Highlights from the Senate budget:
- Balanced budget with no tax increases.
- Spends $127M less than the House and $758M less than the Governor wanted to.
- Uses recurring revenues to pay recurring expenses rather than relying on one-time money, tricks and gimmickry.
- Pays off $230M in Medicaid liabilities.
- Sets aside $100M in Rainy Day fund
- Restores $158M to education
- Provides $47.4M for education reform that includes k-3 literacy, merit pay for good teachers, graduation rate improvements, more accountability and ensuring choice for NC families.
- Caps the gas tax at 37.5 cents per gallon while ceasing non-essential road paving.
- Restores local control by giving LEAs funds to either give teacher raises or restore EDUJobs.
- Funds the residential schools for blind and deaf students,
- Gives state employees a 1.2% pay raise, retired state employees a 1% increase and does it with recurring funds.
- The 2012-13 budget passed last year as part of the biennial budget spent $19,943,327,275. The Governor’s budget spends $20,907,086,765; House spends $20,276,156,566; and Senate spends $20,149,313,117.
Overall, this “grown-up” budget that the Senate has proposed is fiscally responsible and paves the way for more improvements, not more band-aids, in 2013. I liked the House budget, I like the Senate budget even more. I do not like the governor’s with her insistence to raise taxes and gamble with our future. I’m not sure what the final legislative budget will look like but so far we’re on the right track.
