Daily News

Easley presses budget

Monday, June 30th, 2008

By Staff

He opposes some changes on tax credits and gift tax

Published: June 30, 2008

RALEIGH.

Gov. Mike Easley stepped up the pressure — and rhetoric — on state legislators yesterday, saying that 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 yesterday as legislators 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 proposals that legislators 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 among top Democrats last week, would result in about $31 million in lost revenue in the coming year.

Top budget negotiators had made little progress by late yesterday afternoon, said Bill Holmes, a spokesman for House Speaker Joe Hackney. The two chambers were focused on resolving their own disagreements before considering Easley's concerns. (more…)

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