There's also quite a bit of legislating from within the budget. No wonder Republicans wanted a continuing resolution in place.
From Laura:
The bill, H200, weighs in at 333 pages, 63 of which are devoted to basically dismantling the Department of Environment and Natural Resources. ...Yeah, she'll probably sign that. It also raids Golden Leaf.
(Among other things it) institutes strict new curbs on the Governor’s power to manage the budget when lawmakers are not in session. Perdue would have to call an interim committee back to add so much as one position in the executive branch. Grant money would also be subject to new oversight.
Particularly when it comes to DENR, it would seem (LIBERAL!) watchdog Chris Fitzsimon was right yesterday when he said the GOP is "using the budget crisis to remake state government philosophically."
Or, to put it in Speaker of the House Thom Tillis' words, doing "what we said we were going to do" last year.
Gary Robertson did a good piece for the Associated Press on the new fees in this budget. He also touches on the $230 million set aside in the budget bill for a "tax package":
The budget bill released late Tuesday sets aside $230 million in reserve for the separate tax package, of which about $130 million would be used to lower the corporate income tax rate, said Rep. Harold Brubaker, R-Randolph, senior co-chairman of the full Appropriations Committee.Tillis said this morning that the rest of that package will "relate to job creation, most likely tax relief for small businesses, maybe some for corporate filers."
Update: According to Jordan Shaw, the speaker's spokesman, the 2 percent corporate tax rate cut in the governor's budget, which Brubaker and, in a vaguer sense, Tillis allude to above is not assumed in the House budget. Basically, they're still working on a tax package that may include it. Tillis said Friday it may also include a personal income tax rate cut.
Tillis: Probably not holding his breath.
Image: File. December, 2010.
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