Easley: Budget pleas ‘falling on deaf ears’
Monday, June 30th, 2008
By Staff
RALEIGH, N.C. - Gov. Mike Easley stepped up the pressure _ and rhetoric _ on state lawmakers Sunday, saying his message to balance the budget appears to be "falling on deaf ears" in the General Assembly.
Easley's staff met with House and Senate budget leaders Sunday as lawmakers returned to negotiations on the $21 billion spending plan. Easley, a Democrat negotiating his final budget as North Carolina's chief executive, opposes some of the tax relief measures that lawmakers have agreed to, including an expansion of the earned income tax credit for the working poor and the elimination of the state's gift tax, which favors wealthier citizens.
Those two plans, brokered in budget negotiations between top Democrats last week, would cost some $31 million in lost revenue in the coming year.
Top budget negotiators had made little progress by late Sunday afternoon, a spokesman for House Speaker Joe Hackney said. The two chambers were focused on resolving their own disagreements before considering Easley's concerns.
"They're working to get an agreement between the two chambers, and they'll see where they're at," Holmes said. (more…)
Last 5 posts in Daily News
- For College-Bound, New Barriers to Entry - December 3rd, 2008
- Where’s Mike? Easley’s ’business trip’ is a mystery - December 3rd, 2008
- Taylor hosting annual Christmas dinner - December 3rd, 2008
- Rookies get their General Assembly bearings - December 3rd, 2008
- Mental hospital deemed unsafe - December 3rd, 2008
Email This Post
Print This Post
