On Wednesday, Joe Coletti updated the Holly Springs Rotary Club about the governor’s budget proposal. He focused on what should be guiding principles for state services and appropriations, and discussed education, healthcare and the incentives that flow from government-provided programs and services. Meantime, Roy Cordato’s commentary on a state “education lottery” and budget priorities, which ran in the Fayetteville Observer, generated an editorial from the paper, as well as a column in Up & Coming Weekly. Speaking of priorities, a story in the Wilson Daily Times about the governor’s desire to provide film industry incentives, included John Hood’s perspective that the effort is misguided. Hood also commented this month to the Associated Press about the Court of Appeals ruling that concluded the governor acted within his power when he withheld reimbursements to local governments to help fund the state budget. Hood told AP the court was wrong in deciding the payments were state expenditures. “Some of the items in dispute are clearly local taxes, which the state collects as a convenience, rather than state taxes that are then ‘expended’ on local governments.” The story ran in multiple papers.
