JLF commentary on the budget paid off again this week. A Charlotte Observer editorial clearly relied on an argument put forth in a JLF Spotlight paper about
the debate over the parameters of a spending cap. The editorial
discussed comments made by Gov. Easley’s staff that the 8 percent
budget increase didn’t really violate Easley’s proposed cap. “Gov. Mike
Easley’s staff discounts such a high rate of increase arguing that if
you subtract transfers, replenishing the state retirement system and
spending to address a school funding lawsuit, the increase is within
the governor’s voluntary spending cap of 5.6 percent,” the editorial
said. “That’s a stretch, but it’s the governor’s stretch. Most folks
will see it for what it is: a fib.” Meantime, John Hood discussed the
legislative session with WPTF-AM, WCHL-AM in Chapel Hill and WGOS-AM in
Greensboro. The possibility of tollbooths on I-95 due to the budget
bill was the subject of his interview with the Wilson Daily Times. The Winston-Salem Journal sought his perspective on incentives, secrecy, and public records.