UPDATED: Deal May Be Near on State Budget | Eastern North Carolina Now

   Publisher's note: The author of this fine report is Barry Smith, who is a contributor for the Carolina Journal, John Hood Publisher.

Pay raises, eugenics compensation, ferry tolls still under consideration

    RALEIGH     Senate and House budget negotiators could be nearing an agreement on the state's $20 billion-plus General Fund spending plan.

    "We're close," Senate President Pro-tem Phil Berger, R-Rockingham, said Monday afternoon as he was passing between buildings at the legislative complex.

    Would that mean that an agreement might be reached sometime Monday night?

    "Probably not," Berger replied.

    Senate Majority Leader Harry Brown, R-Onslow, said earlier in the day that while some agreements have been reached (such as salary increases for public employees), others remain on the table, or at least not have not been removed from the table.

    "I think the pay raises are still in there," Brown said, referring to the Senate position of giving 1.2 percent pay raises to state employees. The House had approved a one-time $250 bonus plus a one-time extra week of vacation for state employees.

    While Senate members of the budget conference committee are promoting adherence to their rule that would make budgeting $11 million for eugenics compensation ineligible for the budget, Brown suggested that it was not a done deal.

    "I think speaker and [Senate leader] are discussing some of those issues," Brown said.

    House Speaker Thom Tillis, R-Mecklenburg, has made providing $50,000 apiece for victims of the state's decades-long sterilization program a priority this session. Last week, senators turned back a eugenics compensation provision that was attached to a tax increase.

    Senate rules do not allow for a defeated measure to be brought back up during the session without a two-thirds vote.

    Brown said that a provision in the House budget that would delay the implementation of tolls on ferries is another issue that he thinks Tillis and Berger are hammering out.

    A compromise could lead to part of Berger's proposed education reform being included in the budget, Brown said. "I think some is in, some is out," Brown said.

    A proposal in the House budget that would eliminate an assistant secretary's position in the Commerce Department remains on the table, Brown said. Henry McKoy, the focus of questions and media reports regarding his role in trying to direct public funding to a nonprofit he once controlled, holds that position.

    Brown said that lawmakers are hoping to get a budget adopted soon, setting the stage for the General Assembly to adjourn around the end of the month.

    He noted the timetable that the N.C. Constitution gives the governor in deciding whether to veto a bill, including the budget bill. A governor has 10 days either to sign or veto a bill while the General Assembly is in session. If she does neither, the bill would take effect without her signature.