News & Observer before:

This inglorious tradition also is open to abuse by powerful legislators with pet causes who seem to think they should be able to treat the state budget as if it were a personal checkbook. Governor Hunt would put his veto pen to good use if he made it clear that he will not sign a budget that has unrelated laws in it. Better, though, would be a law sponsored by Senate leader Marc Basnight and new House speaker Jim Black to guard against the excesses and secrecy found in the use of special provisions.

Editorial/Opinion
Budget flimflammery
24 February 1999
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What is not justified is Basnight’s position that he can make decisions by himself, involving the possible expenditure of state money, that ought to be made by legislators collectively. The legislative process may be frustrating and unwieldy at times, but it is the only way for projects large and small to be debated in the public arena. To avoid setting a troubling precedent, Basnight should immediately put the aquarium matter back on the legislative agenda where it belongs.

Editorial/Opinion
A senator’s say-so
10 November 2003
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When push comes to shove, here’s how the final push to assemble a state budget works these days: Several lawmakers sensitive to the wishes of Senate leader Marc Basnight, House Speaker Jim Black and Governor Easley — all Democrats — cloister themselves on the sixth floor of the Legislative Office Building. They decide what will go into the annual revenue and spending blueprint and what won’t.

Editorial/Opinion
Budget secrecy
3 August 2005
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Not to mention that the budget was crafted largely in secret and that a final version wasn’t released until Monday night — giving the General Assembly at large only a small window of time to study it. In the end, House Speaker Jim Black and Senate President Pro Tem Marc Basnight decided what was to be what. Not a pretty sight, and not an appropriate one. Black and Basnight should have seen to it that the budget was fully debated, front and center, in both chambers and at length.

Editorial/Opinion
Good, bad, ugly
10 August 2005
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The fact is, if Basnight really favors more open government, a goal he has indeed championed in the past, then he ought to help end special provisions. Having budget items out there in public, subject to debate and review, is part of openness — rather than having them slipped into the budget by a leader in the dark of night.

Editorial/Opinion
…open, says he
25 May 2006

News & Observer after:

To his credit, another cause Basnight championed was open government. And North Carolina’s good public records and open meetings laws are a testament to the wisdom of transparency. In that and other areas, the wisdom of Marc Basnight was evident as well.

Editorial/Opinion
Basnight’s long trail
5 January 2011