A day before Gov. Beverly Perdue officially rolled out her two-year state spending plan, the John Locke Foundation unveiled its “Back to Basics” alternative budget. Author Joseph Coletti, JLF Fiscal and Health Care Policy Analyst, attracted media attention in print and on the air this week for his own work and for his analysis of Perdue’s plans. WTVD and WNCN Television and WUNC Radio interviewed Coletti for their newscasts, and he’ll appear this evening on News 14 Carolina’s “Political Connections” and UNC TV’s “Legislative Week in Review.” On the print side, the News & Observer cited Coletti in a story about Perdue’s efforts to root wasteful spending out of the budget, and the Asheville Citizen-Times interviewed him about the governor’s biennial spending proposals. Senate Republicans also highlighted a news release about Coletti’s “Back to Basics” budget in their daily e-mail media blast. Coletti was not alone in helping the media understand the budget story. Meck Deck blogger Jeff Taylor also earned television time on WBT for his analysis of the governor’s spending ideas. (Jeff Taylor, affiliated with the conservative John Locke Foundation,
says the state wouldn’t have to go after drinkers and smokers had
state lawmakers not overspent in the good years. “And now we’re trying to recoup all that — balance it on the backs of
drinkers and smokers that had absolutely nothing at all to do with
that wild spending spree,” says Taylor.) JLF President John Hood also made the media rounds, with radio appearances on WPTF (discussing transportation funding), WBT’s new Alana Flowers podcast program (discussing the impact of federal stimulus money on North Carolina’s budget), and Rocky Mount’s WZAX. The News & Observer also quoted Hood in an article about the governor’s plans to use the Web for increased budget transparency. The governor’s budget also serves as the unifying theme for the latest edition of N.C. Spin. Joining Hood as a guest panelist this week is JLF Vice President for Outreach Becki Gray, who also hit the road this week for presentations on top state government issues to the Union County Republican Forum and the Chapel Hill Republican Women’s Club.