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Tuesday: Everyone's a Critic
posted at 2007-05-08 22:24 | Last modified 2007-11-14 10:38
Boy, the ink didn't even have a chance to dry on the House Dems' budget proposal before critics started lining up to weigh in.
1. The GOP
Not surprisingly, they don't like it. Their big complaint is its size - about 7.6% larger than last year's plan. This is the third budget in a row that's grown more than 7%. House Minority Leader Skip Stam says that's twice the rate of the state's population or inflation growth, which he says means it's unsustainable.
More particularly, the GOP objects to the proposal to extend the "temporary" sales and income taxes (and yes, quotation marks are called for here) that were enacted back in '01, when the state was in dire budget trouble.
To be fair, half of each tax has expired. But even after two years of gangbuster surpluses, when it's clear the state is no longer in fiscal extremis, some Dems still insist the state can't do without the $300 million generated by the remaining quarter-percent sales tax and quarter-percent top-bracket income tax.
Republicans don't buy it. Given the budget's bottom line of 20.3 billion dollars, they argue the Dems could easily cut $300 million in pork alone if they really wanted to let the taxes sunset this year.
Some Dems apparently do. The Senate leadership wants to let the taxes expire, too. And the Governor's take on it is that the taxes should either be made permanent or allowed to sunset - ánything BUT another "extension." Which leads us to....
2. The Gov
Governor Mike Easley today offered a mixed review of the House plan. While he supports some of the spending recommendations, he takes exception to its priorities - especially the education spending, which, Easley points out, is 50 million less than he recommended. He also doesn't think House Dems should be using a "temporary tax" to underwrite a permanent tax cut, the Earned Income Tax Credit.
Easley's proposal would make the remaining temporary taxes permanent, but return the money "in a targeted way" by eliminating state income taxes for low income taxpayers. He says his plan would help a lot more taxpayers than the EITC, particularly low-income senior citizens who wouldn't qualify for the latter.
You can hear his comments here, and a follow-up here.
3. The State Employees' Association of NC
SEANC doesn't think much of the House's proposal for a 2.5% percent raise for state workers, but 5% percent for teachers. Dana Cope stopped by the press room today to drop off a release calling for "Five for All."
Cope says there's a lot of talk about teacher shortages, but other areas have hiring problems, too - like scientists, engineers, and nurses, many of whom can double their salaries by leaving the state's payroll. Cope says the state could afford a 5 percent raise for all workers by dipping into its rainy-day reserve - because, according to Cope, "it's raining right now" for state employees who can't afford day care or health insurance.
"What happens in Finance, stays in Finance."
Even if I could've made that up, I wouldn't have. But Finance Co-Chair Pryor Gibson went there today, warning committee members to stop introducing amendments more focused on appropriations (spending money) than on finance (getting money). That argument was used to stymie multiple amendments by GOP committee members today, while the remainder went down to defeat by the numbers (16 Ds, 13 Rs).
But things got even more heated when Finance Co-Chair Jennifer Weiss introduced a successful amendment to put most of the Finance Dems' proposals into the bill's title, thereby making sure they can't be changed on the House floor without a 2/3 vote.
The title change outraged committee Republicans, like Bill Daughtridge, who called it "pathetic," and John Blust, who sarcastically suggested that Dems make the entire bill the title, so nothing could be changed. You can hear his comment here.
Gibson defended the title amendment as turf protection against the "beasts" in Approps. No, I'm serious. Hear it for yourself here.
Supersize NC
McDonalds rolled onto Halifax Mall today to treat lawmakers to a free lunch from their new, "healthy" menu - and to remind said lawmakers of how big a business Mickey D's actually IS in NC. Plenty of lawmakers decided they needed a break today - the lines were lengthy. Here's McD's release.
Date certain
Recent rumors about postponing crossover were scotched tonight by Speaker Hackney, who told the House Senate leaders aren't in favor of a delay. Looks like Hackney's serial referrals have come home to roost. House committees will have to do twice the work of their Senate counterparts to push bills through by next Thursday.
Wednesday preview
Appropriations takes up the budget at 8:30 tomorrow morning, starting with subcommittee reports, then amendments and debate. Hackney told the House tonight to be prepared for a full floor vote Thursday (2nd reading), then a late night - the third vote may come just after midnight, early Friday morning.
Senior Budget Chair Durham Dem Mickey Michaux was more optimistic, telling committee members that if they stay focused and brief (and that's a BIG if), the bill could be voted out of Approps before session tomorrow afternoon.
While House Rules require all bills to be reported in one day *before* they're voted, there's a good chance House members might agree to suspend that rule to avoid staying up late for what's likely to be a party-line vote, anyway.
Comments? Drop me a line.
