The Journal reports that the General Assembly is close to a budget. And the the Triad hasn’t made out too bad:

“We are all to the point of saying, ‘Uncle,’” said state Sen. Linda Garrou, D-Forsyth.

…..Garrou is one of a small group of leaders from the N.C. Senate and the N.C. House of Representatives who have spent the past three weeks trying to reconcile differences between two competing $20 billion budget proposals.

Two other legislators from the Triad – Sen. Kay Hagan, D-Guilford, and Rep. Hugh Holliman, D-Davidson, the House majority leader – are also in that group. Garrou and Holliman said yesterday that the Triad would benefit from being well-represented in budget talks.

For instance, Wake Forest University is asking for money in the state budget to help build a laboratory to create organs for wounded soldiers. The lab would be in the Piedmont Triad Research Park and would be part of Wake Forest’s renowned tissue-engineering research.

In March, Garrou and Sen. Pete Brunstetter, R-Forsyth, sponsored a bill requesting $8 million in state money for the project. The Senate’s proposed budget includes that $8 million allocation, but the House’s proposed budget leaves out the project.

Garrou said yesterday that in the final version of the budget, the laboratory could receive $10 million or $12 million.

Another project that Garrou and Holliman said would be fully financed is a nanotechnology center in Greensboro. Winston-Salem State University and the N.C. School of the Arts are also likely to get money for building projects they are seeking.

But Medicaid relief for counties remains a sticking point:

Garrou said that the state needs the extra sales-tax revenue in order to absorb counties’ Medicaid costs.

But Senate and House leaders disagree on a specific plan about how to do that, and the issue represents one of the last major conflicts in budget talks.

As part of a Medicaid plan, House Democrats want to give counties more revenue options, such as the ability to hold a referendum on a local sales-tax increase or a local tax on real-estate transfers. Senate Democrats have rejected that idea.

Tax on real estate transfers, they say? The Locker Room’s Paul Chesser has the joke on that one.

Update: JLF’s Chad Adams, who weighed in before, weighs in again.