue a recession is thte worst time to raise taxes.

“It’s is a very large tax increase on working families here in North Carolina and it’s the wrong prescription in a recession.

A final vote on the budget is scheduled for Wednesday.